Looking Ahead to 2010

Well, it certainly hasn't been a very good year, has it? Here at Seltek, there has been bad news and there has been good news! The bad news is that 2009 was the worst year this century: you'd have to go back to 1999 to find a worse year. The good news though, is that the last six months have been a lot better than the first six months.

Looking ahead into the new year, we take encouragement from the REC http://www.rec.uk.com/home (Recruitment & Employers Confederation) Report on Jobs (analysis of the state of the UK recruitment industry) which reveals:

• Fastest rise in permanent staff placements for 28 months in November
• Temp billings rose at sharpest rate for 19 months
• Robust expansion of demand for staff
• Permanent salaries increased for the first time in 15 months

"Overall, the figures provided further evidence that the job market is stabilising and raised hopes that unemployment may peak at a much lower level than was feared earlier in the year. At 2.46 million in the three months to September, the jobless total is still some way below the 3 million mark that many analysts saw as inevitable."

"Although the outlook remains uncertain, amid concerns over the sustainability of economic recovery and the impact on employment of tighter public sector spending next year, it is clear that the labour market has so far shown impressive resilience."

All of us here at Seltek wish everyone very best wishes for rapidly improving times in 2010! We can but hope for the best. At least we've got The World Cup to look forward to! Oh, and a general election.

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Seltek is Expanding!

We're certainly doing our bit for Britain! We have opportunities for not one, but two new recruitment consultants here in our Bishop's Stortford offices. We are happy to consider people either with recruitment experience, or trainees with energy, determination and enthusiasm.

Benefits include:

• Delightful 16th century offices half an hour from London to the south, and Cambridge to the north
• Full training both in-house and from the REC (Recruitment and Employers Confederation)
• Generous basic salary plus open-ended bonus which should give a trainee first year earnings between £30-40,000, and an experienced recruiter £50-80,000 OTE
• Package of benefits including increasing holidays, pension and healthcare in due course
• Assistance with relocation
• The chance to develop your own department and in time, take ownership of part of the business
• A friendly team-oriented group of successful consultants

If you have a scientific or technical qualification and either recruitment experience, or some commercial experience, and you are willing and able to move to Hertfordshire, please call Guy Buncombe, Director, on 01279 657716 or email guy@seltekconsultants.co.uk

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How To Be Successful (It's Easy!)

Many people want to achieve success in life, but it's easier said than done. There are so many distractions that it can be challenging to discipline one's self to accomplish a monumental goal. By keeping the following advice in mind, however, you can dramatically increase your chances of becoming successful in whatever you choose to pursue.

Define the meaning of success as you see it. You cannot have success if you do not know what it means for you. Everyone views success differently. Set clear goals and be realistic. How will you know when you've achieved your goals? Your standards should be quantifiable, or else you could spend your entire life chasing after a vague goal. For example, let's say you want to be good at your job. You get a promotion, you get a raise, but you still haven't reached your goal because you could always do better, right? You could always get promoted even further, or make even more money. Whatever you have will never be enough. Instead, create benchmarks: "My goal is to increase my productivity by 30% and only be late for work five times per year, at the most." These are quantifiable goals that when achieved, give you a sense of satisfaction and completion, making you feel successful and confident.

Study successful people. Look around--who has the success that you envision for yourself? What are they doing? How do they approach life? Become their apprentice. Ask them for advice. Spend time around them, if you can. Learn from them.

Take risks. Step out of your comfort zone. Successful people think big and act big. It can be a scary thing to do, but if you don't, then will you ever be successful? Don't wait for opportunities to fall in your lap. Sniff them out. Successful people make big investments (in their careers, in their businesses, in their education) and all investments involve risk. But don't be reckless. Study your risks, make sure the odds are in your favour, then take a leap. Be bold.

Solve problems. People who are successful encourage progress by solving problems and answering questions. No matter where you are or what you're doing, look around and try and think of ways you can contribute. What are people struggling with or complaining about? How can you make life easier for them in an effective way? Can you re-design or re-organize some aspect of the situation so that things run more smoothly? Can you create a product or provide a service that fills a critical gap? Be proactive and resourceful.

Be persistent. Don't give up. If your first attempt didn't work, don't quit. When asked about his 10,000 failed attempts to develop a storage battery, the prolific American inventor Thomas Edison responded: "I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Remember that success does not guarantee happiness. Success is equated with the achievement of a goal, but don't assume it will always bring happiness. Many people make the mistake that if they accomplish this or that, they'll be happier, but fulfilment and satisfaction have a lot more to do with how you approach life than with what you do in life. Keep that in perspective.

Acknowledgement: http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Successful

Hope it helps! Happy New Year!

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Seltek Christmas Competition - The Winners!

The phone lines are now closed! Do not call in - your entry will not count, but you may still be charged! OK, so it wasn't 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!' or the X-Factor, but it was The Seltek Christmas Competition, and it was as well subscribed as usual. Thank you to everyone who took part - testimony to the 'Have a Go' spirit that typified the evacuation of Dunkirk, and England's World Cup team of 1966!

