The System Is Broken

There are some great blogs written by forensics professionals out there at the moment.  Two of my favourites are the amusing accounts of forensic life written by two law enforcement forensic guys here in the UK:

http://faintingchicken.wordpress.com
http://happyasamonkey.wordpress.com

I  love their often irreverent and always interesting twitter posts too so do follow them at: @happyasamonkey and @faintingchicken.

The Chicken, in his recent eggscelent (sorry) post, really lays (oops) out in clear terms the ridiculous position he is currently facing with the A19 procedure.  I don't know chicken personally -  or even his name so I have no personal axe to grind - but it seems but he effectively has to re-apply for his job.  However, due to 'the system' he is way down the pecking order (no more, I promise).  How ludicrous!  All the training, development and experience he has gained is just let go and the money then needs to be spent on training somebody else.

I often advise people new to forensics to work in law enforcement for a couple of years to gain experience before moving on as 'the system' makes it almost impossible to be promoted to Manager level.  However, many when they get there stay in law enforcement as they love the work, enjoy working closely with like-minded, talented colleagues and have a genuine commitment to public service.  I especially find this at the Met.  However, many others who are ambitious for career progression just walk away with incredible experience and skills to another employer as 'the system' means they have no other option.

Surely the system is broken?

English summer

There is nothing much worse that being stuck in the UK whilst the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) continues in Vegas.  I have been at the WSOP for the last two years and it is amazing.  Every day sees somebody else land a huge payday - life changing in many cases.  When not in Vegas I follow the action via twitter, live-streaming, reporting and via friends who are in town but it just isn't the same.

A trip to the WSOP usually keeps me alive in the gap between the football and rugby seasons. Mind you, with the inactivity at the Mighty Leeds United this summer and the bewildering departure of three of our top players (hmmm, is all relative) I am not sure that this coming season will be any less than a disaster.

In terms of summer sport here in the UK, Wimbledon isn't really my thing and the cricket series agains Sri Lanka was less than inspiring.  I am, however, going to pop along for a few days of the India Test Matches as I love the atmosphere generated by the absolutely fanatical Indian supporters - they are amazing!  If you are going to any of the games do let me know and I will kindly let you buy me a beer or three....

Meaning Of Life

My pal ‘Little Tim’ (he is 6’5 – obviously) always relates everything back to the deeper meaning of life.  He could listen to the Romanian entry at Eurovision and see some deep, hidden meaning behind the lyrics providing a vital lesson to be learnt – a bit like the worst of those dreadful corporate trainers who constantly drone on about ‘learning opportunities’.

Personally, I sway towards the view that seeing depth in Eurovision misses a real ‘laughing opportunity’ and as for the meaning of life, I tend to agree with Charles Schulz when he had his Eureka! moment: ‘I think I’ve discovered the meaning of life – you just hang around until you get used to it’.  Quite...

That said, I have been pondering a few of the deeper questions this week – only briefly I hasten to add – mainly as I have spent most of the last seven days speaking with a seemingly endless stream of unhappy people.  Especially within the computer forensics sector, things seem really tough right now across the board.  In the public sector forensics professionals appear to be under tremendous pressure to hit ever increasing targets with no spare money to be spent on personal development.  In the private sector a number of people I have spoken to are seriously worried about losing their jobs this year.  Moreover, if they do lose their jobs where can they go next as demand appears to have slowed considerably?

This is actually a point that I have discussed with numerous people this week.  I would suggest it isn’t so bad if you are more junior as there are still likely to be some potential positions.  However, if you are an experienced mid-career forensics analyst earning say, £45k, what opportunities are really open to you?  Unless you move to one of the rare management roles, where do you go from here?  Do you need to diversify into a wider Information Security role? A broader Incident response role?  Or will positions arise as the sector continues to evolve?

I don’t have the answers but I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts.

Stating The Obvious

You may find this hard to believe, but there are some incredibly bright and outstanding people working in recruitment who are pushing all the boundaries. Truly amazing, inspirational people. On the other hand, I wonder how some recruiters expect to be taken seriously.

Some of the advice that is passed on in articles and blogs is often so staggeringly obvious you do wonder why they bothered writing them in the first place.  Obviously, other recruiters write with great depth and insight – ahem!! – or so I hear anyway....

I thought of this today having just read a really tedious blog post about not bad-mouthing your current employer as it makes you appear unprofessional at interview.  No kidding. Tell me, do you think there is really anyone out there in our sector who would seriously slate a previous employer?   I wonder what the next blog in this instalment will be about – the importance of chewing when you put food in your mouth?  Or maybe a quick guide to washing your hands....the mind boggles!!

Maybe, like many recruiters, the writer just has too much spare time?  Mind you, in direct contrast, I saw a great article a couple of weeks ago from Mervyn Dinner of Jobsite about people who are always talking about how busy they are on twitter:

http://mervyndinnen.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/the-busy-brigade

Does that remind you of anyone??!  I can certainly think of one or two.....

Anyway, I digress... maybe recruiters were put on this earth to state the obvious?  In that spirit, the David Sullivan Obvious Tip for today is this:

Always post your job title on your LinkedIn/ Facebook and Twitter accounts 

Obvious, right?  I thought so too but apparently not.  I do appreciate that some people in our sectors don’t like to share too much information for security reasons (except, maybe, how busy they are of course), but it is interesting to see the number of specialists in the forensics / electronic disclosure space who contact me about finding a new role and yet they fail to have this information readily displayed on their social media profiles.

As a jobseeker in 2011, it really is vital to make it easy for people to find you (hmmm, I reckon that comfortably qualifies for obvious tip number two)!  Increasingly, I would suggest that Facebook is key to your jobsearch strategy and yet it is amazingly underused for this purpose.  For more information about utilising this tool correctly, have a look at a blog post I wrote a couple of months ago which can be found here.

In my next blog post – which hopefully won’t be quite as rambling and unfocussed – I expect to be announcing some very exciting news.  Ok, when I say very exciting, maybe mildly of interest to one or two people is a better phrase.  Either way, watch this space....

Forensic 4cast Awards

Finally, if you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to cast your vote for the 2011 Forensic 4cast Awards:

http://www.forensic4cast.com/forensic-4cast-awards

The results will be announced at the 2011 Sans Forensic Summit in Austin.

