Our friends at Escape Studios – dealing with careers in Computer Graphics – got in touch with the results of their latest survey: unlike other professions, Computer Graphic artists don’t seem to be driven by money: many feel that getting anything for doing the thing you love is worth it. How true: I did the thing I love last night, and I ended up paying her! The truth is the creative industries, like computer graphics, seem to be bucking the trend of graduate recruitment has all but dried up. Graphics and after-effects is one of the few industries where the UK is still considered to be a market leader, and there’s plenty of different roles you can concentrate on. Have a look at Escape Studios, and the courses they offer, as a place to start.

Tags: Computer gaming, Computer graphics

Think you can pull the wool over the foodie eyes of Waitrose? No chance: the food retailer, is using a new online recruitment tool that will ensure the highest calibre candidates progress through to its graduate selection centres. 2,500 applied this year, and expect even more next year – so the new tool will filter applicants to only take those that have the potential to be future store managers. Graduate DILEMMAS is an online test that assesses your judgment and decision-making skills in relation to common work situations. For Waitrose, current store managers with detailed knowledge were asked to complete Graduate DILEMMAS and indicate how effective candidates should respond. Based on their responses a  bespoke scoring key was developed for the company.

Tags: Food and Drink

A call-centre business that plans to create 10,000 jobs has been launched in Croydon, Surrey. Backed by £1m of investment, Call Britannia, aims to open 10 new call centres across the UK over the next seven years, giving 10,000 staff a minimum of six months’ employment, and equipping them with skills, training, support and work experience. The company will then help its ‘graduates’ to find work. Think about it: 6 months paid work and then help getting a job at the end of it. Good bye pride, hello to getting the fear on Sunday nights.

Jobs4Medical.co.uk has seen a huge leap in demand for doctors in both locum and permanent posts, now making up almost 50% of their database. The dedicated section for Doctors receives over 88,000 page views per month. The new European Working Time Directive, introduced in August, prevents around 60,000 trainee doctors based in the UK from working more than 48 hours a week. This has resulted in a number of hospitals looking to fill the gap that the new Working Time Directive has created in their workforces. So no more working 100 hour weeks, and plenty to go round for all. Well done Europe – I look forward to my next tax bill.

Tags: NHS

From October 1st restaurants will no longer be able to pay staff less than the minimum wage, topping up their salary to a fair ammount with tips. Good. Well, good for staff, but the increase in wages and national insurance will mean an extra £60m having to be found throughout the industry. Realistically some restaurants will make staff cuts - one person per restaurant is the claim. Nothing in the new rules states that tips should still be shared by staff, so if you’re going for a filler post as a waiter or waitress, make sure you are clear on how you will be getting paid. If the restaurant is now paying you minimum wage but keeping your tips for themselves, then it will be a lot of work at unsociable hours for very little. And if you are there: ask the customer for a cash tip and pocket it. Done!

Tags: Working in food and drink