Secret Santa

£5 is the budget (unless you're Adam who exceeds budget every year and leaves the prices on to prove it).

Here at Enterprise Recruitment Ltd we believe in training our staff & offer on-going training and development.

New Year, New Job?

We are expanding & looking forward to a busy year ahead. Our clients are still hiring so if you are considering a career move, take a look at our latest vacancies here: http://goo.gl/occLEi

We are also building upon our own recruitment base and looking for senior recruiters to join our office - for further information on this go to: http://goo.gl/S0Pu89 or contact Georgina North at info@enterpriserecruitment.com.

'Tis the Season..

We're getting festive.....the tree is up, this entire pack of Jaffa Cakes was consumed in one day (luckily we have another packet for today), and Reindeer is on the menu tomorrow night at our Christmas do.

The Hot Drinks Competition is well under way with only 2 rounds of drinks in it between those at the bottom and those top of the leader board. With 24 hours to go, I have a feeling we'll be drinking a lot of hot drinks between now and tomorrow afternoon.

2 new recruiters join the office!

We have two new starters this week – just in time for the Christmas do where the chances are we will find out about the “real” them! Nils joins us having graduated in Biomedical Science, while Louise is a History graduate. They are both joining the Software team and will be working alongside Rosie and Jamie on technical software placements.

Cake Monday 2nd December

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Bûche de Noël' by Teresa. A 3rd and final cake for Teresa. Christmas-themed, the Bûche de Noël was a technical cake to make. The sponge is made the night before and requires clingfilm. One recipe of icing is rolled inside the cake (mascapone-based filling) and a second batch of buttercream is made to cover the outer cake. It was extremely tricky and fiddly to make, but Teresa was confident enough to state that it would not be going on the 'Loser Board'. 

The verdict: Positives included, very tasty, a taste of Christmas, fantastic, perfect. The not-so-goods included, "you needed to make more of its presentation - it needed a bit of holly on it or something". "Too sweet". "It looks like the log's been sat out in the woods for 5 days"..

But none of that matters - Teresa is top of the Leader Board once again and this will be a hard score to beat. Having baked for Cake Monday 3 times, Teresa is now out of the competition for the next 12 months. 

'Bûche de Noël' Average Score: 8.5 

Next time: Darren's baking skills will be put to the test. 

Enterprise Recruitment & Local Schools

Enterprise Recruitment has been going into local schools to advise 6th Formers on Recruitment & Selection. This Term, we have given Talks to over 400 pupils and have presented at Cavendish School (Hemel Hempstead) & Chesham Grammar School. We plan to reach out to more schools over the forthcoming months. If you would like us to come and talk at your local school, please contact Georgina North at Georgina@enterpriserecruitment.com.

Drinks Forfeit

Our office Christmas Party is in a month's time. We have got a 'hot drinks' tally chart going on within the office at the moment. The person who has made the least number of rounds of hot drinks for their lovely colleagues will face a forfeit at the Christmas do. The question is, what should the forfeit be??....

Cake Monday 4th November

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Chocolate & Orange Marble Cake' by Rosie. This cake involved splitting the batter into two bowls and flavouring one with chocolate and the other with orange. The batters are then lightly swirled together to create the marbling effect. The cake was then topped with melted chocolate. 

The Verdict: this cake turned out to be a hot favourite with many colleagues. We liked the ripple, the taste, the presentation as well as the light, but moist texture. A good bake!!

'Chocolate & Orange Marble Cake' Average Score: 7.8

Next time: Teresa. 3 bakes and you're out of the competition for several months. This will be Teresa's 3rd bake and as she's already top of the Leader Board, her 3rd bake will indicate her psyche - will she not bother because she's already reached the top, or will she aim to increase upon her high score??? I know which avenue certain colleagues would take!

Cake Monday 7th October

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Fat Pig' cake by Ellie. Ellie's first contribution to Cake Monday. Her process involved making a chocolate sponge, chocolate buttercream (by hand), designing her pig using ready-made fondant, and cooling the cake on her front door step. The cake also spent a night in her car to keep it cool!! (yes, we are serious about Cake Monday). A long afternoon was spent on this cake (not helped by a hangover) and detail and care were taken - an oven thermometer was used. 

The Verdict: really really impressive, very pretty. Looked professional, like a celebration cake you'd buy. Tasted good too. The presentation achieved high scores and the cake even swayed those colleagues who are not mad on chocolate to score highly.

