What a month!

Well, what a month March has been.

Not only did we present Creative Protege at The Sage in Gateshead at Thinking Digital we have also been snowed under with enquiries about what talent we have on our books for some fantastic positions in the creative sector! (Oh, I forgot to mention, we have also entered the Recruitment Consultant Awards for Best Recruitment Innovation for Creative Protege. Hopefully the judges will appreciate our virtual agency that offers fresh talent the chance to gain valuable work experience and ultimately secure their dream job).

As for the event in Gateshead, Adam (that's me!) ventured North a couple of weeks back and presented Creative Protege to graduates and students with creative ambitions. It was a pretty intense experience, but the guys hosting the event were amazing, and full of energy, so a big thanks to everyone that made it possible!

Ian (the MD and one of York's most influential entrepreneur's!) was called upon to divulge the secret of his personal success to an audience at York St John University. His knowledge was well received and no doubt he will be fulfilling more engagements of a similar nature in the very near future.

Watch out as Gloss' website is soon to receive a makeover and we will also be compiling a newsletter...more of this and inspirational ideas to be posted very shortly!

Gloss and CP led by the best

If anyone is familiar with The Press (York's daily newspaper) you may be aware that they print an annual business review.

The Business Review 2009-2010 led with a photo of all the most influential people in business in York and the surrounding region. If you look closely - actually he is standing centre stage - you can spot our man, Ian Rigby.

Not only the Managing Director of Gloss Creative Recruitment, but also the visionary behind Creative Protege, we all agree he thoroughly desrves the accolade.

With recent reports suggesting that school leavers feel that education is failing to prepare them for employment, watch this space for Gloss Creative Recruitment's next move to counter the preventative barriers that young people face to gain employment.

When Gloss met James Caan...

Last Wednesday I had an interview with one of the most significant figures in recruitment, and following his own recruitment onto the television show 'Dragons' Den' in 2007, one of the most popular entrepreneurs in the UK. The person in question is the self-made millionaire, James Caan.

As the PR guy for Gloss Creative Recruitment, I am fully aware of the concerns our clients have, and I was keen to ask him questions that could be of use to those that are suffering the consequences of the recession.

As an entrepreneur Mr Caan maintains that taking chances is still a key element to success in your career, although you do have to be realistic when it comes to priorities.

I discovered that recessions give way to more entrepreneurs than at any other time, and that Mr Caan applaudes this, as if you can succeed now, then your business can certainly flourish in a more prosperous economic climate.

I was extremely interested in finding out what he thought about CVs, and Mr Caan confirmed my suspicions. He acknowledged that if he were to receive a CV, he wouldn't want a 'rainforest' but simply something telling him that you can do the job.

He would want to know that if you have been unemployed you have used the time for a specific purpose, and that this can contribute to the position you are applying for.

(Gloss Creative Recruitment has established Creative Protege to offer graduates the chance to gain 3 months work experience to achieve this, visit http://www.creativeprotege.com/ to find out more).

Mr Caan also mentioned highlighting yourself as an individual, and commented that key people can be targeted with post rather than by email. Scan and delete is an extremely easy option.

Therefore if you are a graduate with a burning desire to succeed, why not try creating an individually designed, tangible CV, complimented by an online portfolio?

In today's job market, achieving a dream job in the creative sector is an increasingly difficult thing to do. Remember: think outside the box and use your time well.

Happy Birthday Creative Protege

If you weren't already aware Creative Protege is a sister company to Gloss Creative Recruitment, that offers design graduates the opportunity to gain essential work experience. The innovative business has just celebrated its first year of business, and Gloss would like to thank everyone for all their hard work-that includes the graduates who have contributed to a fantastic online portfolio of work!

Over the past year Creative Protege graduates have secured employment at top design agencies across the UK, enticed business from abroad, and even encouraged one graduate to establish his own business, Cookie PR, a digital PR agency in the heart of Sheffield.

We mustn't forget to highlight the fact that we were recognised twice at the GoldenTwit Awards for our efforts in social media, and also our commendation at The Press Business Awards in November for 'Best Link with Higher Education'.

This year will no doubt see more stunning work produced by dedicated graduates, with many going on to secure their dream jobs at top design agencies.

(Check out this example of a students (Matt Sypien) work below, or visit http://www.creativeprotege.com/ for more information and your chance to get involved).

Good luck and Happy New Year!

Latest news update!

Top recruitment agency offers lifeline to SMEs
Press Release

Gloss Creative Recruitment has identified that sourcing top talent through the use of recruitment agencies should not simply be an option for large companies, but an opportunity open to smaller organisations.

The Leeds based agency has been focusing its efforts in the creative sector for 10 years, from design to blue chip companies, and is well aware of the costs that can be incurred by businesses using the services of recruitment agencies.

Ian Rigby, Managing Director of Gloss Creative Recruitment, said: “Recruitment agencies can offer a wide range of benefits to a client, although they come at a cost. We are all aware of how dire the economic climate is at the moment, and smaller organisations need to be catered for.”

The established team at Gloss have revised the service list that it offers its clients so that existing and new clients will see recruitment as an affordable, rather than a desirable option.

At £300 for a single job advert on one website for only 7 days, many companies can only imagine the rewards that online advertising would bring, but Gloss have created a simple solution to quash those financial worries.

“With 8 out of 10 candidates using online methods, we now offer our clients a package at a reduced rate that incorporates a range of top job sites for 28 days, including Reed and totaljobs. You also receive a personal account manager, who will write your advertisement for you.”

Not content with providing simple and cost effective advertising solutions, the innovative organisation created a sister company, Creative Protege, to help showcase graduate talent to clients. The result has been the creation of an outstanding portfolio of graduate work that allows clients to source their perfect candidate or gain extra creative resource for those that can't afford freelancers.

“We are committed to helping SMEs - we realise that the majority of creative businesses have less than 10 employees. Through what we offer, I hope that more businesses will realise the the benefits of having access to the best people out there and what Gloss can do for them.”

For more information check out http://www.glossrecruitment.com/ or http://www.creative-protege.com/

Awards time!

Gloss and Creative Protege are up for a couple of awards this month! Creative Protege has been shortlisted in the finals for the "Business of the Year - best link with education" in the Yorkshire Press. Click here for a link: http://tiny.cc/0YOz4

Both companies have also been shortlisted for a GoldenTwit award for the work which we have been doing via twitter (and our PR superstar, Adam Throndike). You can vote for us at http://www.goldentwits.com/

Gloss welcomes DINO

Gloss Creative Recruitment always strives for excellence, so what more could be expected with our new animated character?

The contemporary vector animation is the work of 28-year-old design graduate, Steve Jones, who used his creative energy to bring to Gloss' homepage, and the rest of the World, DINO (Designer In Need of Opportunity).

As you can see the little guy is extremely cute, and if you check out http://www.glossagency.co.uk/ you can see him in his debut animation.

DINO was by no means an easy feat to accomplish, Steve recalls that rendering some of the scenes in the animation were extremely fiddly, but well worth it.

Halifax born Steve Jones graduated from Norwich Royal College of the Arts, with a degree in Games Art & Design-you can check out his graduation project, Glide, that gained him a first at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCRTockQ9gY&feature=channel_page