News & Events

75% of people in Technical roles have moved employers in the past 0-5 years​A relatively high proportion (almost 75%) of technical respondees in our recent Salary and Benefits Survey have moved employers over the past 0-5 years. How many years have you worked for your current employer?Does this speak to some of the churn in technical or the demand for such candidates? Certainly we find the shortage of good technical candidates to be pronounced. Running concurrently with this, however, is the fact that the same respondees have worked in their respective industries for over six years (over 75%). The nature of the specificity of their skillsets may mean that taking candidates from outside the industry is difficult. Or, and we very much expect this to be the case based on our work with universities and bodies like the IFST, the industry isn't attracting enough new talent. Download our full Salary and Benefits Survey report

​Agri-business is a natural add-on to our agricultural experience and we now have a recruitment consultant who is dedicated to supporting this sector. Miranda Webster has joined us from the property industry, most recently working for Strutt and Parker. Her remit covers roles from junior to senior level as land agents, rural surveyors and related positions.We invest a lot of time and energy in finding candidates through strong relationships with relevant universities where we regularly attend careers fairs and networking events, supporting trade events to network with those already in the industry, running online advertising campaigns with the leading job boards and maintaining a comprehensive database of pre-interviewed candidates. The strength of our candidate network will save you time and money in finding the right people for your business.Whether you have current vacancies that we can help you to fill or you would like an informal discussion about how we might be able to support you in the future, you can contact Miranda on 01780 480530 or miranda@morepeople.co.uk.

​Every interview is hard. If you've applied for a job, then the chances are you really want it and are keen to show your interviewer just what you can do. That makes for a nerve-wracking situation and is clearly not something you can just sail through stress-free (unless you're completely unflappable!).However, some parts of the interview are harder than others, including the dreaded question about weaknesses. With a bit of preparation and thought beforehand, this doesn't need to be as daunting as many candidates believe. Trust us, you can get through unscathed and still demonstrate that you're the perfect person for the job.So what should you do the next time you're asked 'what is your biggest weakness?' in an interview?Let's face it, the last thing you want to do when you're trying to imply you're the best thing since sliced bread is admit that you have some kind of flaw. You don't want to give your interviewer any indication that you can't do the job by saying something like 'I'm not a morning person and struggle with 9am starts'.The problem is that you also can't tell them you don't have any flaws, because a) it will look arrogant and b) the panel knows that everyone except Mary Poppins possesses them.And these days, you can't fall back on the old favourites 'I work too hard' and 'I'm too much of a perfectionist' because they're over-used enough to be completely clichéd.So, what can you say? Well, the main thing to remember is that you have to turn a negative into a positive. Before your interview, start by thinking about areas of your professional life that you haven't found easy yet have worked on.Your potential employer wants to see self-awareness and self-improvement, so look for times when you made a mistake and corrected it or got praise from a manager for turning something around.Have you ever enrolled in a class or applied for workplace training or workshops, for instance? This would indicate that you had identified a weakness and worked to make it better.One great example would be something many people struggle with: speaking up in group situations. You could mention this and then say you have taken part in public speaking groups or open mic nights (as long as you have), or that you have made an effort to raise at least one point in meetings.You can then conclude by explaining that this has helped your shyness and boosted your professional confidence.To nail this question, remember that good candidates are always looking for ways to improve themselves and taking the initiative to ensure it happens. As long as you're self-aware and can show that weaknesses lead to improvements, you won't scupper your chances.