Covering All Bases

Sometimes it is all about covering all bases: combining the best of the old, traditional thinking with new techniques and ideas.  Nowhere is this more apparent than in the exciting, high-octane, rock 'n' roll world of the Liberal Democrats (for example, if you haven't seen it, look at Lembit Opik's brief but excruciating Citizen Smith influenced video)....or in recruitment.

I will try to demonstrate this by referencing an interesting thread on Forensic Focus this last week or so where a forensics undergraduate is looking for an industrial placement.  The link is here.

Speaking to computer forensic undergraduates at Universities, it is clear that whereas some Universities offer outstanding guidance on this subject, other students still have no guidance at all.  Due to this clear knowledge gap, I wrote an article last year exploring the techniques needed to find an industrial placement which can be found here.

In response to the thread, the Forensic Focus community has been very generous with advice and offered some really useful information (although some points, as usual, would arguably only have been useful before 1964).  A couple of salient points really struck me from the discussion:

1, The ‘best’ jobs/placements don’t go the the ‘best’ people.

Of course, the really talented students tend to get snapped up pretty quickly by major organisations.  However, in my view, despite the surplus of graduates for the limited jobs available in the area, students should be able to secure a placement/role if they are thorough and professional in their approach to jobseeking.  Why?  In my view, quite simply, most jobseekers are so haphazard in their approach to finding a role that if you are thorough and persistent this gives you a massive advantage.  This is even more apparent at graduate level.

I won’t go through all the basics again, but I am constantly amazed when graduate jobseekers only approach a handful of companies.  Surely, it is just common sense to ensure you cover every single organisation with a forensics presence in the UK?  It is then all about contacting the correct person in the right way – i.e., calling/sending an excellent CV to the most senior person you can find in any company.  In 2011 with all the information publically available, it isn't difficult to locate organisations and people operating in the sector.

This isn’t just a problem at graduate level.  If you think you are an exceptional candidate to work at a company why would you just email your CV to an HR person along with all the other applicants?  Does this demonstrate your qualities for the position above others?  Surely, the key is to take control and speak to the Hiring Manager to stand out from the crowd or if the role is via a recruiter ensure at the very least you meet the recruiter so that they are able to represent you in the best possible manner?

2, Social Media

Even in niche areas like computer forensics/electronic disclosure every aspect of finding a new job is changing.  If you think I am exaggerating the massive changes occurring, take a look at some of the companies at the leading edge of developments in this area such as  http://www.bravenewtalent.com.

Some people in my sectors certainly 'get it' but most jobseekers – whether active or passive – just aren’t utilising social media anywhere near enough.   Being lucky enough to see a job advert for a dream role on some job board/forum is fantastic.  However, how many times has one of your peers secured a role that you had no idea even existed?  How do you they gain access to these roles? The answer, as usual, is surprisingly simple.  Recruiters – whether working directly for an organisation or external (like me) -  increasingly use social media to find people with the skills/experience needed by employers.  Make yourself easy to find!

When all the superfluous is stripped away, the basic rule in looking for a new role is to make it clear to your target audience that you are potentially interested in opportunities.  If you are actively looking for a new role at this time, are you covering the 'old skool' basics thoroughly whilst also utilising new the opportunities presented by social media? 

Sometimes, it is all about salary...

In reality, it is often all about salary, isn’t it?  

For all our talk about culture, professional challenge and other factors most of us need to earn a certain amount of money to feed our families, crack habits etc.

There was an interesting job advert thread on Forensic Focus recently.  The original advert is for a pure forensics role working for the Met Police in SE London paying about £40k (with allowances).

Some people on the forum, along with others I have discussed it with since – and whose opinions I respect -  feel that this salary is way too low for the skills/experience required.   I find it hard to agree.  During the last two years, unless it has been a Team Leader role I certainly can’t recall any pure forensics roles in the private or public sector paying much more than this salary, with the exception of the odd financial institution.  

When I speak to computer forensics professionals I sometimes think there is a lack of realism on the question of salary.  In the current market here in the UK, my experience is that salaries for computer forensics professionals are facing pretty strong downward pressures.  For example, I know one excellent analyst with over five years law enforcement experience combined with three years in the private sector who moved to another private sector company just this month for £38k.  Two years ago I reckon he could have been looking at a basic salary £8k-£10k higher.  

What do you need to do if you really need to significantly increase your salary?

Well, if this is how you feel then the options are quite simple – get promoted to a management role (easy huh!) or go and work in Electronic Disclosure where the salaries are considerably higher.   However, before you do either of these things, stop and think whether this is really what you want?  For example, if you talk to somebody about the reality of daily life as an ED Manager at Big Four as opposed to a pure forensics role at the Met Police I imagine you will hear that both the salary and career development is excellent, but the quality of work...well, it is certainly very different to a pure forensics role working for the Met Police....

I guess I am also a little bias as I have a really soft spot for the Met Police.  We have recruited for them in the past and almost every person I have met who works in their forensics team at Newlands Park has struck me as a thoroughly committed person doing an excellent job under difficult circumstances.   Moreover, the forensics professionals I speak to at the Met tend to love the work they do, manage to obtain excellent developmental training and speak very highly about the competency of their colleagues.  I reckon it sounds a pretty good place to work, don’t you?

However, as I said at the start of this blog, sometimes it really is all about salary.  Isn’t it?

Libby Baugher

When I speak to new graduates looking for their first position in the area I always advise them to start a blog to differentiate themselves and to showcase what they have to offer potential employers.  Libby Baugher graduated from Champlain College in 2010 with a degree in Computer Forensics and Digital Investigations and she has just started to write a very personal blog which is an excellent read.  Catch up with Libby's progress here:

http://computerforensicgraduate.wordpress.com

Fabulous Las Vegas

I am off to Las Vegas in the morning for three weeks.  I wouldn’t say that it is impossible to be bored in Vegas, but I think it was Sinatra who said that the problem with Vegas is there just isn’t much to do between 8am-9am on a Sunday morning...

I am delighted that we do a lot of work with US West Coast Clients as it gives me the chance to base myself in this great City between meetings.  I can’t deny that live poker games and banter with drunken tourists 24/7 is attractive, but so is the spring climate, huge variety of food, drinks, bars, shows and people – I love the place and spend a lot of time there.  If you tire of the lights and constant activity then a short drive takes you either out into the beautiful mountains where there is fantastic hiking or else to stunning Lake Mead for a spot of sailing or windsurfing.   

