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Currently working with a high end fashion/luxury brand and helping them launch their new website and commerce platform.  Role: Junior/Mid-Level Product Designer Design Team: You’ll be working closely and reporting to their Senior Product Designer. They also have a team of visual/ artworkers for marketing/ social media.  Projects: They are aiming to launch the website in October. You’ll be working on that and all its features + Design Systems. They already have most of the structure in place, it’s about refining it before it gets released.  Location: office is in West London. 5 days a week in the office with some flexibility from time to time. Salary: up to £40,000 (depending on experience) + benefits  We’re looking for: -    Someone that’s passionate about fashion and the luxury industry -    A minimum of 6-12 months industry experience -    An end to end product designer with a slight leaning towards UI -    Polished craft and aesthetics  I see this as an amazing opportunity to join and have substantial impact on a iconic fashion brand by building their products almost from the ground up!  We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Junior/Mid-Level Product Designer - luxury/fashion brand

Currently working with a forward thinking and innovative consultancy that focuses on helping clients build great products and services.&nbsp; Some of the clients they work with include: Nike, Post Office, HP, The Economist, River Island, NatWest, etc.&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll be working on a variety of projects always in collaboration with a lead designer and a strategist. Main scope of the role is to identify key problems and come up with innovative solutions by prototyping some exceptional digital products. &nbsp; For this role you must have: - &nbsp; &nbsp;Agency or consultancy experience - &nbsp; &nbsp;A leaning towards UX and Strategy&nbsp; - &nbsp; &nbsp;Great Stakeholder management skills Design Team: They have a well-established design team now made of 2 lead designers, 1 senior designer, 2 mid-level designers and 1 junior + there&rsquo;s a team of strategists.&nbsp; Location: East London.&nbsp;Expectation is to go into the office at least once a week.&nbsp; Salary: up to &pound;65,000 (depending on experience) + benefits I see this as the perfect opportunity for designers to work on a variety of different projects, for some very well-known companies, brainstorming innovative ideas in collaboration with a team of incredibly talented designers. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you&rsquo;re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp&trade; accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Senior Product Designer - Consultancy

Currently working with an all-in-one platform that provides hoteliers with everything they need to attract guests, handle bookings and craft exceptional guest experiences in a simple and easy way.&nbsp; All features are in one centralized tool, that aims to make this software accessible to every hotelier in the world - whether they are in the heart of Paris or the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia. They are looking for a Senior Product Designer to work end to end on the main platform, designing and improving new features, managing stakeholders and converting data and user feedback into tangible digital outcomes.&nbsp; The role reports into the VP Product, but overall product have a team of 10 across design, product and tech.&nbsp; Salary: up to 65,000 euros (depending on experience)&nbsp;+ share scheme + benefits (see attached PDF)&nbsp; IV Process: currently shaping the interview process but the aim if for you to meet the talent team, VP of product and the reast of the product team and finally one of the founders.&nbsp; Location: Rda. de Sant Pere, 52, 08010 Barcelona, Spain. 3 days/week in the office + 12 days a year remote.&nbsp; The ideal candidate for this role would&rsquo;ve worked end to end on complex SaaS platforms before, ideally used to that start-up environments and willing to have a great impact on the overall product.&nbsp; If you think this is you then click the apply button! :) We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you&rsquo;re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp&trade; accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Senior Product Designer - Travel Start-Up

Product Designer (3 Months – Inside IR35) We are looking for a Product Designer to join a widely recognised fintech client for a 3-month project. This candidate will ideally need to be immediately available to start within a week.   Key Points: <ul><li>UX leaning with demonstratable experience of a solid design thinking approach.</li><li>Confident with User Research (will work with a research team)</li><li>Able to utilise customer data to influence decisions</li><li>Able to be resilient in explaining design decisions to stakeholders</li><li>Confident in using Figma as the main tool</li></ul> We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Product Designer

Product Designer (3 Months &ndash; Inside IR35) We are looking for a Product Designer to join a widely recognised fintech client for a 3-month project. This candidate will ideally need to be immediately available to start within a week. &nbsp; Key Points: 
<ul>
<li>UX leaning with demonstratable experience of a solid design thinking approach.</li>
<li>Confident with User Research (will work with a research team)</li>
<li>Able to utilise customer data to influence decisions</li>
<li>Able to be resilient in explaining design decisions to stakeholders</li>
<li>Confident in using Figma as the main tool</li>
</ul>
 We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you&rsquo;re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp&trade; accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Have you ever thought about moving to Spain? 😊 Currently working with an all-in-one platform that provides hoteliers with everything they need to attract guests, handle bookings and craft exceptional guest experiences in a simple and easy way.&nbsp; All features are in one centralized tool, that aims to make this software accessible to every hotelier in the world - whether they are in the heart of Paris or the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia. They are looking for a Senior Product Designer to work end to end on the main platform, designing and improving new features, managing stakeholders and converting data and user feedback into tangible digital outcomes.&nbsp; The role reports into the VP Product, but overall product have a team of 10 across design, product and tech.&nbsp; Salary: up to 65,000 euros (depending on experience)&nbsp;+ share scheme + benefits (see attached PDF)&nbsp; IV Process: currently shaping the interview process but the aim if for you to meet the talent team, VP of product and the reast of the product team and finally one of the founders.&nbsp; Location: Rda. de Sant Pere, 52, 08010 Barcelona, Spain. 3 days/week in the office + 12 days a year remote. Plus they offer: - &nbsp; &nbsp;Visa sponsorships - &nbsp; &nbsp;Relocation budgets - &nbsp; &nbsp;Tax advantages if you move to Spain The ideal candidate for this role would&rsquo;ve worked end to end on complex SaaS platforms before, ideally used to that start-up environments and willing to have a great impact on the overall product.&nbsp; If you think this is you then click the apply button! :) We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you&rsquo;re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp&trade; accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