Fat Pig Cake Average Score: 8.1

Next time: Rosie-who-never-loses-a-race-Bayliss. 

Company Weekend in Lille, 20th-22nd September

We drank a lot. We walked a lot (hungover). We loved some food (mussels) and were disappointed in others, namely the animal-bone-meal & the bread breakfasts (if you're Adam). We were out til 4am each night. There were a lot of comedy moments, some of which ought to be forgotten.

Eurostar entertainment

Hotel Bar

Beer tasting

Drinking games

hangover cure

some kind of animal bone accompaniment for steak 

French delicacy lost on us?

of all the beer sampling achieved, we loved the CH'TI 

streets of Lille

4am, in between Clubs..

4th floor lobby, early hours of Sunday.

Cake Monday 9th September

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Jamie's Fabulous Fruit Cake Mark 1'. This is Jamie's first submission to Cake Monday and we got the impression not all went to plan. The fruit cake was packed full of fruit and almonds and a lot of work had gone into the making of this cake. Eggs were separated and whisked and the dried fruit had to be chopped by hand (really?). However, 2 principles of fruit cake were ignored; soaking the fruit the night before & adjusting his oven temperature setting for a fan oven. We've seen this oven error before with Jess's cakes and with similar outcome: a dry & slightly burnt cake. 

The Verdict: The flavours were there and it tasted okay. It sounded a difficult & time-consuming cake to make & it was a good first entry to the competition. Sadly, its consistency was more of a rock cake than a fruit cake, and no one likes that chopped candied orange peel you get in fruit cakes.

'Jamie's Fabulous Fruit Cake Mark 1' Average Score: 5.7

Next time: Ellie's up with her first cake. 

A David Mitchell-ed Desk & Accessories

George likes TV programme 'Would I lie to you'. She also likes David Mitchell who is in the programme. George had forgotten that she mentioned this a while ago to Jess and came in this week to find her desk and everything on, around, and within it (including food snacks in her drawer) plastered with David Mitchell's smiling face. This photo doesn't do Jess's work justice. Several different photos of David Mitchell were used, spanning different eras of his time on British television. Her desk phone also had his face on the inside of the receiver. Shocking, perturbing and slightly stalker-esque, George quite likes her desk's new look. Jess meanwhile has gone on to pursue art & design at university.

2nd Cake Monday: August

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Giant Chocolate Sponge' by Jess. Jess volunteered herself for this additional Cake Monday to prove that she could indeed make a cake and, I quote, "redeem herself". 

Initially, Jess "forgot" all about her promise of this Cake Monday & then claimed she was too busy to be able to bake one by today. To cut a long story short, she did produce a cake for the office today. First impressions - we were impressed, it was straight out of the oven and still warm. It looked good (although some felt that the sheen from the icing gave it a melted plastic look). First impressions over, we very quickly realised that this wasn't a cake baked using ingredients, this was an out-of-a-packet cake. She added water to a powder mix. One saving grace was that she made the icing and spared us the decorative disney rice transfers.

The Verdict: It was warm. People were reluctant to come forward to sample the cake. The mixture was raw in places (George spat hers out). A couple of people did like the cake, but the majority were unimpressed. 

'Giant Chocolate Sponge' Average Score: 4.6

Next month: Jamie - his first Cake Monday bake.

Cake Monday - 6th August

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Orange & Almond Cake'  by Adam. Boiled oranges for 2 hours (whilst watching the football). Mixed everything together (using an electronic mixer this time) and cooked it for an hour. 

The Verdict: very succulent. Nice & tasty and moist. Good effort - something different. Rubbish presentation...tasted more like a quiche (Jess). Slight burnt tinge round the edges. George questioned how 'different' this cake submission really was given her 'clementine and almond' cake in December. Apart from substituting oranges for clementines, it appeared to be a replica cake.

We had 2 guest judges this week, Oscar (aged 7) and Isaac (aged 5). They thought it was really nice. Really orangery. But they didn't like the nuts which were too hard. 

'Orange & Almond Cake' Average Score: 7.4

Adam benefited from the Guest judges, one of whom bolstered his score by awarding a 10 - a first 10 since Cake Monday began. 

Next month: under debate. 

What's happening this week?