Eight photographs of (or taken from) high places were shown, and you were asked to identify them. The answers were:
Picture No.1 The Eiffel Tower, Paris
Picture No.2 The Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai
Picture No.3 The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
Picture No.4 The Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool
Picture No.5 The Bank of China, Hong Kong
Picture No.6 The Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai
Picture No.7 The Empire State Building, New York
Picture No.8 Wembley Stadium, London

You can still view the pictures on last months Hotsheet.

Well, no one got all of them right. No.2 was the one that nobody guessed. Most people thought it was the CN Tower in Toronto - a perfectly reasonable idea. But no, it was the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Pudong Park in Shanghai, and the scariest place The Editor has ever been ! But well worth a visit if you are ever in that neck of the woods!

However, many people got seven answers right, and that's good enough for us. The first two correct answers to be pulled out of the hat were:

First: Ms. Meera Vinay from Cambridgeshire - who wins a bottle of champagne
Second: Mr Mick Bond from Essex - who wins a box of chocolates

Well done to our winners, and thanks again to everyone who took part.

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Hot Jobs

Memo to self - New Year's Resolution: MUST get a new job through Seltek Consultants.

Now come along folks! Don't let this be another of those 'must lose two stone' moments, or 'must give up smoking/drinking/substitute any other vile/naughty but nice vice ideas that will never happen in a million years. This is one resolution you can stick to: just pick up the phone or email us, and realise your full potential!

Let 2010 be the start of a golden new era in your life!

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• Summary: Are you looking for an exciting new career move within the personal care and household care chemicals sector? If yes then we are currently working with one of the largest manufacturers in the industry supplying a highly respected and extensive range of speciality materials into the personal care, household care, and toiletries market. With one of the largest brands behind you, imagine what you could achieve!
• Why you should apply for this job:This is a field based role and can be from any UK location. Good earnings potential and large company benefits are included and 25 days holiday is standard (rising with service).
  
  

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£45,000 OTE, car, uncapped bonus!

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• Summary: Do you want to sell a unique range of scientific instruments? This is the opportunity for you to join a company which sells cutting edge technology in the flow cytometry/cell imaging arena. You would be working for a small company with a huge reputation in the life science market. You will be responsible for the sale of cell imaging instrumentation and associated products into the pharmaceutical, research and academic markets.
  
• Why you should apply for this job?  This is a great opportunity for you to combine your technical knowledge in the cell imaging area with the thrill of a sales role! If you think you have the skills to join this fantastic team, contact me now...

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£40,000 basic salary

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• Summary:Do you have a good understanding of the pharmaceutical chemicals and ingredients sector? Would you like to work for an international company with a well respected reputation? If yes, we have a new role involving managing existing business and developing new accounts within the UK and Ireland. Products include excipients, ingredients and intermediates.
• Why you should apply for this job: Full large company support will be given with initial on-site training. This office based role (South East based) will be involve customer visits targeting new and existing accounts, supporting the business unit manager, looking at business processes, products, profit margins and sales. One week per quarter minimum would be spent in Ireland.
  

Clinical Jobs

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• Summary: Here is a full scope Senior CRA role with local country level clinical responsibility! Lead a team of experienced CRAs across phase II and III oncology, CNS and cardiovascular projects! When you work for this medium sized, well respected company you work for a company specialising in supporting the development of new drugs in the therapeutic areas of oncology, CNS and cardiovascular sciences.
• Why you should apply for this job: On offer to the successful candidate is a competitive remuneration package, excellent training and development, and the opportunity to become part of an expanding international team!
  

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• Summary: Here is an exciting opportunity to work for the expanding early stage development arm of a leading international CRO as Director of Business Development! This role is offered on either an office or field basis in Europe, within one of the following countries - UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland or Belgium. This business development role involves both account management and new business development, promoting the company's early stage service offerings to biotech and pharma companies across Europe.
• Why you should apply for this job: There is no glass ceiling within business development at this company which allows high performing business developers to fly as high as possible, with promotion to Senior Director and involvement in more business strategy and team building/management!
  

Hot Candidates

OK employers! Recession over! Before the world boils to death because of the complete failure of the Copenhagen 'Accord' why not make your fortune by employing one (or more!) or our well above average candidates to boost your sales far beyond even your most jaw-dropping predictions. Be bold! Seize the day! (or Carpe Diem as we fishermen say...)

Scientific Sales & Marketing Division

* Managing Director Midlands £60/80K Ref: 64768
* Business Development Manager London £50/60K Ref: 89255
* Support Team Leader North East £45/55K Ref: 61015
* Northern UK Sales Rep North West £40/55K Ref: 104121
* Scientific Director East Anglia £40/50K Ref: 102817
* Account Manager East Anglia/East Midlands £38/48K Ref: 40927
* Medical Representative South £28K Ref: 103966
* Area Sales Rep M4 Corridor £26/36K Ref: 103641
* Research Scientist Scotland £23K Ref: 103566
* Trainee Sales Eire/Anywhere! €20K Ref: 104113

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Clinical Research Division



*BDM (Pharma) Home Counties £50K Ref: 102437
*Database Programmer Home Counties £42K Ref: 86900
*BDM France France €open to offers! Ref: 93379
*Regulatory Associate USA $open to offers! Ref: 104027