I have partnered with a leading Experience Design Consultancy to help them hire a Senior or Lead Level Designer into their team…   The business was founded over 10 years ago, and prides itself on being a small-mid size Consultancy with a diverse offering to their clients – there is a core focus on creating effective innovation, as well as supporting large programmes of strategic, design-led change within small (start-ups) through to global organisations. Recent projects have included: <ul><li>A long-term retained relationship to support a global financial services business with both core product as well as innovation work.</li></ul><ul><li>A strategic Service and Experience Design project with a well-known Travel-Hospitality business.</li></ul><ul><li>Developing a game-changing digital product to help improve the lives of those living with progressive illnesses.</li></ul>  Reporting into the Head of Experience Design, you will be working alongside a Lead experience designer, as well as two mid-level Experience Designers – sometimes working on the same client as a larger team, but often working as smaller pods across a variety of clients. You’re going to be a great fit for this role if your skill-set encompasses the following, as this is what you’re likely to be focusing the vast majority of your time on here: <ul><li>User Research – Experience utilising different Research methods (primarily Qual), and both shaping as well as executing on Research plans. </li><li>Experience Strategy – Shaping this both internally and externally with clients </li><li>“Core” UX skills – Journey mapping, Wireframing, Prototyping, Sketching etc… </li></ul>They would also love to hire someone who enjoys (and excels) in the conceptual, less defined areas of projects – they see close collaboration between UX and Visual Designers as essential, and collaborating closely to develop highly usable, beautiful products and services. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Lead Experience Designer

Currently working with a forward thinking and innovative consultancy that focuses on helping clients build great products and services.&nbsp; Some of the clients they work with include: Nike, Post Office, HP, The Economist, River Island, NatWest, etc.&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll be working on a variety of projects always in collaboration with a lead designer and a strategist. Main scope of the role is to identify key problems and come up with innovative solutions by prototyping some exceptional digital products. &nbsp; For this role you must have: - &nbsp; &nbsp;Agency or consultancy experience - &nbsp; &nbsp;A leaning towards UX and Strategy&nbsp; - &nbsp; &nbsp;Great Stakeholder management skills Design Team: They have a well-established design team now made of 2 lead designers, 1 senior designer, 2 mid-level designers and 1 junior + there&rsquo;s a team of strategists.&nbsp; Location: East London.&nbsp;Expectation is to go into the office at least once a week.&nbsp; Salary: up to &pound;65,000 (depending on experience) + benefits I see this as the perfect opportunity for designers to work on a variety of different projects, for some very well-known companies, brainstorming innovative ideas in collaboration with a team of incredibly talented designers.&nbsp; We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you&rsquo;re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp&trade; accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

I am currently working with a strategic design firm who is looking for a French speaking Project Manager for an 8 week project  About the role, <ul><li>They are designing and launching the first app for a French client in the Educational sector.</li><li>They have finished the POC and testing phase and now building the MVP.</li><li>The MVP will be built by a 3rd party based in India who run delivery platform, and they will have a UX designer sitting in London. </li></ul>About Contract <ul><li>8 weeks potentially longer</li><li>£350 - £450 a day inside IR35</li><li>Start ASAP</li><li>Remote</li></ul> We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Project Manager | French Speaking

Creative Technologist  We are looking for a Creative Technologist who work with a design team to build out the front and back end for a prototype which could make a tangible impact within the healthcare sector.   You will: <ul><li>Be responsible for both the front-end and back-end aspects of the prototype</li><li>Work on the back-end development and collaborate with the designer to create the front-end</li><li>Work to create a prototype that the internal team can beta test</li><li>Collaborate closely with designer and researcher to define the approach to prototype</li></ul>  Experience: <ul><li>Experience deploying products that are actively used</li><li>Experience in full stack development</li><li>Experience working in a team with researchers and designers</li></ul>  Nice to have: <ul><li>Have experience experimenting with Language Models (LLMs)</li><li>Experience in Machine Learning APIs</li></ul> We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Creative Technologist 

We are seeking a Lead Product Designer for an iconic women's fashion and lifestyle publication owned by a renowned media company.  Based from the client's fantastic offices in Central London 2-3 days a week and the remainder of the week remote. You must have strong design and story-telling skills and e-commerce experience, as well as good business acumen.  The client has exciting digital growth plans and is looking for innovative individuals keen to grow with the business. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Lead Commerce Designer - Iconic Fashion Magazine

UX Designer  I am on the lookout for a UX Designer to join a leading online publishing client. Key Requirements: 1) Contribute to the gathering of UX requirements for platform components and features. 2) Produce UX documentation and artefacts – system flows, user flows, site maps, wireframes, templates etc - informed by UX research and user insights. 3) Produce prototypes to test concepts. 4) Work with developers to ensure the feasibility of design solutions and review their implementation during UAT post development work. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

UX Designer

Senior User Researcher We are looking for a User Researcher to join a widely recognised client within the publishing space.   Key Points: <ul><li>Work closely with our Senior UX Researcher to identify research opportunities and plan the most appropriate user research studies.</li><li>Create research plans, participate in recruitment, and develop research materials, such as interview guides and surveys.</li><li>Conduct user research studies applying a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, such as user interviews, surveys, and usability tests.</li><li>Analyze research data and communicate actionable user insights in a clear and compelling manner to the product teams.</li><li>Create research deliverables such as reports, presentations, and visualizations to communicate research findings.</li></ul> We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Senior User Researcher

We are seeking a Lead Product Designer for an iconic women's fashion and lifestyle publication owned by a renowned media company.&nbsp; Based from the client's fantastic offices in Central London 2-3 days a week and the remainder of the week remote. You must have strong design and story-telling skills and e-commerce experience, as well as good business acumen.&nbsp; The client has exciting digital growth plans and is looking for innovative individuals keen to grow with the business.
 We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you&rsquo;re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp&trade; accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Creative Technologist&nbsp; We are looking for a Creative Technologist who works with a design team to build out the front and back end for a prototype which could make a tangible impact within the healthcare sector. You will:
<ul>
<li>Be responsible for both the front-end and back-end aspects of the prototype</li>
<li>Work on the back-end development and collaborate with the designer to create the front-end</li>
<li>Work to create a prototype that the internal team can beta test</li>
<li>Collaborate closely with the designer and researcher to define the approach to the prototype</li>
</ul>
 Experience:
<ul>
<li>Experience deploying products that are actively used</li>
<li>Experience in full stack development</li>
<li>Experience working in a team with researchers and designers</li>
</ul>
 Nice to have:
<ul>
<li>Have experience experimenting with Language Models (LLMs)</li>
<li>Experience in Machine Learning APIs</li>
</ul>
 We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you&rsquo;re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp&trade; accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.