Team Trip September 2013 Confirmed

The countdown to our trip to Lille has begun. 8 weeks to go til we're on that train drinking vodka, according to Jamie. I'm sure we chose Lille for it's cultural attractions, non?...

Cake Monday: 2nd July

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Carrot Cake' by Teresa. All we needed to know was that it took hours and that she won't be making it again in a hurry. Oh, and she had moulded the chocolates sitting on top of the cake. She wasn't prepared to give away what the ingredients were or how it was made until we'd all eaten the cake. 

The Verdict: a very popular cake; it looked good, tasted great, and was a favourite cake for Jamie. The icing split the team; enjoyed as "not too sweet" for some, but "too sweet" for others. (Catering for the different palates within the team is nothing short of a nightmare). Flavour guesses of the cake included, apple/cinnamon/sultana, orange peel/sultana/carrot, "not got a clue", carrot/raisins/coconut. In fact, the cake was made of predominantly carrots & raisins, drenched in an orange syrup and topped with mascapone cheese & cinnamon. Quoted as the type of cake you'd find in a café, it's gone straight to the top of the leaderboard.

Carrot Cake Average Score: 8.25

Next time: Adam. Can he improve upon his 'pizza cake'. The lending of kitchen implements and appliances have been offered (i.e. no soup blender excuses allowed). 

Bacon Roll

It was a risk, but she made the bet; one candidate, one job, job is based in the UK, the candidate isn't.
The bet: if the candidate gets the job, everyone in the office has to buy George a bacon roll of her choice as and when she pleases. If the candidate doesn't get the job, George has to buy everyone in the office a bacon roll of their choice.

The candidate was rejected.

Hiring! Recruitment Consultant to join us

We are looking to hire a Recruitment Consultant to join our Berkhamsted office. We are interested in experienced Recruitment Consultants as well as recent Graduates looking to start a career in recruitment. The full job descriptions can be found on our website as follows:

Experienced Recruiter

Graduate Recruiter

Applications can be made via the job descriptions on our website.

The optimum room temperature. Discuss.

That's what we've been debating since 8.30am this morning. We were all so excited in the blazing heat & ice creams of Friday that air con would be installed by Monday. Air con now installed, it had to be tested through its full temperature range which involved sitting in freezing conditions through to Tenerife temperatures. Then air con had to be set at the 'ideal office temperature'. This is when the debate really began.

Some people in the office feel the cold and want heat from the air con, others wear short-sleeves in Winter and start sweating if the room hits above freezing.

Maybe we should all move desks as there are definitely 'cold spots' in the office? Physics of air circulation were discussed, hot drinks were made, and then finally, at 2pm, we found the ideal temperature. We think. At least til the 'cold' team return from lunch that is.

27 degrees in the office...

...when we heard the sound of the ice cream van. Next thing we know, Teresa's offering to buy and Jess is out the door running like she's never run before towards the sound of that van. Unbeknown to him, the van-man was suddenly being chased down by Jess. Hats off to the girl, she made it. Thanks Jess & Teresa!

Cake Monday 4th June

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Nicky's Sticky Mess' cake by Nicole. Four tiers of lemon sponge (with a dash of Barcadi) sandwiched together with lemon curd and topped with a meringue-based coconut frosting. The frosting was technically difficult as it required heating egg whites and sugar over simmering water, gently enough so that the eggs cooked without scrambling. Vegetable fat was substituted for margarine to add moisture to the cake. BUT...Nicole admitted to having help with the beating of the ingredients...

The Verdict: the taste of the cake was so good that the judges overlooked the presentation of the cake and the 'help' factor (well, everyone apart from Jess that is). Very original. Tasty & moist. Delicious. Loving the lemon. The light and glossy frosting was very popular. We all gasped as Jess revealed her highest score ever. Nicole's first Cake Monday has taken top spot on the Leader Board.

'Nicky's Sticky Mess' Average Score: 8.25

Next time: Teresa. The ones that got away: Jamie, Taq & Smritee.

Careers & Jobs Fair - 22nd May - University of Hertfordshire

We are attending the University of Hertfordshire Graduate Careers Fair this Wednesday. 

If you are interested in pursuing a career in recruitment, or want to learn more about recruitment as a career and what it can do for you, come and have a chat with one of our consultants at the Fair.

