Arras People’s Day
Inspiring new project managers
Dec 4th
At last night’s APM branch meeting I was fortunate to meet a new graduate in project management who was hosting the event at Lancaster University. As I introduced myself it became apparent rather quickly that he had indeed heard of Arras People and gave glowing reports about us. Last year Arras People sponsored a new graduate in a voluntary project management role, the sponsorship covered basic living expenses to help make their lives just a little bit easier as they eased into their first role post graduation. The voluntary project was with Groundwork and more details can be found about the voluntary project here.
Back to last night’s introduction, it made me smile when the recent graduate told me he had been following the progress of the sponsorship and it inspired him to take the same route post university. He is now coming to the end of his own 13 week programme as a voluntary project manager and feels like he has amassed some great skills (including the often overlooked softer skills of project management).
I think it’s great that the overview provided by last year’s graduate inspired someone to take up the challenge as well and would recommend other recent graduates to seriously consider this route to gain invaluable skills and experience which are very difficult to gain at the beginning of your project career.
Arras People are now looking for their next sponsorship opportunity in 2010 and would welcome contact from any recent graduate who is looking into voluntary project opportunities. Further details of how to apply will be available in early 2010.
Arras People: The Project Management Recruitment Agency That Speaks to Candidates, Not Just Clients!
Jan 26th
Arras People are a niche project management recruitment agency founded in 2002 with the aim of providing a service that overturned the perception of the recruitment industry.
The founders of Arras People are project staff with experience of recruitment agencies both as client and candidate.
Their experiences mirrored those of current UK job seekers who report an impenetrable industry where the flow of information is all one way.
UK job seekers report feeling undervalued, frustrated and ignored by recruitment agencies where:
Applications are not acknowledged
Candidates are seldom informed of progress. Even notification of unsuitability would be appreciated
Recruiters do not list e-mail addresses or phone numbers
Vacancies are advertised so loosely they are meaningless
Since its inception, Arras People has strived to overturn this perception of recruitment agencies by offering our candidates a service where they are valued as highly as our clients.
Our latest improvement is to individually appraise all CVs received from candidates who wish to register with us and provide feedback within 2 working days. CVs are read on a daily basis by a recruiter who assesses them in accordance with the following criteria:
Does level of project experience meet the criteria typically demanded by our clients?
Is the CV a well produced, competitively pitched representation of the individual’s career?
Is geographical location workable?
Candidates are then issued with an e-mail advising them whether their application to register has been accepted. CVs of accepted candidates are added to our database to be matched with vacancies.
Candidates who we feel unable to help secure their next role are directed to the comprehensive resources on our website for assistance. These include a 16-page document assessing project management qualifications, CV writing advice and a suggested template and a project management entrance guides for graduates & career changers. All the above are free of charge and require no personal details to download.
Candidates who wish to go a step further can pay 30 for a 30 minute phone call with one of our recruiters who will evaluate their CV, discuss career options and provide one to one, honest advice on how best the candidate can pitch themselves in an increasingly competitive market place. Candidates can sign up for one of our Project Management Careers Clinics at http://www.arraspeople.co.uk/PMC_Clinic/.
John Thorpe, Managing Director of Arras People, says: “Managing the expectations of our candidates and increasing the accessibility of recruiters to help job seekers improve their competitive edge is an ongoing concern for recruitment agencies keen to be in contact with the cream of the candidate pool”.
