The European Court of Justice found in March that payments for minimum annual leave through a system of rolled-up holiday pay are contrary to the Working Time Directive 1993 (implemented in the UK as the Working Time Regulations 1998), and therefore unlawful.
“Can you give us some idea of your salary expectation?” is the question that strikes fear into the heart of every interviewee. Just how do you answer? Pitch it too high and you look unrealistic and overly confident, pitch it too low and you undervalue both yourself and your ability to do the job.
If your skills and talents are much in demand, some of the biggest employers from around the country will be tripping over themselves to snap you up – and they may offer you more than a generous starting salary.
Nine-point plan Most job hunters instinctively begin their search by flooding employers with carefully crafted, but often ineffective, CVs. But since many openings go unadvertised, successful job seekers require more thoughtful approaches.
According to some surveys, nearly two-thirds of companies now accept online applications alongside paper forms. Email is fast and informal, qualities not normally associated with the filling out of application forms. But recruiters report that job-hunters can easily slip into the sort of bad email habits that do not impress. These include rambling (because space
Employees are increasingly taking ethical considerations into account when deciding where to work. The expansion of the non-profit-making, environmental and charitable sectors means there are plenty of options for those who want to make a difference
Lady Howe’s career has been something of a contradiction. A politician’s wife who left her job to play a supporting role, she is a vehement campaigner for women in the workplace. A Tory advocate of the Open University, she took her own degree at the famously left-of-centre London School of Economics. Over 20 years into
Jeffrey Shesol, 30, worked as deputy chief speechwriter for US president Bill Clinton from 1998 – 2000. Before this he wrote books on political history and reviews and opinion pieces for magazines and newspapers. He also wrote and drew Thatch, a syndicated political comic strip that appeared daily in 150 US publications
Simon, 24, is a business analyst with management consultancy Accenture (formerly called Andersen Consulting), having done a business and political science degree at Trinity College in Dublin. He has been working there since November 1999
Working in a political organisation Wesley Ball, 22, works for Britain in Europe, a cross-party coalition that exists to promote the European Union, the single currency and Britain’s part in European affairs. It also co-operates with Trade Unions in the voluntary sector. Members include Tony Blair, Robin Cook, Charles Kennedy and Michael Heseltine
Andy Leech, 25, joined Vodafone AirTouch after graduating three and a half years ago. He works in IT as a systems developer. With existing systems needing to be modified and new systems being brought in to cope with new advances in technology Andy says IT makes for an exciting career choice
John Steele, Human Resources director at British Telecommunications, talks about graduate entry at BT, and what it takes to be a successful HR professional
Benjamin Cohen set up the community website soJewish.com when he was just 15 and confined to his bed with ME – chronic fatigue syndrome – with nothing but the Internet for company. Benjamin is now 18 with an estimated paper wealth of £5m
Tom Moloney has been promoted to chief executive officer of Emap USA, the US’s leading publisher of specialist magazines. We asked Moloney what excites him about his new job and for his strategy for success
Carlton Television chief executive Clive Jones, 51, started out in the TV industry 25 years ago. He worked for ITV companies Yorkshire Television, TVAM and TVS before arriving at Carlton. The company has received government approval for its proposed £8 billion merger with rival media firm United News & Media. Jones reflects on how UK
Peter Howarth, 35, has been UK editor of Esquire magazine for the past three years. He trod an unconventional path into journalism, reaching the editor’s desk via the Paris catwalk. He began his journalistic career by writing freelance magazine features. We asked him about his job and what advice he would give aspiring journalists
Sham Sandhu, 28, has been promoted from development planner at BBC1 to the newly created post of head of new media and new channels for BBC Production – the corporation’s programme making company. His brief is to boost the directorate’s output for the BBC’s digital, UKTV, online and interactive services. His role will involve working
Brad Rees enjoys working his socks off. Rees, the former new media editor for Express Newspapers, has just swapped one hectic dotcom job for another. He has recently been appointed senior producer at Sports.com after spending seven months at rival online outlet Sportal. He describes the change as moving from ‘hard work’ to ‘seriously hard
Sally Muggeridge is management development director for media giant Pearson plc, which own well-known brands, including Penguin books and the Financial Times. She is based at Pearson’s London headquarters, but makes regular visits to the US where the majority of the group’s 22,000 employees work
Toby Watson left Oxford University, where he was a blue in rugby, to balance playing professional rugby for London Scottish, while holding down a full-time job at Deutsche Bank. He was recently headhunted from there by global investment bank Goldman Sachs. We interviewed him about his recent move and how to succeed at the highest level