If you are a recent graduate from another University, you can contact us at mail@enterpriserecruitment.com to discuss opportunities. Our full list of vacancies can be found at www.enterpriserecruitment.com

IC / Semiconductor Jobs

Check out our latest IC / Semiconductor Jobs here. For more information on our IC / Semiconductor Jobs go to:

http://www.enterpriserecruitment.com/ic-semiconductors

Cake Monday 13th May

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Death by Chocolate' by Andrew. This was Andrew's first Cake Monday and also his first attempt at cake making "how difficult can making a cake be??".... He chose Mary Berry's 'all-in-one' method which involved making a chocolate sponge batter, chocolate ganache, and sealing the two together with apricot jam. 

The Verdict: 

No complaints in the office this morning. The cake was deliciously moist, with a good rise, even bake, well-made ganache (evenly spread across the cake), and a nice hint of apricot to cut through the rich dark chocolate flavour. You wouldn't know Andrew was a cake novice, people would happily pay for this cake. He absolutely nailed it. Top drawer. Excellent execution. Clearly his engineering precision background came to fruition in this task. 

'Death by Chocolate' Average Score: 8.1

This puts Andrew joint top of the leader board and the one to beat given this was his first ever cake! 

Next month: Nicole. No pressure.

Interview Tip: Positive Body Language

Using effective non-verbal communication techniques, such as body language in your interview, is essential to your success. Non-verbal communication accounts for over 90% of the message you are sending out, yet your verbal content only provides 7% of the message. Both your body language (55% of the message) and the way you speak such as voice tone (38%), are as important as the actual words you use in your interview answers.Most interviewers start with a handshake – make sure you get yours right. Posture and eye contact are also areas you should consider prior to an interview. Practise makes perfect....

To read more of our tips for successful interviews go to: http://www.enterpriserecruitment.com/interviews

Hot Job - Graduate Required

DIGITAL ASIC DESIGNER - 3D GRAPHICS. Graduates, this is your chance to work on the next generation of our industry leading hardware IP cores. You will become part of a dynamic and motivated design team where you will work on the full design cycle from specification and implementation through to testing verification of the cores. Your job will include exposure to cutting edge EDA tools and advanced silicon processes. Read & apply for job:
http://www.enterpriserecruitment.com/job/digital-asic-designer-3d-graphics-jobid-er6191sm

Cake Monday 8th April

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Last Resort Victoria Sponge' by Jess. Jess's 2nd Cake Monday. Last time Jess pulled off an amazing looking cake whose taste didn't quite match up. This time, Jess admitted she had a cake disaster, but hoped it tasted good. Her plan was to create a smooth royal icing cake with a hand-painted design, but the icing looked lumpy and in removing the icing (to start again), the cake started to fall apart. Frustrated, she baked a new cake from scratch. She chiselled off the burnt edges of the second cake and covered it with butter cream.

The Verdict:

Most commented on the cake's dryness, but that the icing tasted good (which she'd made without a recipe). Presentation not the best. Not a 'spectacular' cake. "Tasted like it's been sat out on the side for a few days"... We advised Jess invest in an oven thermometer to avoid future cake cremation.  

'Last Resort Victoria Sponge' Average Score: 4.5

Next month: Andrew. It will be his first ever cake bake. 

Trainee Recruitment Consultant - Join us!

Personality, drive & enthusiasm are needed for this position. Great opportunity to be trained from scratch. If you are interested in recruitment & believe you have what it takes, click here for more information & apply!

Cake Monday 11th March

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Enterprise Recruitment Cake' by George. A victoria sponge divided into 4 'sunset' colours, filled with vanilla & lemon curd buttercream, covered with rolled fondant, and topped with the Company logo made out of modelling paste. A ribbon made out of fondant provided a trim to the cake and the cake board was also covered to complete the look. Her blender broke mid-cake so much of the 'beating' had to be done by hand. 

The verdict: This cake split the office into 2 camps; those that like icing & those that don't, those that liked the interior colours & those that didn't. Comments included, "the colours put me off to be honest", "the icing was too sweet", and "I'm not a fan of the lemon". On the positive side, the presentation of the cake was well received. 

'Enterprise Recruitment Cake' Average Score: 7.1

Next month: Jess is back in the game.

CV Top Tip

More information about CV writing can be found on our website at:
http://www.enterpriserecruitment.com/writing-cvs

Skiing - French Alps

Having achieved our winter recruitment target, the team hit the slopes of Morillon in France for a weekend of skiing (and beverage consumption):