I always look forward to spending time with one of my best pals out there, Steve, a US recruiter who specialises in sales recruitment.  Steve is tremendously successful professionally (let’s not go there on his personal life right now, hey Steve) – invoicing over $1.5M in fees last year - and he puts a lot of this down to the coaching he provides for jobseekers, especially around being aggressive at interview.   Don’t worry, he doesn’t condone physical violence – well, except for maybe those really annoying interviewers who were obviously neglected by their parents aged five and delight in catching you out with their superior knowledge.  Gosh, how incredibly clever these people are....zzzzzzzzz.....

However, Steve is convinced that jobseekers must raise their aggression levels to be successful.  For example, if you are being interviewed for a senior sales role then he suggests a good interviewer is likely to expect you to ‘close’ them at the end of the meeting.  Typically, this will involve you as a jobseeker asking a question such as, ‘Now you have met me Mr Client, do you have any concerns about my ability to succeed in this position’.   

Assuming the interviewer is happy to play ball, this strategy provides the jobseeker with the opportunity to answer any concerns and to further reinforce reasons why they should be hired.  This makes perfect sense as when the interviewer asks you for questions at the end of a meeting when you really want the job then that is the question you really want to ask, isn’t it? Especially when you feel you haven’t quite clicked personally with the Hiring Manager or don’t think you have really portrayed yourself in the most positive light.

However, in more conservative disciplines such as eDisclosure and computer forensics should you be using these techniques?  My natural instinct for roles in these areas is not to attempt to close the interviewer as it can be perceived as a little too aggressive.  When I said this to Steve he downed his beer, laughed for a good half a minute and asked me if I still listened to music on cassettes as I am so ‘old skool.'

Hmmm, I fear he may have a point.  What is your view?

Bad Advice

I was inspired to start writing a blog after continually reading terrible advice for jobseekers.  In the first paragraph of my very first blog post I wrote the following:

‘One of the problems with recruitment is that most people have experienced it in some form and that objectively it is incredibly easy – and it is of course, or rather it should be – but this very simplicity causes a large number of people to 'offer' recruitment advice.  The problem is that a lot of this advice although well-intentioned is just incredibly unhelpful to the unsuspecting jobseeker.’

I was reminded of this today after reading an article by ‘Recruiter X’ suggesting  that the modern jobseeker should differentiate themselves from the masses by sending a CV by post on high quality paper.  How can anyone possibly offer this advice in 2011 when a paper CV is a complete pain for everyone concerned?  It will certainly ensure you stand out in the same way as turning up to interview in a fake leopard skin thong, ‘I’m with stupid’ T-shirt and a beret will make you memorable to the interviewer!  

Not persuaded and still think a paper CV gives you an edge?  Well, why not go a step further and do what one jobseeker did when they posted a CV to me and fill the envelope with confetti.  How I laughed whilst on my knees clearing up for twenty minutes.  Mind you, the CV did stand out as it was the only one in the bin for a couple of weeks.

Regular readers will know my thoughts on this subject.  Your CV is still important if you choose to reply to a jobboard advert and it must be clear and uncluttered like this so that when you are asked to send a CV you can represent yourself in the best light.

However, to actually stand out from people with similar levels of skills/experience it is increasingly all about effective personal branding/self-promotion or whatever else you would like to call it.  How well known are you outside your immediate Team?  Are you active on forums, relevant LinkedIn groups and Twitter?  Do you write a blog or record your thoughts on YouTube?  If you are actively looking for a new role are your Facebook settings correctly enabled to show your business details?  

If you contact somebody about a potential new role – or even send them a CV - how easy is it for them to search online to find out about you and discover what really sets you apart?   How easy is it for them to contact you and have a conversation?

Not convinced?  Well, for Christmas an elderly relative bought me some lovely notepaper and envelopes which you are more than welcome to use in your job search.  I can also recommend a great article by ‘Recruiter X’....

Back To The Future

This afternoon I listened to the latest excellent podcast from Lee Whitfield and the guys from Forensic4cast. 

Towards the end of the episode they got into a very interesting discussion about whether forensic tools have evolved so much that this may, in fact, negate the need for specialist forensic investigators.

If you haven’t listened yet I suggest you do as they raise some very interesting issues: 

http://www.forensic4cast.com/2011/03/episode-35-anonymously-yours

On a related point, I have been pondering whether the steady prevalence of social media will in fact negate the need for recruiters, even in specialist markets such as mine.  As with the computer forensic analyst, the decline of the recruiter has been forecast on numerous occasions over the years, probably most recently with the rise of the job board which was going to kill us off for good.  As many of you who are contacted regularly by recruiters will know, we are still out there in numbers.

Let me share with you my view of the future.  

Advertising is still at the heart of the recruitment industry in 2011 but in a niche area such as Computer Forensics / Electronic Disclosure advertising has always been a bit hit and miss due to the limited size of the target market combined with the fact that the best people – the ones Clients want to hire – are rarely actively looking so aren't reading adverts.  As an aside, one of my hates as a recruiter is posting a job on say, Forensic Focus, and then other recruiters post what is clearly the same job a day or so later.  Don’t these people realise how silly this looks or do they just not care? The whole advertising of jobs in this area is all very haphazard to my mind and results are usually poor.

I don’t think that recruiters will carry out the actual recruiting in the future as this will lie with the hiring manager (HM).  I see the future recruiter as someone who can advise the HM on market conditions and help the HM to use the correct tools for sourcing certain roles, eg, Boolean search techniques on Google/Bing.  Think about it – the recruiter always used to have a valuable database but with the growth of social media the value of this database has massively receded.  The skill now is finding the best people from the huge social media database available to everyone.  Arguably, the only reason the HM doesn’t do this all the time in 2011 is time and habit.

The way recruiters are currently paid is ludicrous.   If you don’t know, recruiters are paid a percentage of first year salary by the organisation that hires a jobseeker which leads to significant problems with the treatment of the jobseeker.  As recruiters get paid by the hiring organisation, not the jobseeker, this means that the levels of customer service for jobseekers is, well, consistently awful.  This could all be changed really easily by allowing recruiters to act as personal  agents for individual jobseekers, paid by them rather than the organisations they join.  This would mean the recruiter/jobseeker could form a genuine long-term career partnership, based on the same model as sports agents or the people who represent movie stars during their careers.