Currently working with an innovative app that&rsquo;s creating an NFT reward system for your day to day actions, activities and engagement data. They call it the movement economy, a way to be in control of your data and make informed decisions by harnessing the collective power of real-world actions. &nbsp;&nbsp; They are also in a pretty good place financially, they are privately funded with a clear run path for the next 18 months. Team: At the moment the company counts a total of 9 people. &nbsp;Currently their CPO is doing user research and gathering some feedback but you&rsquo;ll be working end to end once you join them. You&rsquo;ll be working closely with the head of engineering, CTO and PM. &nbsp; Projects: You&rsquo;ll be working on their Native App. The product is currently in dark mode and needs to be taken to the next level. A chance to massively scale and develop the product before it hits the market!&nbsp; You must have:&nbsp; - &nbsp; &nbsp;Design Systems experience&nbsp; - &nbsp; &nbsp;Worked closely with PM and Engineers in agile environments - &nbsp; &nbsp;Worked on a native apps&nbsp; Salary: up to &pound;90,000 (depending on experience) Location: West London. Initial expectation is to go to the office twice a week. &nbsp; 3 stage interview process:&nbsp; - &nbsp; &nbsp;Initial 30 min screening call&nbsp; - &nbsp; &nbsp;45 min video conversation with the leadership team.&nbsp; - &nbsp; &nbsp;90 min portfolio review on google meet + whiteboard exercise.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s an exciting opportunity to have a huge impact on a new tech product that could potentially disrupt the market. Here at Futureheads, we encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you&rsquo;re working with us.

Senior Product Designer - Decentralised Application

SERVICE DESIGNER (SC CLEARED) We are looking for an SC Cleared Service Designer to jump onto a project at the end of May for a public sector client. Key Points:
<ul>
<li>Experience leading discovery phase.</li>
<li>Ability to create assets like journey maps, personas, and service blueprints.</li>
<li>Organisational change experience.</li>
<li>Highly client facing / agency and consulting experience.</li>
</ul>
 Here at Futureheads, we encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you&rsquo;re working with us.

Service Designer (SC)

Did you know that as many as 70% of employers screen candidates by looking them up online? If you&rsquo;re considering finding a new role, your online presence can matter just as much as your CV. In this blog we explore how to make sure your personal brand is employer-friendly, plus how you can take that a step further and create an online presence that helps you stand out from the crowd.

<h3>First thing&rsquo;s first &ndash; do your housekeeping</h3>
We&rsquo;ve all been tagged in unflattering pictures on Facebook before, or shared Buzzfeed quizzes that were funnier at the time. If you&rsquo;d rather potential employers didn&rsquo;t see what you were up to in your student days, you could go through the process of untagging old pictures and deleting old posts, but this can be onerous. So, the swiftest solution is to change your profile settings to private on Facebook and Instagram.
To be extra cautious, do a quick Google search of your name and see what comes up. This way you can check that your digital footprint e.g. old blogs or unused profiles, doesn&rsquo;t include any surprises (to you &ndash; or anyone else!).
<h3>Next step &ndash; polish up your profile</h3>
If employers are searching for you online, you generally want LinkedIn to be the place they find you, because this is where you&rsquo;ll be presenting yourself professionally. Twitter can be good too, depending on your industry and how much time you have available.
With that in mind, think about how you can get your profile in good shape.
<h3>Is your profile picture up to date? Is it good quality, friendly and approachable, professional looking? If not, it&rsquo;s time to get it updated!&nbsp;Have you filled out all the profile details? Are your experience and descriptions up-to-date? Make sure you update this regularly so potential employers know you are proactive.&nbsp;Think about key words. What are the core skills required for the field you want to move into? Make sure these are focussed on throughout all sections and ask connections to endorse you for them too.&nbsp;Have you got recommendations? The more the better &ndash; these are a great way to advertise your skills! Consider direct messaging some former colleagues to ask them if they can do one for you &ndash; they&rsquo;re even more likely to do it if you write one for them first so it&rsquo;s worth spending a bit of time here.&nbsp;Make connections &ndash; we&rsquo;d say aim to add someone new at least once a week.Think about what you post</h3>
Whichever platforms you&rsquo;re now using, thinking about what you post is always crucial. You have an opportunity to build a presence, show who you are and establish yourself within your industry, but you want your updates to be interesting, relevant and inclusive.
It&rsquo;s really helpful to have some organising ideas behind what you post &ndash; here&rsquo;s some ideas of where you can start.
<h4>What to post:</h4>
Sharing industry related content &ndash; this can be developments in your field, news stories, and topical subjects that are trending. Showing your finger is on the pulse within your sector is a great way to show potential employers that you&rsquo;re engaged in what you do!&nbsp;Work related content &ndash; this is a great way to shout about your successes or showcase your areas of interest. Remember, your challenges can be successes too, if you can show how you tackled them, and people will value your honesty and authenticity if you do this well.&nbsp;&lsquo;Behind the scenes&rsquo; posts &ndash; having a balance of content related to yourself personally helps build a picture of who you are as an individual. Consider whether you can take a quick picture &ndash; or even better, a video &ndash; of yourself at work with an update on something interesting that happened in your day.&nbsp;Engage with others &ndash; building your profile isn&rsquo;t just about your own posts, it&rsquo;s making connections and taking part in conversations, so aim to comment on someone else&rsquo;s update at least once a week.These tips give you an idea of what to post, now we&rsquo;ll explore how to go about posting on social media.
<h4>How to post:</h4>
There are lots of tools out there that can help you find useful content to share &ndash; Google Alerts, Google Trends and Exploding Topics are good places to start &ndash; so a lot of the leg work of searching is done for you.&nbsp;Think about your tone of voice &ndash; this should be consistent, informative and use your own words to be reflective of your personality.&nbsp;Ask yourself why your audience will find what you&rsquo;re sharing interesting and focus on that with a pithy, informative paragraph. Include your personal take on the subject &ndash; personal brand is all about showcasing your unique point of view.&nbsp;It goes without saying that you should ideally avoid any controversial opinions online, and humour is great, but avoid sarcasm &ndash; make sure nothing you say online could be misinterpreted and found offensive.&nbsp;Lastly, think about how often you post &ndash; we suggest that between 2 &ndash; 3 posts a week is a realistic goal especially when balancing other work commitments.You may be intending to find a new job in the near future, or you&rsquo;re happily settled in your current role, but even so, it&rsquo;s worth considering the above to lay the groundwork for when you do decide to move on.
If you&rsquo;re ready to look for new work opportunities, contact our team of expert recruiters on&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="mailto:team@wearefutureheads.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">team@wearefutureheads.co.uk</a>

How to maximise your employee brand online in 2022

Jonathan is the Chief of Staff at Lightful, a technology company for social good, who support charities through consultancy, social media products and a unique online learning programme.

