Its Here....Candidate Profiles

Our latest creation is revealed…Grape & Grey Candidate Profiles.

Here at Grape & Grey we are always busy finding ways to make your job easier in finding that ideal candidate, so today we have launched the Candidate Profiles section to showcase the latest “hottest” talent available on the market today.

Check out our candidate profiles section above and if you are interested in any of the candidates we have listed we would love to hear from you, if you have any opportunities in house that you would like us to assist with please get in touch. Contact us on: jez@grapeandgrey.co.uk

We hope you like the new creation; keep checking back on the Grape & Grey candidate profiles for new talent updated daily.

Something new is coming...

With Spring now just around the corner, we think it’s time to give you something new!

Monday 12th March 2012 - Will see the launch of a new section dedicated to available candidates; that's all i can say for now as its work in progress but do keep an eye on the blog next week to see what we have created for you!

We are continuously developing our blogs and social media sites with information that is valuable to you, if there is something you feel we are missing or suggestions of what you would like to see on the Grape & Grey client blog: drop us a comment below…we always like to hear feedback.

Have a Great Weekend!

Talking Turkey

.....we know it’s not quite the season.. :)

A Big, big thanks to everyone who has responded to us by email of late, with all your thoughts, notes views and interpretations of the world of Grape and Grey. We’ve had some great feedback on our site, our logo and our blog...we’ll call that “market intelligence from our focus groups” shall we...?! Some of it has been critical, some of it flattering but on balance, and being all grown up about it, we have taken the bold step of listening to all of you, (well most of you anyway) and we’ve decided to give you exactly what you want from our blog (for starters, other bits and pieces coming soon!!)

Seems our hale and hearty approach wasn’t quite cutting la moutarde and that in fact, what you really, really want is..................our ToBs...yes, our terms of business...and a little more clarification on what industry sectors we do and don’t cover. We consider your views to be an extremely positive step and it looks as though a number of you are inching towards getting in touch at some point soon (excellent news!!) So, without further ado this is how it is at Grape and Grey:

We Do.....

1. Like lists
2. Have a team of highly experienced recruitment and media professionals here who find and often create opportunities for exceptional people who fall into the following categories: (All being on and offline, and all freelance, contract or permanent, client and agency side)
3. Client Service Professionals – (incl ATL, BTL, TTL, Integrated and specialist) from Account Exec to GAD includes PR, Marketing, Business Development, Media Planners & Buyers, Media Strategists, Social Media Managers, Digital Strategists.
4. Designers – Digital and Graphic - includes art workers, designers, copywriters, creative directors, art directors, branding specialists, studio managers, product and packaging specialists, animators, illustrators and everything linked to the design world.
5. Developers - Front and Back-End and most things in between!
6. Production and Project Managers – all levels
7. Research and Development - data analysts to NPD geniuses: SEO / PPC / PPA / ROI etc...!
8. Film / Music / TV – Directors, Producers, runners, Sound Engineers, Digital Projection, Video Editors

Behind the Scenes – Administration, Finance and Office Support Staff

We Don't.....

1. Like chaos
2. Employ individuals who don’t know what they are talking about
3. Have every possible role listed opposite, so just shout if you’re unsure
4. Take a brief, promise you the earth and deliver nothing – we’ll tell you straight if we can help or not
5. Waste your time or ours!
6. Do business just via email...We prefer to meet you, get a feel for your business, your objectives, your culture and your work place. We like to operate as your business partners and in doing so this makes quality candidate attraction to your company SOOOOOOOOOOO much easier if we know what you’re like, plus we know who is going to work well in your environment and who isn’t!
7. Accept every candidate who applies to Grape and Grey – We are extremely selective about our candidates. They undergo a rigorous selection procedure and if they don’t get through that, they don’t get registered and you’ll never meet them!
8. Expect you to do the candidate cv vetting!
9. Bombard you with thousands of follow up calls and emails, you know what you want, we know you’re busy, give us feedback when you can.
10. On purpose go out of our way to get things wrong. If we do, let us know and we’ll sort it!!!

The “Luke-Commotion”..

What a crazy, crazy time we’re having here at Grape and Grey. Donuts are being swallowed at an unappetising rate, tea is being swigged as soon as it hits the desks and the briefs keep on funnelling in – thank you to all who have put your tootsies in the vat which is Grape and Grey (we hope it’s been a good experience for you all - and that you’ll be coming back for more- you could let us know if you like, nicely does it though, eh?)

It had to happen at some point but we’re all of a “controlled” dither about how quickly things have taken off so we’ve just had to deal with it head on. Recent events have caused quite a stir, with the arrival of our new teamster -Luke - Hence the tie-in with the “commotion” thing, I know, I know, it’s poor and I’m sorry for that, I don’t even like trains, but I don’t claim to be a copywriter either, so just pretend it never happened and move on....quickly....please....