If the recruiter is still required to carry out a specialist search by a particular organisation, wouldn’t it make sense to invoice for the number of billable hours worked by the recruiter on the specific requirement rather than a random percentage of year one salary?  Doing this would mean that recruiters were engaged exclusively by an organisation and this would again lead to a much stronger partnership between recruiter and HM and much more accountability.  Everyone would gain from this development of the relationship.

In recruitment there is lots of talk about partnership and the awful cliché ‘adding value’ but this is usually just words.  The reality is that once a jobseeker has accepted a role at an organisation the recruiter usually walks away with a fee and there is no ongoing engagement with the hiring organisation or hired jobseeker.  This can’t be right?

As always, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Review of the year. Thoughts on 2011...

There are a few contenders for the big news stories of 2010.  The two obvious ones, of course, are the re-emergence of the Mighty Leeds United and the emphatic sporting victories over our friends from Australia in the cricket and the rugby.

However, away from the sporting triumphs and disasters (the less said about the football world cup the better) it has been a very interesting year professionally which I have attempted to concisely summarise below along with my thoughts on 2011.  

2010 overall

After a bleak 2009 this year has seen all our key markets here at Appointments-uk show signs of recovery. In particular, our Fraud Investigation Team had an outstanding year!  Maybe in 2011 one of you chaps may actually find the time to make that often promised blog post??!  However, I fear there is more chance of Ricky Ponting being voted the best captain in Australian cricket history....

Computer Forensics & Electronic Disclosure

In my personal specialisms of Computer Forensics (CF) and Electronic Discovery (ED) recruitment has really picked up during the second half of the year.  The number of roles available – especially at a senior level – have increased but the difficulty has been persuading the very best talent in the market to make a move from stable organisations at this time when people are rightly uncertain about moving jobs.  This has meant that in the last quarter of 2010 a number of positions – especially at Manager to Director level  - have remained unfilled.

A real positive has been the increased number of appointments at graduate level.   Although the number of applicants still far outstrips the number of positions available, 2010 did see a vast increase in hires compared to 2009 with most of this increased activity coming from Big Four organisations.  Basic starting salaries in this area have slightly increased and now tend to be around the £27k/28k mark in London.  

2011 outlook

The outlook for ED is optimistic. Salaries have continued to increase for experienced people and the opportunities for major salary rises and rapid career progression in this area remain outstanding for talented professionals.  

I don’t think the future for CF is anywhere near as positive.  I see issues for pure CF people in the next year or so as salaries in this area haven’t increased to anywhere near the same level as ED.  This can make senior CF roles hard to fill as predominantly ED orientated potential jobseekers won’t take the pay cut needed to move into a pure CF role.

I also think there are growing difficulties around career opportunities in pure CF.  A number of people have spoken to me this year about hitting a career ceiling when at Manager level earning about £60k or so as there really is nowhere else to go (except for the few who progress to Director positions).  This has meant professionals in this area have attempted to broaden their portfolio of skills to include ED, wider information security skills or other disciplines just to open up career opportunities.

The other concern for CF (here in the UK) in 2011 is the continuing effect of the Public Sector cuts.  This has already had a direct effect on our company as all but two of our CF contractors in the Public Sector had their contracts curtailed during the last quarter of 2010.

It seems clear that recruitment in Law Enforcement is certainly not going to pick up but will there be job losses in this area (in addition to the closure of the FSS)?  Also, how is this change in the landscape going to affect the outsourcing companies?  With chargeable rates reducing as budgets are squeezed and the successful awarding of contracts apparently being increasingly based on ever lower charges does this mean that forensics professionals in the area, even if they keep their jobs, are unlikely to see their pay increase?  This is going to be tricky as some of the practitioners in this area outside London with over five years experience are still earning less than a new graduate in London.

How this is going to play out in 2011 is unclear right now but the future is certainly uncertain in this area.

On a positive note, 2010 has seen an increase in Companies developing their internal CF Teams.  Although predominantly in banking and finance, organisations in areas as diverse as pharmaceuticals and internet gaming have recruited CF experts this year and I would suggest this is likely to continue in 2011.

The thoughts above are just my opinions based on my experience: do you agree?

Recruitment

I thought some readers could be interested in the specific pressures facing recruiters in 2011.

Once more, 2010 has been another year when the reputation of recruiters has continued to slide.  On the positive side, I think 2011 has the potential to be a time where we will see many more recruiters go out of business.  This is no bad thing, of course, as it suggests that those who remain have managed to adapt to the new reality.  The old days of recruiters chatting to you on the phone for five minutes before spraying your CV to a number of organisations on a speculative basis have gone – thank goodness – and although some recruiters who work like this are hanging on it cannot last.

The key for successful recruitment in 2011 to my mind has to be successfully utilising social recruiting strategies and this whole area is progressing incredibly quickly.   Why should you take time out to look at a variety of different media to find a job that could be suitable?  Our job as recruiters is increasingly to bring the relevant content to you where you want to see it.

One of the bloggers who is really up to speed in this area and who has some very interesting views on this subject is Bill Boorman who gives his thoughts on 2011 in the following post: http://recruitingunblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/25/where-will-social-media-and-socialrecruiting-go-in-2011/

This unstoppable growth of social recruitment does pose some real challenges for recruiters.  In his post above, Bill talks about changes at LinkedIn which I think is going to be the major challenge for 2011:

‘With the launch of Linked In referral engine later this year, the alpha launch of the new company pages, the delivery of matched jobs to profiles and other initiatives that the boffins in the Linked In labs will be developing over the coming year will make this channel a real threat to third-party recruiters eroding some market share, as sourcing candidates gets much easier and the prospect of direct sourcing and applying becomes much more attractive, fuelled by a reduced cost of hire. As new Linked In applications prove their worth, they will move to the paid for options and by the end of next year the paid for options may well become a necessity rather than a luxury.  How long do you think it will be before the 2′nd degree search loopholes (via Bing) get closed, and names and contacts disappear completely unless you pay?’

Of course this is positive for the jobseeker as it will stop you being bothered so much on LinkedIn by annoying recruiters!  Who knows, it may even eventually stop your favourite LinkedIn discussion groups being ruined by recruiters posting irrelevant jobs.

Finally, at the end of this marathon blog, I would just like to wish you all a very happy, successful and peaceful New Year. 