He&rsquo;s spent 15 years working in tech for good, first for over a decade at JustGiving where he managed their Crowdfunding product from an idea to raising &pound;100m in five years, and more recently as an independent consultant supporting a range of small and large tech-for-good startups and charities with strategy, growth, product management and business model validation.
&nbsp;
Jonathan spoke to Futureheads as part of our FFS series, a regular interview series where business and industry leaders share their insights and personal experience. Other articles in the series can be found here.
&nbsp;
1. Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business?
The most obvious impact, as with many others, is that we&rsquo;re now a fully remote company. We decided to move to working from home a week before the lockdown started, so we&rsquo;re now in week 7 and the team has adjusted really well &ndash; we have always encouraged flexible working, and so most people were used to working remote work some of the time already.
&nbsp;
We&rsquo;re also fortunate that our main clients have also managed the transition to remote work and we&rsquo;ve been able to continue delivering excellent work for them.
&nbsp;
The charity sector has been hit very hard &ndash; with huge declines in income and huge increases in demand for services &ndash; so we&rsquo;ve adapted to support it in multiple different ways. We&rsquo;ve had to cancel some in-person events, but we have always run regular webinars for charities and so we have increased the frequency of them, and covered more topics like top tips for getting better at online meetings and free digital tools for charities.
&nbsp;
2. How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?
We have two &lsquo;all-hands&rsquo; meetings a week now. One was a regular operational meetup to share important information which has moved online. But we also added a new &lsquo;WFH update&rsquo; at the end of every week for a chance to share any more news, and where different team members share two things they&rsquo;re grateful for and one thing they&rsquo;d wish to see.
&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s a great way to foster a sense of connection when we&rsquo;re all apart, as is showcasing each team&rsquo;s work from the sprint. We are also sharing tips on a very active and engaged #work-from-home slack channel.
&nbsp;
As for hiring, we&rsquo;re having more video interviews with different team members to make sure everybody gets honest and good insights. We&rsquo;re also making COVID-19 topic we cover &ndash; both in terms of its impact on us and our partners, but also as a way to ask how people deal with stressful situations, how they are coping and how they respond to constraints by being creative or solving problems.
&nbsp;
3. What are your top tips for successfully managing a remote recruitment
process?
For recruitment, we&rsquo;ve tried to increase communication and transparency. Both internally and externally. In terms of onboarding, we&rsquo;ve made use of various online tools (zoom, slack, HR software) to make the process smoother, but are also erring on the side of over-communicating to help people start well.
&nbsp;
We&rsquo;re trying to set really clear expectations for the first few weeks, months and probation in general. As well as that, we&rsquo;re getting more of the team involved in onboarding and connecting with new joiners.
&nbsp;
4. Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?
Yes, in terms of how important it is for us to fulfil our vision: we believe those doing the greatest good deserve the best technology. For example, we run a 12-month programme to support charities in building resilience in digital engagement, and we&rsquo;re adapting that to include topics related to COVID-19 and the lockdown. We&rsquo;re committed more than ever to delivering support to our charity partners at a time when the need is even greater.
&nbsp;
5. What advice would you give to anyone in a similar position to you at
the moment?
To start, here are eight tips for managing remote teams from our wonderful HR team. We&rsquo;re also working hard on checking in on the team&rsquo;s wellbeing and mental health &ndash; everyone has a &lsquo;WFH buddy&rsquo; outside of their immediate team who they&rsquo;re encouraged to talk to, and we&rsquo;ve done regular surveys to see if anyone needs anything &ndash; be that equipment or a chat.
&nbsp;
In addition, we&rsquo;re making a lot of effort to build and maintain a virtual company culture through virtual coffees, WFH tips and regular Friday showcases of the work different teams across the company are doing. We&rsquo;ve had really good feedback about the variety of things we&rsquo;re doing, so it&rsquo;s also really important to listen and adapt &ndash; what was appropriate in weeks 1-2 of lockdown may not be relevant from weeks 6 or 7.
&nbsp;
All in all, it&rsquo;s a delicate balancing act between trying to deliver excellent value to customers as best you can in difficult circumstances, whilst listening and responding to the needs of your team. This needs regular attention and commitment to get right.
&nbsp;

Futureheads Five Stories: Jonathan Waddingham

Mags Hanley is a career coach, mentor and trainer, based in Melbourne Australia. She has worked in UX for over 25 years in the US, UK and Australia. Her passion is to help UX professionals find into the roles that suits them best.
She works with primarily with senior practitioners moving into leadership, and senior women defining their role for the next phase of their lives. She has recently launched a new 8-week programme The Way Forward for senior women in digital.
You can connect with Mags on&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/magshanley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn</a>&nbsp;or read her latest blogs on her&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://magshanley.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">website.</a>