SOOOO, back to Luke – I’ve been told to “big him up” so here you go, see if this works... OK, he is talented, I’ll give him that. Alright, he’s also damn good-looking, - women can see through that can’t they..? And everyone loves him already and he’s only been in the office a couple of days...

ANYWAYS...we’re of course delighted to welcome Luke to the team (yes, really) He will be heading up the Design section for Grape and Grey so if you’re in need of a cheeky designer or two, freelance or perm, web, graphic, hybrid or whatever, then Luke is your man. He’s extremely experienced, and comes with an established network of contacts (or so he claimed on interview, time will tell Lukey-boy, and I’m watching you.... ) Well, see for yourself. That’s enough about Luke. Mind you, how on earth he managed to squeeze his way into the team is a mystery...the guys are ruthless with candidates, clearly slightly different with good-looking employees.....am I sounding bitter....? ......maybe just a tiny bit...

So there you have it, we’re getting bigger, life is good....roll up, roll up... That OK for you, Lukey..?

While we're on the subject of candidates, do have a look at our Twitter page where we tweet our latest and hottest available candidates!

http://twitter.com/jezgrapeandgrey/

Snow Patrol....

Well, things are most certainly picking up at a considerable pace here at Grape and Grey – snow mountains can’t stop our sledges (maybe we should be running the road networks instead –thoughts, comments? All still welcome.....Will leave that with you then)

Let’s turn our attentions to our Partnerships Manager who has been on the road, 24/7 (well, let’s not exaggerate ridiculously or you won’t believe us next time) let’s say, most days then.

She claims to have met some seriously interesting people on her travels, were you one of them..? Well, you’ll find out in a mo... I even wished I’d come along on a few meetings, if only they’d let me out but, oh no, someone’s got to stay home and make sure the team have donuts and tea – who do they think they are?!

Anyway, she tells us there’s this fab company, oooooh, somewhere in London with what seemed to her to be a museum paying homage to all things techie over the ages...was it your display..? She was very impressed.. They apparently have a seriously cool set up, white washed walls, beams, post-it notes a-go-go and tonnes of uber cool people just sort of hanging out doing clever stuff and saying clever things. Apparently, or so she tells us, she did manage to hold her own in quite a compelling way...(good job we weren’t there to check up, sweetie)

BUT what she did ask me to say to y’all was whether you’ve been “partner’d” by our lovely Partnerships Manager and if you had, to invite you, (now that IS brave, what is she thinking??!!) to write in with comments on what you thought of your meeting with her and your first encounter with Grape and Grey..Hell, I’m outa here......

So, there you have it. Let the floodgates open. Let’s hear it. Let’s read all about it. Let’s make sure our Partnerships manager is earning those big, bad bucks!

She claims she wants to make sure you’re getting the service you deserve BUT, really we reckon she’s only tapped up those she knows will say nice things ! (she claims ignorance on that one) The ball’s in your court....

Oh, and going back to the uber cool folk, one fab industry prediction from one fab industry insider, in a nutshell: ”mobile will do this year what social media did last year”

Think on that !

And finally, as for candidates she and the team have met over the last week, well there’s a lot of talent out there, give us a call and find out for yourself. The network is widening and the candidates are serious.

The Facts on Freelance

So.....thought we’d mix things up a little this week and give you some sensible information about what makes us a bit different here at Grape and Grey… There are a few things but Freelancers are among them. Not the fact that we deal with them, but the way we work with them:

How??

1. You need a freelancer (PHP Developer, Project Manager, Flash designer, you know the sort of thing)
2. You get in touch with Jez at Grape and Grey on jez@grapeandgrey.co.uk and explain what you need
3. He alerts the team
4. We find one for you
5. You meet them / view their work/ Skype them or telephone interview them and say, “Amazing! Let’s go for it”
6. Freelancer turns up for work and does incredible things for you
7. We invoice you an introduction fee (subject to the length of the contract)
8. You say, “ Now THAT is what I call reasonable”
9. You pay the single and exceptionally reasonable invoice and keep the freelancer for as long as you need him/her (yes, really)
10. We say ,“Thank you very much”
11. Freelancer invoices you for his time
12. You say, “ Grape and Grey, you rock, we’ll be coming back for more”

Simples.....

There really is no fuss, no bother, no mess, no time wasted. If you want to see just how simple and QUICK (I might add) our freelance service is, drop us a line and we’ll prove it…

It’s all in the stars...

