Aegle Limited

Fructose makes you stupid

keith — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:24:52 +0000

That’s my excuse anyway!
Researchers have found a correlation between a high fructose diet and slower mental activity, admittedly in rats but fructose is already proven to contribute to diabetes, obesity and liver disease in earlier studies.
Insulin has a significant effect on the brain cells ability to function and anything affecting the level of insulin in the body must as a result reduce brain activity.
Fructose is manufactured from corn and used as a sweetener in most processed foods such as soft drinks but the good news is that the effects can be reduced if you also eat nuts, fish and omega 3 rich items.
Could this explain why so many people are unemployable?

Euro uncertainty affects business confidence

keith — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:07:43 +0000

As the politicians argue and procrastinate about the future of the whole Eurozone, whether Greece will be forced to leave the currency and the possible ramifications a whole raft of statistics paint a gloomy picture for the UK economy.
I suppose this should be expected as around 50% of our exports go to Europe so if those economies are suffering a lack of demand would be expected.
Uncertainty means that employers are reluctant to invest in the business, be it technology, machinery or staff so as a consequence many corporates are sitting on considerable sums of cash waiting for signs of an upturn.
Reducing costs is seen as essential and accountants (or their consultants) are hard at work devising new schemes to outsource work, reduce staff numbers, or both. According to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 8% of employers intend to offshore work currently undertaken in the UK in the next year.
All this adds to the burden of the remaining staff and it can be no surprise that stress related illnesses are on the rise.
Official figures on jobs are looking more positive with more companies expecting to recruit and less to implement redundancies but these hide a considerable trend away from permanent staff. Latest figures also show 1.4 million individuals working part-time simply because they cannot find full-time work, almost 90% of advertised jobs have been for temporary or part-time roles over the last year. In some cases individuals are holding down more than one of these just to meet the cost of living.
A Department of Work & Pensions spokesman said “We firmly believe that being in some form of employment is better than being out of work. Part-time work or jobs in different sectors can be the first steps into employment providing vital experience and skills that employers will look for when the economy and labour market improve”. A reasonable statement apart from the fact that in many cases these jobs offer little in the way of prospects and the income falls short of that necessary to feed the family.
It is clear that politicians in Europe will continue to avoid tackling the issues for some time to come so it is essential for businesses to find new markets for their products in those countries least affected by the turmoil such as China, India and South America. To their credit the Government is doing its best to facilitate this but could do more to stimulate our economy.

Is your lifestyle making you ill?

keith — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:15:27 +0000

A new syndrome dubbed “social jetlag” has been coined by researchers who believe that the increasing discrepancy between our internal body clock and hectic social lives is causing sleep-deprivation on a massive scale.
Sufferers are likely to be far less able to concentrate meaning poor performance at work, susceptibility to sickness and obesity, even a danger to other road users.
Further evidence indicates that there has been a significant rise of one-sixth in people prescribed sleeping tablets over the last 3 years, thought to be as a result of pressures bought on by the economic downturn. These stress-related conditions resulted in 15.3 million prescriptions last year. Others turn to alcohol and drugs to help them to cope and doctors are worried that people will become dependent, or even addicted, to their “little helpers”.
Technology means we can be contacted 24/7, there is increasing evidence that people are becoming addicted to their communication and internet devices and are foregoing social interaction to increasingly live “virtual lives”.
To me it seems we are reaching the limits of what the brain can handle. With all the pressures from work, family and hectic social lives it seems we have forgotten how to relax and get a good night’s sleep.
If a survey by The British Sleep Society last year is representative then as many as 61% of us have sleep problems costing the UK economy millions in lost productivity. The consequences for life expectancy could be significant.
I heard of a guy who had taken a camper van to work so he can take a nap at lunchtime on the radio this morning, perhaps we should all take notice, even a 20 minute “power nap” is supposed to be a benefit, it worked for Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill.