<h2>What&rsquo;s the story of your career so far?</h2>
I started in digital when it was called Multi-Media. I fell into the work, having trained as a librarian and graduated in a recession &ndash; no grad positions for me!
My first role was at Yellow Pages in Australia as a Cybrarian &ndash; so 1990s. As we were all making it up, I asked if I could look after the search engine, because I knew how people searched &ndash; and my career as an IA started.
I&rsquo;ve lived and worked in the US and UK for 15 years, and have been back in Australia for 5 &frac12; years.
My career has been varied; an IA, project manager, product manager, Head of UX, Executive Producer, Consultant. The one I love the most is Career coach, Mentor and Trainer.
In the last year, I have developed a practice supporting senior practitioners move into leadership, and women in Design to thrive in their careers.
&nbsp;
<h2>What&rsquo;s the most important lesson you&rsquo;ve learnt over the course of your career?</h2>
Be authentic and true to yourself!
I love managing people and products, and seeing both grow, but I have struggled all of my career managing up. I&rsquo;ve improved over time, working relationships with the mostly male leadership, but this has been my greatest weakness.
To move into the higher levels of digital management I felt I wasn&rsquo;t myself; I had to be less emotional, female, and kind. I left my last job feeling disheartened, stressed and unconfident in my skills.
I saw Bren&eacute; Brown speak a week after leaving that job, and did the Value assessment. I realised I was not living my values of authenticity and kindness. So any new opportunity must match my values.
&nbsp;
<h2>How can organisations ensure they thrive, rather than simply survive, as they attempt to return to a &lsquo;new&rsquo; normal over the next few months?</h2>
There are a number of realisations for organisations:
<ol>
<li>The commute to the inner city office is wasted time &ndash; people love the extra time with their families.</li>
<li>Knowledge workers can be productive working from home. I&rsquo;ve had a number of bosses who have actively discouraged it, thinking we were skiving off.</li>
<li>Child care and flexibility is important to keep women in the workforce. The burden of looking after children intensified as women worked from home.</li>
</ol>
To thrive, organisations should look at what worked well &ndash; with their staff &ndash; and leverage it.
They should:
Plan for the majority of staff to work from home&nbsp;Reimagine work spaces as distributed hubs where people come in collaborate&nbsp;Find the best online tools for collaboration&nbsp;Provide support for their team&rsquo;s mental health&nbsp;Used the money saved from corporate office leases to include child care in their benefits packages&nbsp;
<h2>You&rsquo;ve recently written a blog about the challenges faced by women in UX and in particular by those women who are well into their careers &ndash; can you tell us more about that, and how women can really exploit the opportunities available to them in the digital workplace?</h2>
Many of my peers have been 20-25 years in digital; we are now considering what&rsquo;s next. How can we use our skills and experience in work that gives us joy?
Interface design is commoditised, creating pixel perfect prototypes; it&rsquo;s not the space we want to play in.
We do deep thinking, breaking apart problems and putting together solutions. My friend Tom Coates describes it as finding the nugget of truth that the rest of the model hangs off.
I am introducing the concept of Elder for women in Design; someone brings a depth of experience and wisdom to a role.
Elders don&rsquo;t have to be a Head or Director, they are Certain of their value and place; Grown and grounded in their skills and experience, and a Model by the way they behave, speak and write.
Once we know who and what we offer, we can then find those opportunities.
&nbsp;
<h2>What&rsquo;s going to be the biggest challenge in your particular industry over the next 12 months?</h2>
The biggest challenge for women in digital is learning how to blend all aspects of your life into the work you do. We need to find the right blend that gives us financial stability, life with our families, and joy in work.
With the ongoing instability of COVID pandemic changing the way we work, the next 12 months will be stressful. Women need to find their stable base for their lives, learning how to flex with working from home and the rest of life.
It&rsquo;s not about being a superwoman, but finding what new normal feels like and working with it. We have moved from pandemic crisis mode into living with the pandemic; therefore we need change our lives in response to it.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Futureheads Five Stories – Margaret Hanley

Our Futureheads #FutureorFantasy LinkedIn poll series has been regularly asking you whether the latest recruitment industry trends are future-gazing innovations, or fictional fantasies. From out-of-the-box technology and work life trends to the latest digital recruitment tactics, we&rsquo;ve collated five of the biggest outtakes from your responses. Turns out our followers are mostly forward thinkers happy to roll with technological advancements. Discover the trends that we predict will shape the future of work and recruitment.

<h2>1. Remote working positions shouldn&rsquo;t be paid based on location</h2>
With a huge&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6861703263767539712?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6861703263767539712%29" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">79% of voters believing that remote working positions shouldn&rsquo;t be paid based on their home location</a>, it&rsquo;s clear most agree that salary should be based on productivity and output. If an employee&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/location-based-pay-salary-cut-remote-work-pay_l_615c7ccee4b0896dd1a985d0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">quality&nbsp;of work isn&rsquo;t affected by where they work</a>, why should salary be impacted?
However there are other important factors to consider here &ndash; like the differences in&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220127-location-based-salary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">costs in-office, hybrid and remote employees will face</a>&nbsp;based on where they choose to carry out their working day. Although remote workers are saving time and money by cancelling out the commute to work, a rise in household bills becomes a bigger contender to battle with through the decision to work from home. Nevertheless, four out of five were sure that remote working positions should not be paid based on location.
<img src="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Future-or-fantasy-1.png" width="800" height="419">
&nbsp;
<h2>2. We are ready to champion the use of the new virtual world to carry out interviews</h2>
Since the launch of the Metaverse, the virtual platform has been getting a Marmite response &ndash; with some ready to embrace its innovative tech offering, and others remaining sceptical. But, with&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6895304764767182848" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">31.5% of voters championing the use of the new virtual world to carry out interviews</a>, can it still be argued that the platform has a lot of potential when it comes to guiding recruitment processes and shifting recruitment industry trends? Unlike Zoom and other interactive video platforms, the Metaverse creates a virtual space that&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/12/13/remote-work-job-interviews-business-meetings-and-live-events-will-all-be-conducted-on-the-meterverse-in-the-near-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">allows you to engage and interact with prospective employees in an almost tangible environment</a>&nbsp;through augmented reality (AR) technology.
But, what downsides does the Metaverse bring? The seemingly unlimited&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.dataprotectionreport.com/2022/01/privacy-in-a-parallel-digital-universe-the-metaverse/#:~:text=One%20aspect%20of%20the%20metaverse,a%20much%20more%20intimate%20manner." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new virtual world can be hard to monitor and control</a>, which poses particular challenges when conducting interviews of a confidential nature. Also, the platform relies largely on accurate digital personas for its users, and the technology that allows for the creation of life-like virtual realities&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.dataprotectionreport.com/2022/01/privacy-in-a-parallel-digital-universe-the-metaverse/#:~:text=One%20aspect%20of%20the%20metaverse,a%20much%20more%20intimate%20manner." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">shares large amounts of personal data</a>&nbsp;and is&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/12/13/remote-work-job-interviews-business-meetings-and-live-events-will-all-be-conducted-on-the-meterverse-in-the-near-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">still being developed</a>. This has inevitably left some sceptical about the roll out of the Metaverse in the early stages of its development.
<img src="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Future-or-Fantasy-8.png" width="800" height="450">
&nbsp;
<h2>3. &lsquo;Hot-desking&rsquo; is the future of managing hybrid working structures</h2>
We asked you whether or not you think hot-desking is a viable solution to managing hybrid working structures, and&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6902279648546308097" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">68% voted for it</a>. Hot-desking can provide a flexible working environment for those without a designated desk space at home or in-office, or for employees who find it difficult to find a productive mindset when working from home.
However, studies find that having to constantly move from desk to desk at the end of each working day makes it&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/location-based-pay-salary-cut-remote-work-pay_l_615c7ccee4b0896dd1a985d0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">harder for employees to settle into the working environment that surrounds them</a>&nbsp;&ndash; taking away their sense of belonging, and often the ability to fully get used to their role. But, it&rsquo;s not all doom and gloom. Having a firmly rooted&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/news-and-views/our-edi-journey-so-far-and-changes-your-business-can-start-making-today/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ED&amp;I policy</a>&nbsp;that feeds into workplace practices will help to create a hybrid structure that works to build an environment where employees feel comfortable, and ultimately motivated to achieve, wherever they chose to work.
<img src="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Future-or-Fantasy-9-2000x1125.png" width="800" height="450">
&nbsp;
<h2>4. The UK wants to see the four day week implemented across the UK</h2>
Unsurprisingly, a huge majority of&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6907332718024392704" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">85% voted to support the implementation of the four day week across the UK</a>&nbsp;to help establish a healthier work life balance. With a number of&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57724779" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">European countries now trialling this new work life structure</a>&nbsp;and finding employees to be happier and healthier whilst maintaining productivity, there is undeniably a lot of evidence to support the high success rate of the four day working week.
But, without a change in workload, is it naive to think that an eight hour reduction in working hours will actually reduce stress amongst employees, or could it&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.changerecruitmentgroup.com/knowledge-centre/the-pros-and-cons-of-a-4-day-working-week#:~:text=Not%20only%20does%20a%204,their%20productivity%20or%20company%20output." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">exacerbate stress levels as people race to complete tasks in less time</a>? Also, a&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2022/02/14/should-businesses-follow-a-four-day-workweek-entrepreneurs-weigh-in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dip in client satisfaction</a>&nbsp;could be experienced here, as access hours are subsequently reduced as the working week is shortened. The good news is that, if&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2022/02/14/should-businesses-follow-a-four-day-workweek-entrepreneurs-weigh-in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">managed properly with a correct and bespoke approach for your company</a>, these drawbacks can be addressed and monitored to make the four day week work for everyone in the long run.
<img src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCA4MDAgNDUwJz48L3N2Zz4=" width="800" height="450">
&nbsp;
<h2>5. Participants voted against the use of AI-led interviews in recruitment processes</h2>
A resounding&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6912415862809407490" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">81% of participants voted against the use of AI-led interviews in recruitment processes</a>, suggesting that short, informal video clips are the alternative recruitment industry trend to streamline the search for new talent. Many hold the idea that AI-led interviews strip away a necessary human touch and it&rsquo;s clear to see why candidates would favour a more personal and informal alternative to what could be a regimented and rigid video interview. Also, AI-led interviews run the risk of&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://hbr.org/2022/01/where-automated-job-interviews-fall-short" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inaccurately capturing depictions of each candidates&rsquo; strengths and weaknesses</a>&nbsp;&ndash; becoming an inefficient strategy to adopt.
But, with the war for talent raging on in a hugely candidate-led market, it&rsquo;s understandable why recruiters, and firms looking to onboard new employees, may turn to these tactics in order to&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://fortune.com/2021/06/18/job-interview-artificial-intelligence-remote-online/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">save time and resources when screening prospective candidates</a>. This battle definitely lies between the expectations of the candidate and the employers&rsquo; (or recruiters&rsquo;) scarcity of time.
<img src="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Future-or-Fantasy-11.png" width="800" height="450">
&nbsp;
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
So, there you have it. Our five biggest findings on recruitment industry trends from our #FutureorFantasy poll series. If you want to hear more from Futureheads on the recruitment industry trends that are set to change the working landscape as we know it, then look out for our brand new LinkedIn series, #WorkLifeWednesdays.
Plus, get in touch with our Futureheads experts today to find out how we can help you navigate shifting recruitment strategies when applying for a new role:&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="http://www.wearefutureheads.co.uk/contact-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.wearefutureheads.co.uk/contact-us/</a>
<h5>Tags:</h5>
<ul>
<li><a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/tag/recruitment-industry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recruitment industry</a><a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/tag/remote-working/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remote working</a></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