Ok, as I was saying...”and so the blog was born”...we’re now two weeks old and someone, once upon a moon commented that the internet was a special place where we could all immediately be part of one happy (..?) family, share our thoughts, dreams, secrets, ambitions and so it goes on....well.....we’re still waiting....is there anybody out there...? .. We know there is as we log our stats !!! .Hey, we just want to hear from someone..... Anything, from anybody....C’mon!!! Can’t believe you creative types, you marketing gurus of the net are cloud-shy and don’t have something to say to us...(preferably polite, constructive, interesting, witty, could be slightly edgy, but hell, we’ll take what we can get)...let’s hear from you.....hello..?!

Ever feel like you’re talking to yourself...? Well, I’ll keep going for now...

This’ll do it, I’ll tell you a little more about what we’ve been up to here...bound to create a stir, a reaction, a feeling of “yeah, I get you..God, those guys at Grape and Grey are good, they just smash it every time” Or...”What the*****!! Get a life !...”

So, here at Grape and Grey Associates, we’ve been busy, VERY busy. Yeah, you bet we have....We’ve been visiting folk, chatting to all sorts, finding out stuff, actually really cool stuff like clever types’ predictions.....Maybe it was your prediction,...? Maybe we’ve spoken to you....?? Maybe you want us to...? Or maybe you just want to write something on our blog...well, we’d love you to !

The prediction this week was about what we could expect from the transportation of digital information globally over the next 12-18 months.... (see, I was listening when the fire alarm went off!) and, well, we can expect a lot. A significant amount of it, according to one source apparently depends on business capacity, economies of scale and how to use time zones constructively, like the people on the faraway island of Samoa who actually deleted a day (30th December 2011) out of their calendar so that their economy could flourish on the same time zones as their neighbours...Well, not so silly after all. Many scoffed at the concept, questioning such a decision and how it would benefit their economy, well, they knew enough to know they need to compete and change to be competitive.

I’m just guessing here that you think in those terms all the time, not necessarily deleting days out of your week, although you’ve probably wanted to especially after a heavy Thursday night (working to late and tight deadlines, what did you think I meant..?)But the world is changing all the time.

So how do you think you need to change to keep the success you’ve enjoyed for now in our highly competitive industry ..? Well, one common link is people, their attitudes, their abilities, their desire and determination to succeed and make things happen.

Oh, we’ve met a few of those this week too...actually, extremely inspiring and talented people who just do and think clever things for a living...If you need some in your team, we’d love to hear from you.

..hello..?!

Head In The Cloud

Hi, thank you for taking the time to look in on our blog…I’m guessing you’ve never heard of us before which is why you’re here, so allow me a couple of moments to introduce ourselves:

Grape and Grey Associates are a newly established digital media recruitment company….WAIT!!!!.....it gets better…. We have a wealth of experience within the media and recruitment landscapes…TRUE… The team offers a unique and select service within the core hubs of London and Brighton….ALSO TRUE!

We provide a range of opportunities across all disciplines within new media (YEP) and seek to deliver a quality and bespoke experience for both clients and candidates alike…SO TRY US…

We’d be very happy to hook up for a chat and a coffee and find out a little more about you and how our services can accommodate your business needs.

Enough about us for now… as Mark Twain once said, “Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today”…..you have the number and the email….

Let’s turn our attentions to the blog:
The team agonised tirelessly on the blog; what to put on it, what should we call it, how it should look, where the logo should go and so it went on and on…but the key question on all of our lips after our solid 15 minutes without a break (well, we’re kind of busy here) on the subject was: why do we want one? That did take time.So, we all went away and thought about it for some time, and then one genius (that is, one of the many here) came up with the following: “dunno”.

Talk about disappointed of The Cloud. Not quite the razor-minded, sharp-tongued IT cookie we had all been lead to believe that he was. Then we realised, that’s why he’s in IT and we’re not. So the rest of us put our heads together while he made the tea and came up with: “let the cloud do the talking”…and so it was born.

We’d like to invite all you droplets of rain out there to add your views to ours and help us create our blog storm. We’ll offer you our opinions on a myriad of subjects from who we meet and what we see …it could be your team at your office, you or your boss (and maybe you’ll guess right one day !) we’ll also be covering media, technology, design and all those other juicy topics from across the globe….

Here’s looking forward to your thoughts too…ps we’re big boys and girls at Grape and Grey and won’t cry if you disagree!

Let’s try a quick one to get started…

Email is Dead......
Only the new CEO from IBM chose not to use it to say hi to her new troops..What was Virginia Rometty thinking when posting a clumsy video message which took ages to download to her new techno-savvy crew..? Well looks like VW are following suit on the email ban…with the German car manufacturer turning off their employees’ Blackberry’s out of hours….what say you…? Good idea…bad idea or don’t rightly care…?