recruitment

Getting that dream job, sometimes requires more than a straight-forward job hunt, application and nailing the interview.

As an extension of a marketing discipline, it's all about understanding your audience and targeting them with an effective campaign. That's exactly what Alec Brownstein did using ingenuity and the grand total of $6 on Google Adwords.

The result? A gig at Y&R New York. Here's how he did it...

If you're interviewing with a start-up, in digital there are thousands, there are a whole bunch of interview questions you should ask.

It's not just a chance to make yourself sound smart, but to find out if the company who are interviewing you are going steady, not just in the financial sense.

It's something you'll want to know before you commit yourself.

Interviewing; it's just like dating.

Things like burn rate, financial backing and their current profit/loss situation should all be subtly investigated.  Here's our list of the top questions to ask in a start-up job interview:

As brands steadily move into social media and online PR Facebook and Twitter et al are no longer dirty words in the office.

But it's applicants who are missing a trick. A random CV sample by digital recruitment firm Major Players has found that social media mentions are missing in the majority of applications.

The survey sampled 4,500 CVs over the last two years. Only 6% referenced social media, 9% mentioned Twitter, a tiny 2% talked about blogging and only 13% included Facebook (often only highlighted in the interests section).

Chinwag's street cred has just taken a dip, with the news that the lovely Juliet is leaving our ranks to concentrate on her totally wicked music blog/A&R project, itsfreestyle.com (see earlier street cred reference)

We're going to miss her lots, especially her exasperated look, when I try and make a convincing argument that The Thompson Twins were the hipsters of their time, or cite the artistic merits of Girls Aloud. 

This also means we're on the hunt for a new member of the Chinwag team. It's a part-time role, that requires that special blend of organisation, efficiency, unflappability, brain power and occasional banter.

Working with our little gang, this person will be a critical part of keeping our multitudinous projects including Chinwag.com, Chinwag Jobs, Digital Missions and lots more running smoothly.

Hot on the heels of our recent summary of juicy intern roles, news reaches Chinwag Towers from Channel 4 of their Generation Next Programme.

Focusing on potential rather than age, skills or qualifications, seven lucky interns will get an in-depth ten week placement,

Spring has sprung. Even the plant life inside Chinwag Towers is showing signs of life despite its usual mistreatment.

It's also the time of the year when soon-to-be graduates, and those about to embark on their gap year start the hunt for a worthwhile pursuit to fill the coming months.

Following our call for internships and work placements a few weeks back, here's a round-up of the response we got. For enterprising souls, there's certainly plenty of experience to be gained at some great digital companies, check out the list of available placements: 

• addidas
• PharmiWeb Solutions
• INPROMO GmbH
• Flip Media FZ LLC
• Amberlight Partners
• FootballUnited.com
• Global Beach
• fish in a bottle
• Pitchup.com
• Direct Traffic Media
• Browser Creative
• ParcelPoke Limited
• Carve Consulting
• Great Marketing Works
• Smarkets
• Guru
• Bluw-i
• Halpern Cowan
• Quirk Emarketing Ltd
• Brightlemon Ltd
• Spotless Interactive
• OpenBusiness.cc

This list was put together purely as a rough'n'ready trial, it's a list of internships and work placements only. If you're looking for a full-time or freelance role, check out the full listings on our sister site, Chinwag Jobs (hint: there's a list of the latest and greatest to your right-hand side).

We'd also love to hear from employers and interns on their experiences, so do leave a comment or drop us a line. It's always good to get a steer on the state of the industry, both good and bad.

Compiling Chinwag's digital events listings is a great way to see the huge number of events supporting all aspects of the digital industry. One discipline under-represented is UX (user experience to the uninitiated).

So, when Nick Cochrane from Zebra People, got in touch about their new event UX People (22nd March), designed specifically to support people working in the user experience field, our ears pricked up and we asked him for more info...

What is UX People?
UX People is a new, one-day user experience conference which will be held in London on March 22, 2010. It is a unique day of presentations and workshops designed for UX professionals. Attendees will develop practical knowledge and new techniques which they can implement in the workplace the very next day.

Last week, a student on the hunt for work experience, posted to Chinwag's uk-design email discussion list:

"I am looking to do a web dev / usability / UX type internship but the results of my search thus far have been disappointing. Most of the places I have been in touch with seem to want a general office bod who will do menial tasks for free under the guise of "work experience". I'm aware that most of these positions are unpaid, and I'm happy to do that, as long as I'm learning something along the way.

Fortunately, the good folks on the uk-design list responded en masse and we later heard that she'd found a suitable spot in under 24 hours. What followed, was a flurry of firms asking for interns.

We're big fans of intern programmes at Chinwag and have had a few successful candidates pass through Chinwag Towers. Seeing such a strong interest, we've decided to gather the information together, and summarise in a blog post, or something more industrial, if necessary.

If your firm, or you know people looking for real interns and not just office juniors, please do get them to fill out the form below.

There's some exciting positions that have been added already from the likes of Pharmiweb and Adidas, so add yours. We'll leave the form open for a few days.