Five Recruitment Industry Trends – The Future or Fantasy?

The agency (Futureheads Recruitment) is looking to expand into the region after seeing strong growth in a number of key UK cities

Digital recruitment agency Futureheads Recruitment has hired an ex-Sage executive and opened a Tyneside office to break into the northern market.
&nbsp;
Susan Miller is heading up the firm&rsquo;s new office, in Dobson House, Newcastle, and has already recruited four new team members with further hires planned this year.
&nbsp;
The company was established in 2009 by four co-founders, including North East entrepreneur Charlie Hoult, and its recruiters specialise in digital engineering, user experience and service design, tech development and testing, and product and project management across part-time and full-time roles.
&nbsp;
Futureheads currently employs about 60 people &ndash; and the team has almost doubled in size over the last 12 months. Business growth has been particularly strong in Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh &ndash; and London, where growth doubled last year.
&nbsp;
Ms Miller explained: &ldquo;The company&rsquo;s recent growth has been impressive and the time was right to look for an office outside of London. I&rsquo;ll be joined in our new office by four recruitment consultants, and we&rsquo;re also looking for a senior recruiter to support me.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our flexible, hybrid way of working means that our teams are connected to a base, but can work from home when they need to.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our new base is partially a reaction to becoming a more distributed workforce, post pandemic, and partially to the company finding more clients outside of the capital.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;Futureheads is well-known and respected in London and its reputation is now spreading across the UK &ndash; our new Tyneside base will help with this. There is a lively, vibrant tech sector in the North East and we&rsquo;re looking forward to being part of it and working with companies and organisations of all sizes.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Nathan Callaghan, Futureheads&rsquo; MD based at the company&rsquo;s London HQ, added: &ldquo;Charlie Hoult&rsquo;s role as a co-founder of Futureheads means that we&rsquo;ve always had an interest &ndash; and connection &ndash; in the North East, but our reason for choosing Newcastle as a new base was also to do with Susan&rsquo;s leadership and development knowledge and experience. After meeting her, we knew she&rsquo;d be a great fit for the company and it made sense to build a team around her in her native North East.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;Charlie&rsquo;s connections in the region are a huge, added bonus, as is the region&rsquo;s proximity to the Scottish market.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;Covid has fundamentally changed the way in which so many companies work &ndash; in creating our first hub, and there may be more on the way, we are keeping in step with our customer base, matching and mirroring the way in which our clients have changed their business model.&rdquo;

PRESS: Futureheads digital recruitment agency opens Tyneside office to break into North market

The gender gap across the tech industry is still prevalent. Futureheads&rsquo; co-founder, Be Kaler Pilgrim, was delighted to join forces with IT consulting firm, Waterstons, to discuss the importance of women in tech and what we can do to attract more women into technology careers.
&nbsp;