New article

Excting news - well, that is assuming you aren't a fan of cutting-edge, incisive and ground-breaking recruitment articles!  If you are then good luck in your search..... If not, you can now read my latest article (offering advice to computer forensics students on how to secure a work placement) which has been published at Forensic Focus:  http://www.forensicfocus.com/david-sullivan (other articles I have written can be found here: http://www.appointments-uk.co.uk/articles.php).

As you may know, I spend a lot of time speaking with computer forensics students at various Universities and I hope this article will prove useful in bringing together a lot of the advice out there for this specific discipline.  As usual, I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this article (or anything I have written in my blog).

If you are travelling somewhere for Christmas today have a safe journey!

I once said something similar to my rather sarcastic friend 'Glum' who looked me in the eyes for a few seconds before slowly replying:  'No David, I am going to drive fast, take chances and set records'.  He isn't called Glum for nothing!

Finally, thank you very much to everyone who has taken the time to read this blog and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas.

The real cost of recruitment

At 1.30am this morning I was at the poker table as my pal JP won a rare, monster pot, made even sweeter as he had bluffed the usually unbluffable 'Bingo' Bill and 'Joe 90'.  What is it about poker players and nicknames?  Anyway, the table banter was about how some people hate their jobs about as much as Vince Cable must do today!  This subject always makes me think of my cousin.

My cousin works for Google in California.  Unsurprisingly, he loves the work and the people but the thing that he talks about the most is that once Google have hired you they make you feel incredibly special and wanted.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently announced that all employees would get a 10% pay rise next year along with $1,000 holiday bonuses.  Along with other pay incentives announced I imagine that this helps keep people feeling wanted

I thought of this after my meeting yesterday with a senior computer forensics professional who is looking to make a move.  This person loves the work and the people at his company but wasn't at all impressed with the 1% pay rise that was offered after months of hard negotiating to justify any increase.  He appreciates times are tough but was able to clearly demonstrate that he is underpaid for the work he does.  However,  in the end, this whole process made him feel completely unloved which is why he wanted to meet with me.

From here, it is pretty plain to see how events will unfold.  With the help of his favourite recruiter (not that he needs one in reality) he will be offered a new job in the New Year for a small pay increase - the one he wanted from his current employer.  His old company will then:

• unsuccessfully attempt to counter-offer the person with a higher salary than he originally wanted;
• recruit someone else to replace him at a higher salary than the current employee;
• incur a recruitment fee;
• waste maybe 20+ valuable hours interviewing unsuitable candidates;
• suffer a few months of reduced productivity whilst the new person gets up to speed;
• risk a drop in morale as the current Team react to losing a good person;
• potentially develop a negative perception for staff turnover in the tight CF market.

When looked at like this it is clearly madness.   Isn't it?

The reality - in my experience - is that this happens all the time.  In fact, the deal I was discussing in my last blog post actually collapsed over a tiny salary difference.  This company had been looking to fill that role for seven months and are now back to square one.

I appreciate budgets are tough but surely sometimes the bigger picture is what is really important?

How much does salary really matter?

I woke up in Ipswich marina this morning.

Not literally in the water of course - it was a big night but not that big - but in the beautiful Salthouse Harbour Hotel (pictured - http://www.salthouseharbour.co.uk/) with a major headache.  Not just the headache from the party the night before celebrating the brief return of my pal Frosty - currently exiled in Hong Kong - but also pondering how to save a deal I am currently involved in which is falling down on salary.

This deal has made me focus on just how important basic salary really is to people.  It sounds obvious of course but, in reality, just how important is basic salary to you at this stage of your career?

In the specific case I am working on the Computer Forensics professional wants a higher - but not unreasonable - salary (and has been clear about this all along) whilst the employer feels that a lower salary with extensive training and other benefits is sufficient.  This balance is made even more tricky in an area such as computer forensics as, well, let's just say that not all employers are as keen to offer outstanding training and so it is a massive incentive to join a company with a genuine commitment to training and personal development.

On reflection, I think the real issue here is all about understanding what is important to people at different stages of their careers.  Generally, people at the early stages of their career tend to be driven by base salary as this is key for renting/buying houses and instant quality of life whereas in the later stages of a career areas such as pension, shares, and health insurance become more important.

On the subject of salaries, in previous blogs I have talked of my frustration at jobseekers with unrealistic salary expectations.  This week I spoke to one very strong Computer Forensics professional currently working in Law Enforcement, based north of Birmingham and earning £35/40k or so.  When I asked what he would need to earn to work in Central London his reply was £60k as he would need to rent a flat during the week and had other expenses to cover.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry but astoundingly (to me anyway) these wildly unrealistic salary expectations are more common than you may think.  What this chap didn't appreciate is that there are numerous people at his level of experience within commutable distance of London who would take the role for £40k.  Why would any employer pay an extra £25k just because he would have to move to take the job?

In my experience people tend not to get a salary increase higher than 20% of their current basic salary when they change jobs (although, of course, there are exceptions).  Not everyone agrees with this basic view and some argue that what you are currently earning is absolutely irrelevant as you should turn each interview into a discussion about how much money you can make/save an organisation and negotiate salary from there.

I like the theory but then again I think that world peace is a great idea too.  My advice is always to keep the 20% figure in mind!

Finally, I did laugh at this article (http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/12/tom-baldwin-miliband-labour) describing Ed Milliband's new spin doctor as a cross between Alastair Campbell, Hunter S Thompson and Rasputin - just imagine that!

Where are jobs advertised?

On one of the forums this week a poster asked where Computer Forensics jobs are advertised.  Really, this should be an easy question to answer but, in reality, for all our specialist markets (including computer forensics) the answer isn't quite so simple. 

Unlike some recruiters who advertise the same/similar jobs endlessly (yawn) as a company we hardly ever advertise our open roles for a number of reasons:

1, Apathy

We aint hot on riting and can't be bothered as we would rather be in a bar with a lager from 11.30 am.   This is, of course, just a rather tame little joke (regular readers will know that most of my attempts at humour tend to be as amusing as a Liberal Democrat MP defending their current position on any given issue).

So, moving swiftly on to the serious points:

1, Advertising is hit and miss

Our Consultants and Researchers have worked in our sectors for a number of years and have large networks.  This means that we tend to know who works where and based on our market knowledge we can then approach suitable people directly for specific roles.  Advertising jobs is a terribly ineffective way of attracting the right applicants for all but the very lowest-level positions - it really is posting an advert and then keeping fingers-crossed for the right response!

