“Over 80% of CIOs say it is becoming increasingly difficult to find people with the right skills as over half of businesses plan to invest in the latest technologies this year, according to research.

IT professionals with technical skills in database management were in highest demand, according to 46% of CIOs.  Publicly listed businesses, large companies and those in London and the south-east of England are finding it the most difficult to get the right skills, said the survey.  Network administrators/engineers, Windows administrators, desktop support professionals and business intelligence experts are also in high demand” -- Computer Weekly

I wrote a blog post recently about how ‘easy’ people think recruitment is - and to be honest, I can understand why.  Without making such a sweeping statement; this rule can be applied to the 95% - but at Testing Circle, we like to think we are the 5%.

No candidate is ever ‘just a number’, we go above and beyond to understand our Client’s needs as well as the needs of their business, and most importantly - we genuinely care about everything we do.  We have a strong ‘Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy’ - we don’t discriminate or ‘positively’ discriminate and we believe in only sending a candidate across if we are 100% positive they can perform the task.  We do not spam mail our entire database with roles that are completely irrelevant to their skill set, nor do we promise things we can’t deliver.  The point I’m trying to get at, is if more CIOs used smaller and more niche agencies, such as Testing Circle; those figures above may not be so high.

It sounds like some cheesy marketing ploy to tell you how amazing we are and how we can deliver everything you need - but honestly, we can’t.  We are not super human, nor are we miracle workers.  We can however promise to use the biggest and brightest talent in our Company, to do our very best in finding someone that fits your team - not only in their technical expertise, but their team and environment fit.  We don’t just see ‘Recruitment as Recruitment’ - we understand that finding the right person for the right job, has the ability to change a lot of lives.

So why not give us a try - our rates are very competitive and if we don’t find someone great for you, you don’t have to pay us anyway :)

“Apple reported revenue of $46.33 billion and profits of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2011. That was up from the $26.74 billion, or $6.43 per share, the company saw at the same time last year.

"We're thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads, and Macs," Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said in a statement. "Apple's momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline."” -- cnet

Congratulations to Apple to seem to be storming the Market with their products!  Having recently had this discussion with our latest senior-level IT professional to take part in “The Interview” - Lorraine Campbell at LateRooms.com; it’s interesting to find people’s take on the iPhone vs. Blackberry vs. Android debate.

I’ve done a quick ‘phone survey’ in our offices, and the percentages are as follows; Android seems the least popular with 15% of Testing Circle employees owning one, Blackberry is a respectable second with 31%, but coming in solid first place with a whopping 54%, is Apple’s iPhone.

It would appear more that Blackberry’s are targeted towards business users as their security links are incredibly well developed - which is why I suppose all ‘critical’ organizations such as the Government, have standard issue Blackberry’s for all their employees.  Having said that, the vastly popular ‘BB Messenger’ for Blackberry has also made it more of a ‘social phone’ too.  It’s no secret that the iPhone dominates the market; from its GUI to its general functionality and added extras such as the App Store, it’s definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Working alongside a lot of Testers (who were not included in the poll) based in our Richmond Mobile Lab; we are around a lot of technology and a lot of mobile devices - and I can definitely say that the ‘Testers phone of choice’ is mostly definitely the Android.  Asking them what it is about the Android, they all said that the ease of use is outstanding, the screen resolution is amazing and the graphics are insane!

Well I guess that the figures speak for themselves, and as Apple profits are skyrocketing it certainly tells a story synonymous with our poll here at Testing Circle!

Happy New Year from everyone at Testing Circle!

"Be always at War with your vices,
at peace with your neighbors,
and let each New Year find you
a better person" -- Benjamin Franklin