Ensure your CV is honest

keith — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:05:25 +0000

As the board of Yahoo discusses the future of its CEO following revelations that he had falsified his academic achievements on his CV it raises the question of just how far you should stretch the truth on your CV.
The temptation is to make oneself look good by claiming credit for team achievements but it appears that as many as 20% of people are now taking this further and making false claims of academic achievement or even buying degrees off of the internet.
A whole new industry has evolved to pre-screen CV’s and to do background checks in order to eliminate dishonest candidates at an early stage. It can be more difficult to identify those who have lied about job titles, exam grades, employment dates and reasons for leaving previous employers but these are highlighted to be covered at interview in the hope of catching candidates out. Additional aptitude and psychometric tests are used to uncover obvious failings.
It is all too easy to make mistakes when drawing up your CV, wrong dates or grades perhaps, but we have seen offers withdrawn when these simple errors are uncovered.
Be very careful to ensure that nothing in your CV can be checked and disproved. We all stretch the truth a little but you must be certain that at interview or through background checks you will not be found out. After all how can an employer trust somebody proven to have lied.
If in doubt take professional advice.

Time for a rethink?

easybud1 — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:40:48 +0000

Time for a rethink?

Seeing the turmoil and unrest across the world as various countries go to the polls one wonders if it is time for a rethink of how we are governed?

For too long all so called democratic countries have had the choice of voting for party “A” or party “B” with a few votes being thrown around to lesser parties that up until now have had nearly no hope of making a difference.

We have seen world chaos because of debt; with politicians pointing the finger of blame 100% at the banks and no one mentioning the large loans or sovereign debt that cannot be repaid, nor any mention of shareholders demanding ever larger dividends which has also encouraged the debt and greed culture. If politicians had not been so vain and full of their own importance then perhaps they could have reigned in the banks and big business and stopped the problem before it became too late.

Alas most of the politicians are just that, politicians with no experience of the real world or how it works, else they come from very wealthy families or from a political family that at its best is akin to the Russian Tsars and its worst the dictatorship of North Korea and the Jong-Il dynasty.

Perhaps we should look at politics with a fresh eye and then implement a new radical approach to the entire system. First of all no politician should be allowed more than 2 terms as a politician, this would encourage fresh blood and hopefully new ideas without any of the trappings of a long established political dynasty.

Second we should abolish all political parties, something that seems to have caught the electorate on London in the recent Mayoral votes with Siobhan Benita an independent candidate taking 3.8% of the vote at her first attempt.

We would then vote in the person we think is best for the job and not because they are “Labour and my family has always been Labour”, or whatever. Once the votes are in we should have a collection of good independent ministers who will vote for their conscience and for their constituency and not toe a party line which may go against the people that voted for them.

These ministers should then elect a leader, chancellor etc.

This method would ensure the electorate would have a true voice in how they are governed and should reduce nepotism, cronyism and corruption. The House would not be split by warring factions trying to outdo their opponent across a ballot box; instead there should be constructive discussions and practical solutions.

Though I am afraid the die-hard politicians would have too much to lose if there was any change to our current electoral system.

Time to change course

easybud1 — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:18:23 +0000

You are unemployed, you have attended an outplacement agency paid for by your company and come away armed with a reasonable CV, you have fired the CV out to numerous agencies; yet despite this there have been no interviews and no offers of employment.

What next?

If you went through traditional outplacement paid for by your last employer the chances are it was fairly basic in that they helped with a CV, told you how to network, offered you a desk PC and phone and chatted with you for a limited paid for consultation. You should understand that your last employer has no real interest in helping you to find a new job in the same industry as you have left in case you go to a rival company and then prosper; your last employer has only supplied basic outplacement with a known company as a way of making it seem that they are sorry to lose you and to try and reduce the possibility of legal action against them.

Perhaps now is the time to take a look at your life and your working career before you go any further. Is the zero result a sign that you should try something different, or perhaps take a completely different approach to your job search?