The following example illustrates this point.  When we first recruited forensics specialists for the Met Police a few years ago they had previously advertised their jobs in the Evening Standard.  They then interviewed something like 25 people who all proved unsuitable.  Excluding the cost of placing the advert, the cost of four people interviewing the unsuccessful candidates was a tremendous waste of time and money.

There is also the issue of where to advertise online in niche areas as there are just so many different sites.

Out of the generalist boards we use Jobsite for some of our roles and they certainly give us the best response plus, in my experience, they are a pleasure to deal with every time.  Also, as sponsors of Portsmouth FC they are kindly entertaining me in their box for the visit of the Mighty Leeds United in January (thanks, Alex)!

Other sites produce a terrible response and are a real pain to deal with on a daily basis.  Seriously, dinner with Gillian McKeith starts to look appealing compared to working with these guys!  I forget which ones I have vowed never to use again but the thread below about Monster has taken on legendary status in our office (the 'hilarity' begins at the fourth response when the poster is rumbled):

http://web.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum/Forum/read.php?i=171440&start=80

2, Finding the very best people for the job

People who apply for jobs tend to be unhappy for some reason - sometimes due to less than perfect performance (although, of course, not always) whereas our Clients tend to want to employ people who are performing to an exceptional level.  In his fantasic training courses, the outstanding and inspirational recruitment trainer Roy Ripper (his real name, honestly: http://www.royripper.com/about/) described this as 'finding the best people in the market rather than on the market'.

As recruiters the very essence of our existence is that we are supposed to find the very best people for any role.  If we can't go beyond sifting advert response then employers may just as well advertise the roles themselves.

3, Time

Although I constantly read from disillusioned jobseekers (presumably) that recruiters advertise jobs just to harvest CV's for most of us that is far from the case.  Believe me when I say that I really don't want to waste lots of time filtering through unsuitable responses and providing the necessary feedback.


However, back to the question of Computer Forensics jobs.  When we do advertise these roles in addition to our website it is either on Forensic Focus or Linkedin (where the number of job postings are rapidly increasing). I would also advise keeping an eye on the better generalist boards such as CWjobs or Jobsite as occasionally jobs are posted there that you won't find anywhere else.  You can also sometimes find gems on the specialist financial sites or legal-orientated boards like the excellent:  www.legaltechnology.com.

My advice is to always employ a balanced strategy.  Check the job boards above, make enquiries through your own network and, most importantly of course, speak to your favourite specialist recruiter!  For those of you who try to avoid recruiters and raised your eyebrows at that last line I suggest you think of it in the following way.   Even if you choose not to be represented by a recruiter for specific vacancies why not take advantage of the free market intelligence a recruiter can provide in the form of trends, salary advice etc.  In this market what is there to lose?

Finally, good luck the Mighty Leeds United tomorrow as they once more demonstrate their unique brand of 'total football' to the people of Burnley!

Humiliation

Have you ever had a really bad experience with a recruiter?  

Hmmm, actually that is probably a rhetorical question and I can almost hear every single person reading this blog (both of you) either shouting ‘yes’ or else laughing hysterically.   Well, if you have, here is a great way to gain revenge and make any recruiter look really stupid.   It goes something like this:

1, Speak in-depth to recruiter (let’s call this recruiter, say, David Sullivan) about your aspirations and hopes;

2, Let David talk to you about a specific computer forensics role at one of his major Clients in great detail and appear excited about the opportunity;

3, As requested by David (as he is professional in his work), send him an email stating that you are happy for him to represent you on this specific opportunity;

4, But – and this is the beauty of this cunning plan to be carried out with all the transparency of a FIFA Executive - before you give David permission to make an approach you contact the company directly and send them your CV!

5, Sit back and enjoy the hilarious consequences as the company call David saying they have already received the CV directly and in future could he please act professionally and brief candidates fully about any opportunity.

Oh, the joys of recruitment...

Still, this isn't quite as incredible as the scenes at FIFA HQ in Zurich yesterday.  My friend Sausage (because he looks like a sausage, obviously) summed it up for me like this: "How can a professional bid like the one produced by England go out in the first round: even Audley Harrison made it to the third".  He has a point....

Have a good one!

Christmas thoughts

On a freezing, snowy day here in Essex my thoughts have wandered to where I would rather be and, the answer, of course, is in fabulous Las Vegas surrounded by beautiful people - well, my buddys JP and Angus anyway - sipping a cold drink at the awesome Voodoo Lounge (pictured) before heading to the Bellagio for a spot of poker.

If not Vegas then maybe in one of the bars lining Las Ramblas in Barcelona watching the world go by....Instead, on Saturday afternoon I found myself on the outskirts of Reading watching the Mighty Leeds United playing out the most tedious 0-0 draw in arctic conditions - not quite living the dream!

I know it is a cliche but here in England it is odd how everything stops when there is bad weather.  All three interviews I had scheduled for today have been cancelled which is frustrating as we are rapidly approaching that time of year when recruitment slows right down (in my sectors) for a wide variety of reasons.  Incidentally, last year I wrote a short article on when is the best time to look for a new job which can be found here: http://www.appointments-uk.co.uk/articleMarch2009.php

I am particularly irritated by these cancellations today as ideally I would like these deals finalised before the holidays begin as it really is a battle to schedule meetings in December.  I am never quite sure why this is the case: is it really because people mentally switch off and move into party mode? 

In recruitment there is a saying that 'time kills deals' due to the two sides courting each other cooling off or other complicating factors arising - for example, here in the UK a number of people I know who were offered Computer Forensic roles in the Public Sector earlier this year had these posts withdrawn following the Public Sector cuts introduced in George Osborne's budget.  A more extreme example is my Venture Capitalist friend who lost all his prospective deals immediately after the terrible events of 11 September 2001.

The Christmas period can also have some very odd effects on jobseekers.  I recall one Fraud Investigator who was at final interview stage for a Big Four Company and was incredibly excited about the opportunity before Christmas.   After spending the holiday with her rather dull husband (seriously, half an hour with this guy makes a Nick Clegg speech look strangely exciting) she finally decided to divorce and so cancelled all her plans to change jobs.

Finally, a note of humour (well, arguably - it made me chuckle anyway) on this miserable evening.  Did you hear the joke about what Audley Harrison and Michael Jackson had in common?  They both wore a glove for no apparent reason....