The panel discussion invited female employees, Nadine Musgrave, Eleni Charalambous and Rhianne Short &ndash; alongside Waterstons CEO, Michael Stirrup &ndash; to share their experiences of being a woman in the UK tech sector. Be facilitated the fascinating discussion on what they believe can be done to encourage more women to consider a career in tech.
&nbsp;
Like Futureheads, Waterstons is a female-founded business with women occupying roles across the organisation, including the senior leadership team and board, yet the team knows more needs to be done to create a truly inclusive workplace and hiring process.
&nbsp;
Be kicked off the panel sharing her experience of what businesses are doing wrong when it comes to identifying underrepresentation &ndash; and the top barriers to creating a truly inclusive hiring practice.
&nbsp;
There was a whole host of interesting soundbites shared during the panel and we&rsquo;ve gathered our top 6 key takeaways from the event.
&nbsp;
Create an equitable recruitment process
With ED&amp;I creeping up the agenda for most businesses, more companies are pledging to change their policies and procedures to attract a more diverse candidate pool. But what steps can businesses take to create real action? Be shared some of her key tips:
&nbsp;
Employer brand &ndash; how you speak about yourselves externally and internally as a business is key. The more you talk about your values and culture as one that champions diversity, the more likely you are to attract talent that aligns to that. Inclusive language &ndash; without thinking, we write job descriptions which immediately appeal to one gender more than another, but there are online tools that help avoid this. Diverse interview panel &ndash; if your interview panel isn&rsquo;t diverse, how can you expect your potential employees to be? Build your candidate pool &ndash; keep the chain of conversation open with those that are not suitable right now, but could be in the future. Have a slick strategy and process &ndash; only with a clear goal of creating an inclusive process, can you create real change.
Acknowledge you need to do more
Like Waterstons, many tech businesses today are progressive and forward-looking, but awareness of the need to do more is essential to making consistent change. Michael Stirrup, CEO of Waterstons, spoke of the businesses&rsquo; diverse leadership team, with a previous female CEO and female board members, and how he has personally worked and learned under female managers throughout his career. However, Michael acknowledged how this had encouraged an attitude of &lsquo;what&rsquo;s the problem?&rsquo;, with the business only reflecting in the last few years that diversity and inclusion is an ongoing project &ndash; and that there&rsquo;s always more to be done to encourage women in tech.
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&ldquo;As a tech business, we have a responsibility to nurture and progress the women in our team, no differently from the men &ndash; and ensure they do not face gender-based barriers.&rdquo;
Michael Stirrup, CEO of Waterstons
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Create visibility at all levels of the business
Nadine Musgrave, Associate Director spoke of first joining Waterstons 20 years ago and how it felt special to be part of a tech business founded and led by women. She highlighted the importance of these women as acting as a beacon for females to aspire too.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;It shows women what they can achieve in the tech industry and that they can be part of a sector that&rsquo;s rapidly growing. Having this visibility is key to breaking barriers and stereotypes of the tech industry as typically &lsquo;male&rsquo;.&rdquo;
Nadine Musgrave, Associate Director
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Champion working mums
Equally, the business had been very supportive of Nadine as a mum of twins, enabling her to progress her career whilst working part time. Working mums are often an overlooked and undervalued sector, but if nurtured, acknowledged and supported can be hugely beneficial for any business. The pandemic has proven that this flexibility works for all employees to the benefit of the business.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a big reason why I&rsquo;ve been here for 20 years. The values and culture of Waterstons has meant I never wanted to drift anywhere else. Yes, I&rsquo;ve had other challenges, but a business that would support me as a mum and allow me to continue my career has been key.&rdquo;
Nadine Musgrave, Associate Director
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Create psychological safety to discuss ED&amp;I
Technology Consultant, Eleni Charalambous, was next to be interviewed by Be &ndash; speaking of her positive experience as a female employee at Waterstons. Asked what she&rsquo;d like to see improved, she identiﬁed the gendered departments across the business, with client services being heavily female but that regardless of area of work, women naturally take on smaller admin tasks in meetings, such as writing notes. Likewise, she noted that it was a similar story for housework tasks in the office too, with female staff generally arranging drinks or cleaning away glasses in meetings.
&nbsp;
Be acknowledged how important it was to create a space to discuss these observations, highlighting that the biggest obstacle to progression is these conversations getting buried, and female staff not saying anything.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;At Futureheads, we commit to creating the psychological safety within our culture that enables every member of staff to discuss ED&amp;I in any capacity through a range of touchpoints, and to provide safe, confidential opportunities for staff to raise concerns.&rdquo;
Be Kaler Pilgrim, Futureheads&rsquo; co-founder
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Teach young women the variety of careers that exist within the tech sector
Be asked Rhianne Short, Information Security Consultant, for her thoughts on how businesses highlight the importance of women in tech and encourage more women into the tech sector.
&nbsp;
Rhianne highlighted how important it was to showcase the variety of roles in the tech industry &ndash; many of which would appeal to young women. She highlighted how females are less likely to consider roles in tech due to a misunderstanding about the skills needed, or available routes in.
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&ldquo;If I had known my role was in the tech industry, I may not have applied due to it being considered a&rsquo; male industry, however, since being at Waterstons, I&rsquo;ve realised that there are creative and people-focused roles. It&rsquo;s important we make young women aware of the careers available in the tech industry whilst at school and university&rdquo;.
Rhianne Short, Information Security Consultant
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Conclusion: What makes a workplace a good place for women to work?
Thanking the Waterstons panellists for their honesty and willingness to discuss the issue of diversity and inclusion so openly, Be concluded the panel with her top 10 factors for making workplaces a great place for women to work:
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Take into account outside demands Foster a community Investment Progression in leadership roles Representation Pay Measure and track employee satisfaction Two way communication &ndash; open feedback A mission/purpose Flexible benefits for leave
If you would like to discuss ED&amp;I with Futureheads to see how it could be improved at your workplace please contact nathan@wearefutureheads.co.uk
&nbsp;

How do we attract more women into tech? – a panel with Be Kaler Pilgrim and Waterstons

From helping shape the London-UX market from the early days, to running and sponsoring some of the most well-known UX networking events – our reputation holds in our ability to match top-tier UX practitioners into opportunities. 

<div class="row">
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 From helping shape the London-UX market from the early days, to running and sponsoring some of the most well-known UX networking events – our reputation holds in our ability to match top-tier UX practitioners into opportunities. 
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes practitioners with skills across:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>User Research</li>
 <li>Interaction Design​</li>
 <li>​UX Design</li>
 <li>Information Architecture</li>
 <li>​Service Design​</li>
 <li>Content Design</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

UX & Service Design

With positions across agencies, brands, start-ups and tech companies, we work with Creatives delivering new brands, campaigns and integrated experiences. From hiring freelance Creative Teams to your first in-house Copywriter, we’ve got it covered. 