​Dominic Blakemore, Chief Executive of Compass Group, delivered this year’s keynote City Food Lecture entitled ‘Trust & Tech – the future of food’, providing his insights into what the food industry might look like in 2050. Based on the trends and technologies that are evolving today, he painted a picture of a time when the world’s population is expected to have grown to over 9 billion people, living in a world that is wealthier, more demanding and increasingly digital. Acknowledging that impact on the environment and public health would still be critical issues for the food industry, he stressed that there were huge opportunities ahead but with a need to think differently to avoid further damaging the planet and to create a healthier and more sustainable world. ‘Millennials’ were cited as the key drivers of change, often described as the ‘me, me, me generation’ whilst also being open-minded, liberal and passionate about equality. He looked further ahead to the influence of ‘Generation Z’, a more resilient generation with a higher self-belief and a different outlook. ‘Generation C’ was mentioned as a powerful new force, defined not by age but by attitude and mindset. Also referred to as the ‘YouTube’ generation, these consumers are trend makers who place high value on community. Some of the trends of these consumer groups: Food is becoming about social identity and individual expression The experience of eating out is often more important than the food itself Other growing themes are health and wellness, veganism and urbanisation. Trust, in particular trust in businesses, was described as “the currency of the next decade”, with recent surveys showing that 6 out of 10 consumers won’t buy from companies they don’t trust and 9 out of 10 millennials looking for companies with whom they share values. The way to build this trust, he suggested, was through transparency and sustainability, which includes paying a fair price for goods, caring about workers’ rights, prioritising animal welfare and protecting resources. The more worrying trends highlighted in the lecture included today’s obesity rates that are creating a national health crisis, rising inequality in society, poor diets in children and a rise in both food miles and waste. So, what needs to change? Locally produced food should be embraced, educating children from a young age about ‘farm to fork’ and creating relationships between farmers and consumers With a global demand for protein expected to increase by 80%, we need to be eating more plant-based protein Future initiatives need to be more future-proof as today’s agriculture model sees a third of food being wasted in the supply chain Partnerships between growers, suppliers and those who serve consumers will become increasingly important with ‘big data’ enabling these partnerships to accurately link demand with supply. Moving onto the subject of technology, he explained that the food industry has been slow to adopt new technologies, however advances in robotics are starting to have an impact. The example he gave was ‘Mr Flippy’, the burger flipper which is being used in sports stadiums in the US and is now proving to be more efficient than humans. While science and technology will inevitably play a much bigger part in the future of food production, he commented that the pace of change made it impossible to predict future technologies. Augmented reality, however, was highlighted as a likely next big thing. He gave the example of the ‘Spyce’ robotic restaurant, which programs taste preferences to predict food desires - “Consumers will get projected 360-degree visualisations of food right in front of their eyes.” Developments in Artificial Intelligence could mean that we have a ‘digital self’ to store our medical and dietary information along with our taste preferences. 3D printing could also have huge impact on food - “If it can be pureed, it can be printed” – making it a potential reality that we could see food robots downloading a recipe for consumers to 3D print the meal from cartridges of ingredients. Although very impressive ideas, there was an obvious feeling in the audience that this use of technology could actually take the joy out of eating! To conclude the lecture, Blakemore stressed that the food industry needed to evolve, with the speed of change determining which businesses survive. He asked for a change in mindset across the industry and a willingness to collaborate – “no business can tackle this challenge on its own”. MorePeople were a proud sponsor of the City Food Lecture. Photo courtesy of City Food Lecture 2019

​A group of 35 food students and staff took part in the Future Generation Student Forum at the City Food Lecture 2019. This invaluable experience was enjoyed by students studying food or related studies at undergraduate or postgraduate level from the following institutions:City University of LondonHarper Adams UniversityIFSTAL (Innovative Food Systems Teaching and Learning co-ordinating body)Kent University Business SchoolLondon South Bank UniversityNewcastle UniversityOxford UniversityReading UniversityRoyal Agricultural University CirencesterWarwick UniversityWrittle University CollegeThe group started the day with a visit to the McDonald’s headquarters where they were introduced to key staff from all areas of the business, before taking part in a product sensory session. There was also the chance to ask questions about different careers within the business.On arrival at the prestigious Guildhall, the venue of the City Food Lecture, the group were then hosted in the Chief Commoner’s Parlour where they were given a history of the event and the livery movement in London by the Chairman, John Giles. As sponsors of the Forum, MorePeople’s Andrew Fitzmaurice then gave a brief overview of recruitment in the industry, outlining the types of businesses and breadth of roles that students could aspire to.He highlighted the range of opportunities that are available in supermarket supply chains where many suppliers are not branded household names. Part of MorePeople’s motivation for supporting the event was to raise awareness of these businesses as, in a generally low margin operating environment, they often don’t have the resources available to promote what the sector has to offer.Andrew said afterwards: “MorePeople have always been closely involved with the next generation for the food industry, so we were thrilled to support this amazing City Food Lecture student initiative. It was really rewarding to see the students asking questions of the panel and seeking to make the most of the opportunity. One of them even had the confidence to ask a question of the panel after the main lecture!”The students then had the chance to meet and question the three panelists involved in the evening lecture – Minette Batters (NFU), Professor Corinna Hawkes (City, University of London) and Rishi Sethi (representing Rabobank) – followed by a preview from the keynote speaker, Dominic Blakemore (Compass Group). The Q&A session raised some interesting discussions on topics such as Brexit, sustainability, food safety and flexitarianism.Photo courtesy of City Food Lecture 2019