Reality of the Big Four

The Big Four firms have recruited extensively (here in the UK) within the Computer Forensics/eDiscovery area over the last few months, especially at new graduate level.  Undoubtedly, both the quality of work and opportunities for progression are excellent at these companies for the right people.  However, just in the last week I have been approached by a number of recent graduates who joined a Big Four organisation in 2010 and have already realised that the work isn't for them and they are now looking for a new opportunity in a different forensics enviroment.

Following on from this, I thought it could be useful to readers of this blog to see the piece below about working for a Big Four organisation which was submitted to me by a very strong graduate who spent some time in a Big Four environment before moving to Law Enforcement this summer:


"I enjoyed my time working in computer forensics at a 'Big Four' accountancy firm. The team was great and the people that I worked with were very intelligent, capable individuals from various backgrounds. For the graduate positions no experience or a forensic qualification was required, and in some cases they took those without computer science-related degrees - indeed, the selection process was much more about general aptitude and attitude than specific technical or industry knowledge.

One of the major benefits was the opportunity to visit different clients and work on a wide variety of projects, and I took part in several high-profile national and international assignments for both public and private sector clients. However, for those expecting to be home every night at a reasonable hour, or indeed home during week-nights for months at a time, then this type of role is not for you. Flexibility is by far the largest commitment of the job, with a requirement to be literally anywhere for an unspecified period of time with not a lot of notice, which is to be expected with the spontaneous nature of corporate investigations. This said, the uncertainty can sometimes be exciting, with the pressure to 'hit the ground running' and get on with the job when you get there - and the flights and hotels were always nice!

eDiscovery is the corporate flavour of computer forensics practised by the Big Four firms. It is battery-farm forensics, sucking terabytes of data from a firm's servers and/or a multitude of PCs, getting the e-mails/Word documents/Excel spreadsheets out, and pumping them into a review environment for trainee lawyers or paralegals to run keyword searches over. At a graduate level expect to be working in a team performing one of these roles on one project for long periods of time. Data Analytics is the other major area of the corporate forensic technology world, which at a graduate level is essentially running SQL queries over large sets of structured data - usually financial. As time progresses it gets a bit more interesting, and with some good in-house training you will be able to reconcile financial systems to check for fraudulent activity.

I have recently moved from a Big Four firm to the law enforcement world purely to embark on a different type of work. Whilst I enjoyed the pressure and the variety of projects at the firm, my individual responsibility in these projects was very small, and understandably so due to the volume of data captured. Although I am now only dealing with the examination of one computer, not ten, I am responsible for this from acquisition, to report, and to court if necessary, and this is very fulfilling."

If you have experience working for a Big Four firm in this sector I would be very interested to know whether you agree with these thoughts?

Not Welcome!

I have sailed for most of my life.  Through this wonderful sport I have literally travelled around the world to compete at events and met some of my very best friends from all walks of life and of all ages.  

Unfortunately, sailing still has an elitist reputation in some quarters.  Those who still hold this view should visit my home club – The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club – to see just how far from the truth this is (in fact, let me know when you are at either of the club houses in Cowes or Burnham-on-Crouch and if I am free I will happily buy you a drink or four and introduce you to some of my pals).  Every weekend sees parents giving up their time to encourage the thriving youth fleets and although there are some very wealthy members (funnily enough, none in recruitment) everyone mixes in a very casual atmosphere on the balcony on a summers evening – it is inclusive and all are welcome.  I like this attitude and actively refuse to attend any sailing event at a snotty club with ‘members only’ on the door.  

I mention this inclusiveness as very rarely for me I am in ‘Billy's Bar’ at Elland Road – home of the Mighty Leeds United (Billy’s Bar is in memory of the late, great Billy Bremner, sadly missed in both Leeds and Scotland)  as they prepare to destroy Hull City this evening – and  yet would rather be elsewhere. I adore being in Leeds so it could be a lot worse especially after our recent couple of startling victories.   

However, the point is that I want to be at the F3 conference with a lot of my friends in the computer forensics sector but I am not welcome.  My name isn’t Dave and I’m not getting in – although ironically it is, but I still am not getting in.....(dodgy 90’s music reference – apologies)!

For those of you not in the computer forensics sector, F3 (http://www.f3.org.uk) ‘exists to provide an open forum for all forensic computing practitioners, to enable them to share their collective knowledge through discussion and training’. I have tremendous respect for the numerous members of the committee whom I have known for years and the organisation no doubt does a great job for the members.  However, F3 have an annual conference which begins today where, as a recruiter, I am not welcome.  I pay to advertise in the brochure but I am not able to attend the conference as I am not a practitioner.  I have tried to argue the case in previous years that I wish to attend as I am a member of the community but I have had no success.

Yes, it is ‘members only’ and sadly I am as welcome as Phil Woolas at the christening of Ed Millibands newborn child.  

My colleagues here tell me to not get so irate about this as it doesn’t matter in the scheme of things and that there is no point in me attending anyway.  I think that misses the point: the reason I attend Infosec every year is that I am able to hear speakers discuss trends/issues and by understanding these points I am more informed and credible when I am discussing the industry with my network.  Ok, forget that worthy reason, I just want to spend a couple of nights in the bar with some of my friends!

  

As I see it: 

• I am active on numerous forums where I think I am a part of the community who is able to actually contribute above the tedious recruiter level of purely posting current vacancies;
• I lecture extensively to the computer forensics students at Universities;
• I speak at events attended by experienced members of the computer forensics sector and so far, I don’t think there have been any complaints that I am bothering people (well, except for the unfortunate case involving a case of vodka, three packets of wine gums and the Russian gymnasts which we will skip over as that was a simple misunderstanding).     

But still, I am not welcome at the biggest UK computer forensics event of the year. Is this fair?

If you help run a club, community or forum of any description that bars people for no clear, valid reasons please do reconsider.  Some of the snotty ‘members only’ sailing clubs I have shunned in the past are now desperate for new members to ensure their survival but they have woken up to the new world order too late and the future isn’t bright.

Oh, and if you are at the F3 conference and sober enough to read this, do please have a beer for us recruiters stranded at the door....

How much do you earn?

Today really has just been one of those days.