<div class="row">
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 With positions across agencies, brands, start-ups and tech companies, we work with Creatives delivering new brands, campaigns and integrated experiences. From hiring freelance Creative Teams to your first in-house Copywriter, we’ve got it covered.
 </div>
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 <h5>Our network include professionals in:</h5> 
 <ul>
 <li>Motion Graphics & Video Editing</li>
 <li>Branding</li>
 <li>Copywriting</li>
 <li>Art Direction</li>
 <li>Illustration</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Creative

The complexities of AI and Machine learning, as well as the focus on data integrity, means hiring professionals with compliance, system integration and advanced analytics skills can be challenging. Our team is on hand to help with your Data recruitment needs.

<div class="row">
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 The complexities of AI and Machine learning, as well as the focus on data integrity, means hiring professionals with compliance, system integration and advanced analytics skills can be challenging. Our team is on hand to help with your Data recruitment needs.
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes professionals in:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Data Engineering</li>
 <li>Data Science</li>
 <li>​Data Analytics</li>
 <li>Business Intelligence</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Data

Part of our founding offering; since 2009 we have been part of the growth and evolution of the Design market in the UK – With a comprehensive network across all majors skill-sets we have consistently helped businesses hire world-class Design talent. 

<div class="row">
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 Part of our founding offering; since 2009 we have been part of the growth and evolution of the Design market in the UK – With a comprehensive network across all majors skill-sets we have consistently helped businesses hire world-class Design talent.
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5> Our network includes Designers with skills in:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Digital Product (UX/UI) Design</li>
 <li>User Interface (UI) Design</li>
 <li>​Visual Design</li>
 <li>Digital Design</li>
 <li>Marketing Design</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Design

We know that the world of Digital Marketing moves at a quick pace. Digital Devices, Digital Platforms, Digital Media, Digital Data, And Digital Technology never stops. This is why our teams are on hand to support these changing landscapes and are always ahead of the curve.

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 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 We know that the world of Digital Marketing moves at a quick pace. Digital Devices, Digital Platforms, Digital Media, Digital Data, And Digital Technology never stops. This is why our teams are on hand to support these changing landscapes and are always ahead of the curve.
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes professionals in</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)</li>
 <li>Pay-per-Click</li>
 <li>Social Media Marketing</li>
 <li>Content Marketing</li>
 <li>Email Marketing</li>
 <li>Mobile Marketing</li>
 <li>Marketing Analytics</li>
 <li>Affiliate Marketing</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Digital Marketing

Our niche is technical experts who specialise in IT and digital projects, across multiple platforms and technology stacks. Come and talk to us about all things engineering, from entry to CTO-Level.

<div class="row">
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 Our niche is technical experts who specialise in IT and digital projects, across multiple platforms and technology stacks. Come and talk to us about all things engineering, from entry to CTO-Level.
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes professionals across:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Front-end</li>
 <li>​Server-side​</li>
 <li>​Full-stack​</li>
 <li>Native Mobile​​</li>
 <li>Technical Architecture​​</li>
 <li>Solution Architecture​​</li>
 <li>Testing</li>
 <li>QA​​</li>
 <li>DevOps</li>
 <li>SRE</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Engineering

From recruiting your first Product Owner to hiring your next experienced Product Managers, our recruiters have developed a specialist network in the design and tech space. They have trusted experts in sourcing and delivering both permanent and contract professionals in the field.

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 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 From recruiting your first Product Owner to hiring your next experienced Product Managers, our recruiters have developed a specialist network in the design and tech space. They are trusted experts in sourcing and delivering both permanent and contract professionals in the field.
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Chief Product Officers (CPO)</li>
 <li>VP's of Product Management​</li>
 <li>Directors of Product Management</li>
 <li>Product Managers​​</li>
 <li>Product Owners</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Product

With a deep understanding of what is required from Project Managers and Programme Managers in the Digital and Tech space, we can help you find the talent to help you deliver better budget controls, communication, and reporting, to help you find ways to introduce new processes tools and technology that can support more efficient work delivery.

<div class="row">
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 With a deep understanding of what is required from Project Managers and Programme Managers in the Digital and Tech space, we can help you find the talent to help you deliver better budget controls, communication, and reporting, to help you find ways to introduce new processes tools and technology that can support more efficient work delivery. 
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Digital Project Managers</li>
 <li>Programme Managers</li>
 <li>Engineering Project Managers</li>
 <li>Software/IT Project Managers</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Project & Programme Management

Toby Thwaites

Toby joined Futureheads in 2011 as a Resourcer and one of the business's original recruits.
He now oversees all sales initiatives across the Futureheads business. Toby leads the Senior Sales management team in order to deliver an efficient, first-class experience to our clients and candidates.
When not at work, Toby loves countryside living with his partner and Labrador (Olive), good food, nurturing his garden, and going on new adventures.&nbsp;

Maria Jones

Maria manages the Contract Team at Futureheads.
Maria has worked in recruitment for around 10 years, and the majority of this has been within the Design &amp; creative sector.
When it comes to management, Maria focuses on each consultant's individual style of working and adapts her approach to how best she can support that. She believes in creating a team environment where consultants are set up and given the tools to be the best version of themselves every day.
Outside of work, Maria enjoys spending time with her family. She recently had a baby girl called Nancy, who keeps her busy. And when she and her friends can finally get a girls' day out in the diary, you will usually find them at some sort of bottomless brunch in London!&nbsp;

Joseph Cardone

Joseph is a UI and Product Design Senior Consultant for Futureheads.
He has a background in Sales and previously worked for companies such as Tesla and JIVR.&nbsp;As part of the Design Team at Futureheads Joseph works across a broad range of clients from small start-ups, consultancies/agencies and big brands. His main focus is working with permanent UI &amp; Product Designers.
Outside of work, Joseph is a DJ and Music Producer. He's been doing that for over 15 years. He's also a salsa dancer and loves to cook Italian food.&nbsp;

Jordan Pye

Jordan is a consultant sitting on the Design team.
&nbsp;
He has over five years of experience working as a Recruitment Consultant within the Design and UX space. Helping clients hire top design talent on a contract basis.
&nbsp;
Outside of work, Jordan enjoys keeping busy by either going to the gym, playing football or socialising with friends.&nbsp;

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