​For many people, the start of a new year is the ideal time to look for fresh, exciting career opportunities.If you are planning to get 2019 underway by looking for a new job, it's essential that your CV is tailored to grab the attention of recruiters and present you in the best possible light.Here are our ten tips to help you get your CV in shape this year, inspired by some useful insights from members of the MorePeople team:1. Make it unique to youYour CV should give a unique account of you as an individual, and provide an insight into why your specific characteristics would be beneficial for the employer.Don't fall into the trap of writing your CV like a job specification and rehashing the basic tasks and responsibilities of the role in question.2. Highlight your achievementsAs obvious as this might sound, it's easy to become so preoccupied with describing your general attributes that you forget to give details of specific achievements.Recruiters want a focused account of what you have achieved and the skills you used in the process, not a generic list of qualities that simply matches the job description.3. Get the basics rightThere is nothing more off-putting to a hiring manager or recruitment consultant than a CV that has basic errors, such as mistakes in spelling and grammar.Job candidates really have no excuse for making these sorts of oversights in their CVs, especially if 'attention to detail' is listed as one of your strengths.It's a surprisingly common problem, with research by Adzuna finding that nine out of ten CVs feature some sort of spelling or grammatical mistake.4. Know your audienceIt's vital to think about who will be reading your CV and what they will be looking for, and to tailor it accordingly.Most businesses will have common goals such as increasing sales, winning market share and creating profitable new products or services. Present yourself in a way that demonstrates how you can help the employer achieve these objectives.5. Use a consistent tenseMixing up the tenses you use to write your CV could be an instant turn-off for recruiters. Keep your language consistent throughout.As one member of the MorePeople team put it: "Writing in the wrong tense is bad, but using two different tenses is even worse. The advice is to choose one and stick with it!"6. Keep your personal profile succinct and relevantYour personal profile is an opportunity to outline what you have to offer to a prospective employer, but make sure you keep it succinct and relevant to the position you're applying for.Hiring managers receive lots of applications, and they don't have the time to read every candidate's life story.7. Always include employment datesEmployment dates might seem like a fundamental part of any CV, but it's surprising how many job applicants fail to include them.By including dates - and starting with the most recent first - you give the recruiter a much clearer picture of your work history and how much experience you have gained in your various roles.8. Be consistent with your LinkedIn profileOne of the first things a recruiter will do when considering someone's CV is to look up the individual's profile on LinkedIn.If the information on your CV doesn't match the details on LinkedIn, it will set off alarm bells straight away. Before submitting your application, make sure your CV and LinkedIn profile are completely in sync, particularly where employment dates are concerned.9. Keep the formatting cleanSome candidates may be tempted to over-format their CVs in an attempt to stand out, but this is never a good idea.Recruiters want applications that are accessible, clear and easy to read. Moreover, they don't have time to scroll through pages of sheets and tables, so never use Excel or any other spreadsheet software to create your CV.10. Inject some personalityAs Jodie Pilgrim, head of overseas recruitment at Party Hard Travel, told Recruitment Grapevine: "People hire people." Your application will be read by another human being, so try to write it in a way that showcases your personality and your passion for the job.If you can do this, you will give yourself a good chance of making it through to the next stage of the hiring process.