Mind you, it is not quite in the same league as when one of my candidates turned up for an eDiscovery Director role in a Homer Simpson tie (yes, you have guessed it no happy ending here) or when another jobseeker was physically sick all over the desk during the interview (my shocked Client sent me an email titled ‘sweetcorn everywhere’ – nice).  Neither of these are as bad as an ex-colleague of mine who told me the story of one of her candidates who during the interview was asked to draw a picture that best described him. He drew a clown with blood pouring from its eyes, ears and nose.   What on earth is that all about?  Would you have employed him (or even have risked travelling to reception with him alone in a lift)?

As a recruiter one of the things we spend a lot of time doing is talking about salary.  Even now, after all these years in recruitment, I still sometimes find it odd when I have just met somebody and within minutes I am asking what they earn.  Imagine meeting a new person for the first time in a bar and after making small talk about the weather you then ask them about their salary and even more remarkably they are happy to tell you!  Actually, if I kept a straight face I wonder what else I could get away with asking (suggestions in the comments section, please)??!

Anyway, the reason we do so is that because however senior you are salary is still always a big deal and if we cannot come to an understanding on this there is little point proceeding.  If your salary expectations are in my view unrealistic then I  - as with most recruiters – will tell you very clearly that we cannot help you and will wish you well in your search for a new job.

In my experience, as a general rule, it is pretty rare to secure a salary increase of more than 20% of your current basic salary.   There are exceptions such as the Computer Forensics Manager we placed in 2008 who went from a basic salary of £64k to £100k but trust me, this sort of salary hike is very much the exception.

In a discipline such as Computer Forensics, one difficulty I experience is that sometimes people currently working in the Public Sector have unrealistic views about what salary they can secure in the Private Sector.  On a number of occasions people earning around the £40k mark have told me they would need £70k to move roles due to pension constraints and other issues.  Whilst I understand their thinking it is also – in my view - wildly unrealistic.   A similar situation I find difficult is when someone is based in, say Scotland, where the CF opportunities are limited, and they are looking to move to London.  They could be earning £35k and need to earn £50k in London to cover their increased living costs.  However, for the employer based in London why would they pay a a basic salary of £50k when they could secure a local person currently earning £35k for £38k? 

So, this is why we talk about salaries so much to ensure there are no misunderstandings.  However, sometimes when somebody is actually in an interview all the discussions we have had previously go out of the window. Why is this: nerves, ego? Whatever the reason, this brings me back to my bad day today when someone I had spoken to maybe ten times and agreed each time that they were looking for a salary of £60k told the interviewer they needed to earn £80k......joy unconfined!  End result:

1, Annoyed interviewer. ‘David, we were quite clear we couldn’t pay more than £60k and ‘x’ told us he was looking for a basic of £80k.  Please don’t waste our time with unsuitable people.’  Recruiter apologises and looks unprofessional.

2, Annoyed jobseeker, ‘I took a day off for this interview – I trust you will pay my expenses’.  Recruiter bites tongue and resists inclination to resort to physical violence as we agreed salary expectations so many times then writes it off as a bad job and authorises expenses.

3, Annoyed recruiter who after having apologised to both (1) and (2) resolves to talk about salary expectations even more often and with even more clarity in future!  Recruiter then ponders drinking a bottle of absinthe...

So, when your recruiter annoys you by talking endlessly about salary expectations please do understand why they are doing so and do tell them what you REALLY think to avoid wasting time at a later date.....

Don't miss out....

I have just read an interesting thread on the excellent www.forensicfocus.com about when graduates should start to apply for jobs.  Although most of my active work is now senior level recruitment I am still surprisingly often asked to source computer forensics / ediscovery  graduates for some of my Clients.  With the large number of computer forensics courses that have started in recent years and the surplus of supply over demand you would think that recruiting graduates is straightforward?  Sadly not.  The standard of course ranges from excellent to very poor and unfortunately the quality of the graduates is variable which means that if graduates are invited to interview just based on their CV  a lot of time can be wasted.

Still, this is great news for me as it means I can still continue to accept invitations to speak at Universities running courses in this area.  I have been speaking at some Universities for over five years and it is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job as the students are almost without exception incredibly passionate about their subject and eager to learn about the opportunities available to them upon graduation.  Also, a trip to campus always takes me back to those carefree University days and often gives me a chance to catch up with old friends/contacts in different parts of the UK...

When reading the Forensic Focus thread today I wasn’t really surprised that some students aren’t being advised early on about when to apply for specific roles.  When I speak at Universities I am usually shocked at just how unaware students are about the actual roles they are likely to take and how they intend to secure these positions.  I do appreciate that it is difficult for University Careers Officers to offer specific advice about these niche career paths but still, surely a student studying Computer Forensics should at least have some idea about the very real differences between working for a High Tech Crime Unit as opposed to Big 4 organisation?  I guess the key is for the students to be proactive about their future career from a very early stage in their University life so they don’t miss out on opportunities – or to ensure their favourite recruiter is invited to campus to speak not just to final year students but the new intake too!

I trust that like me you will all be glued to the TV screen tomorrow evening to watch the Mighty Leeds United take the three points from Middlesbrough.  Have a great weekend.

Too many cooks....

One of the problems with recruitment is that most people have experienced it in some form and that objectively it is incredibly easy – and it is of course, or rather it should be – but this very simplicity causes a large number of people to 'offer' recruitment advice.  The problem is that a lot of this advice although well-intentioned is just incredibly unhelpful to the unsuspecting jobseeker.

I was reminded of this today when on one of the forums where I am active a new graduate was asking for advice about telephone interviewing.  I have probably been involved in over 100 telephone interviews in 2010 (it is a necessary first step for many of our US Clients) so I have sat in on a lot of calls, heard the feedback and so think I have a pretty good feel for what contributes to a successful call.  I certainly have a clear understanding on what makes a bad telephone interview!  Most of the advice on the forum was the standard stuff you would expect about being in the right environment, preparing properly etc but then one senior person (who when discussing his area of expertise is outstanding) suggested asking about the benefits package including healthcare, pensions and transport costs.  Oh dear...

If you are ever asked to take a telephone interview it really isn’t advisable to ask questions related to the colour scheme in the office, the texture of your keyboard, popular bars for a lunchtime beer or the quality of coffee.  Ok, so you can probably get away with any of the above but I would suggest that the cardinal rule is don’t ever ask about the benefits package before you have even met anyone from the company for a face to face interview!!

There is some amazing interview advice available out there - use it carefully!