Look at your skills and talents and see if they can be used in a different industry, look at your hobbies, could they be a way to make a good living. What do you like doing, or more importantly what do you dislike doing, by examining these areas you should be able to find a way to move forward in your career.

How much money do you need to earn if you work locally rather than commuting into a city, it is not just fares that you have to take into account, it is all the extras that you have taken for granted. Stop all this and you can probably live on half the money without cutting back on anything.

It has been reported in the press that many Italians are returning to the land and becoming shepherds as a way to earn money, very commendable but not easy if you live in Docklands.

This shows that by taking a long hard look at your life you may find that working local or for yourself is a lot more rewarding; by this I mean a better quality of life. More time to play golf, go fishing, cycling or just being with the family.

If this describes your current position then give us a call for a FREE on discussion how we can help you to re-launch your career. 01689 820820 or email us.

45% of Corporates would switch banks for better payment services

keith — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:04:29 +0000

According to a Sungard survey banks are still failing to satisfy the demands of corporate customers using their cash management product offerings. 45% indicated that they would be prepared to move bank if they believed another was offering better services.
The survey also revealed considerable ignorance of exactly what payment services their current bank and their competitors provided.
When asked what their ideal bank offering would be 80% are seeking an integrated product and vendor enrolment service.
As cash management services provide on-going fee revenue for the bank it is clearly important to maximise earnings. I wonder if we shall see significant investment from banks in developing the desired services or whether other vendors may beat them to it?
Whichever is the case it does look as if there will be a market for people with extensive experience and knowledge in payments and cash management product development. Aegle have extensive contacts in this realm and an enviable track record with both candidates and clients.

Ministers warn British jobs will go unless red tape is reduced

keith — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:38:55 +0000

Forgive me but did we not hear this before just after the coalition was brought together?
Over the last two years red tape, the costs of employing people and employment legislation have all increased despite Government initiatives to the contrary.
What is really needed is real action (and quickly), or else Britain will see its global competitiveness slump with consequential effects on unemployment.
Brave policies and innovative thinking are demanded I can’t see it happening, can you?

A case for “blind interviewing”

keith — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:57:53 +0000

Discrimination in the workplace is inevitable, whatever type it may be, simply because of human nature.
In the case of colour or ethnicity people will tend towards those of similar ilk, men (or women) may subconsciously favour male or female subordinates depending upon the role and the perception of threat they pose. Now in this morning’s Daily Mail we get “fat discrimination” apparently being an obese woman can seriously hinder your career because bosses assume them to be lazy or dare I say unattractive.
The fact is you cannot change this and any employer faces the possibility of legal action if they put a foot wrong in the selection process whether wittingly or otherwise.
The only solution I can think of is a blind interview process where the selection is based entirely upon skills and experience and the interview is conducted remotely through a voice synthesiser to anonymise the sex.
Ridiculous as this may seem it might mean that the most qualified person gets the job and will certainly ensure fairness in the recruitment process but I cannot see it catching on.
Perhaps we might see CV’s anonymised covering just the last 5 years work experience and containing no reference to sex, age, education or obesity.

Is technology destroying society?

keith — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:49:57 +0000

Apparently technology is killing off physical and social interaction according to a report in today’s Daily Mail.
I would have thought that was obvious, just look at the number of people constantly on their smartphone or other devices on any high street at any given time. 20% prefer to communicate online rather than face to face or by phone.
The survey found that 3% of people can go up to 48 hours without any verbal interaction, in fact this group actively seek out automated tills in supermarkets, use the internet for shopping and presumably do not get out much. Could this explain obesity?
Maybe it is the fact that you can put aside all of your insecurities, even be something you are not, on the internet. This is born out when a third of Brits admit to making themselves more interesting online.
Let the stats speak for themselves:
1:3 people have more friends online than in real life
1:3 spend more time chatting online than face to face
1:4 are more confident online
1:5 believe that they will make more friends online than in the real world.
On the downside 1:4 admit they get lonely.
So we are turning into a nation of shy sad people.