Getting a Job

New graduate survey reveals enduring appeal of the retail giants

The transition from life as a student to the world of work has a marked effect on how people see their ideal employment environment, and on which organisations they regard as their dream employers.

Inside Getting a Job

Visual merchandising: 'When a new range is doing well, it is a personal achievement'

Thursday, 22 October 2009

We all know the power that a well-designed shop window can hold over us; in one glance, you can be transported into a different world. Behind the glass, the season's "must-buy" products come alive through a visual story that compels you to enter the store and part with your cash.

Queen of the high street: Mary Portas is hoping to help independents with her new retail masterclasses

Thursday, 22 October 2009

She's best known for the BBC2 TV show Mary, Queen Of Shops, where she's revived flagging retail businesses, but Mary Portas wasn't always set for a career on the high street. In her youth, she had ambitions of being an actress and even gained a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Sitting pretty: The idea that sent Cath Kidson from one shop to a global chain

Thursday, 22 October 2009

Today, Cath Kidston's iconic floral prints and affordable household items, that lend more than a nod to the trend for vintage chic, appear in must-have lists and households across the world. Her empire spans 28 shops and concessions in the UK, two shops in the Republic of Ireland and five in Japan. The brand has beaten the odds in the economic downturn with profits rising in the past year from £2.9m to £4.6m. And with sales now reaching £31.3m, she clearly has a head for retail. These figures belie the brand's humble beginnings in a small shop in London's Holland Park.

Anne Seaman: 'Retail will be instrumental in bringing us out of recession and reducing unemployment'

Thursday, 22 October 2009

The recent Government paper 'Jobs for the Future' has highlighted that retail, the largest private sector employer in the UK, will be instrumental in limiting unemployment and lifting the country out of recession. This comes shortly after a poll by Skillsmart Retail revealed that 57 per cent of Conservative MPs felt that the Government did not value the retail sector highly enough.

Rural surveying can take you to amazing places looking for wildlife

Thursday, 15 October 2009

You might expect a surveyor to be more preoccupied with the movements of the property market than the migrations of whales and birds off the coast of the Orkneys, but for Cara Gelati, a 25-year-old rural surveyor, keeping one eye on nature is a critical part of working life.

Kathryn Board: 'Graduates without a second language are disadvantaged when looking for jobs'

Thursday, 15 October 2009

Chief executive, Cilt, National Centre for Languages

For Queen and country: Fluent speakers of foreign languages are in hot demand in the civil and secret services

Thursday, 15 October 2009

Britons have always been famously bad at languages, yet a command of a foreign tongue has long been valued by the British government. Several hundred years ago, London was keen to recruit Turkish speakers in order to keep tabs on the burgeoning Ottoman Empire. These days, Farsi or Chechen speakers might be more in demand, but the principle remains the same. Linguists are essential to the smooth working of many government departments and agencies, and are particularly valued in the covert world of the intelligence services.