At Sanderson, we believe it’s important to give back to the communities where we all live and work, and to put time and energy into our chosen charities and the vital work they do.

That’s why this week we were all super excited to get into the festive spirit, don our Christmas jumpers for annual Christmas Jumper Day and host our charity raffle event.

We are proud to say we raised more than £700 for Little Hero, an organisation close to Sanderson’s heart as it is inspired by John Rainsbury’s son, Will and his fight with a Childhood Brain Tumour – Medulloblastoma. Little Hero is continuing his fight by supporting others experiencing childhood cancer with stays at Will’s Woodland, an opportunity for families to escape and take a break away from a hospital setting in safety and seclusion as well as funding critically needed research into new treatments for the most aggressive paediatric brain tumours.

Thanks to the support of Sanderson, the £700 raised will send 4 children and their families to Will’s Woodland for a much-deserved respite break.

You can find out more about the fantastic work Little Hero does here.

How early on should you be writing your CV? Well as the pupils of Redland Green Secondary School in Bristol found out earlier this week, it’s never too early!

CVs are a great tool to have when students start looking to secure work experience and think about the next steps after school. As the first contact you have with potential placements and employers, it’s your chance to make a great first impression, demonstrate your skills and interests, what you’ve been up to at school and let a bit of your personality shine through.

Some of the Sanderson team headed over to Redland Green Secondary School to talk to their Year 10 pupils who are starting to look at securing work experience placements for later in the academic year. We walked the students through the basics of CV writing and got hands on in workshops to help the students get a head start in their CV writing.

One of our consultants Ben Pratten was part of the team on the day and his key takeaways were:

“Back to school we go! By the end, everyone had made a great start on their CVs with a personal statement sketched out, and their key skills and attributes identified. 

It’s the sort of thing I wish I had at school. We all really enjoyed getting away from our desks and giving back by inspiring the youth of tomorrow! Looking forward to coming back next week for the second half of the year group“

We look forward to the next session!

Sanderson and Sanderson-iKas, a joint venture between our UK recruitment business Sanderson and our international team iKas, have been fully immersed in all things Mission to Hong Kong over the last few weeks.

Hong Kong has a thriving tech scene, and Mission to Hong Kong aims to get the message out there that Hong Kong is the perfect gateway to the tech scene in the Asia-Pacific as well as being a dynamic start-up destination.

To kick things off, it was great to welcome Chris Woodward, Director of General Trade & Investment in Hong Kong, as well as the team from Mission to Hong Kong to our Bristol HQ offices in the beginning of November. We were able to catch up with team as well as some of the tech founders as we all prepared for the launch in HK later in the month.

When all the tech founders and mission delegates were safely back on home soil, we caught up with Adam Kennedy, our Sales Director in Hong Kong to share his thoughts from the week:

“I’d like to start by thanking Tech West England Advocates, and in particular Richard Lowe for putting together an amazing week of events. The week included a reception at the British Consulate, tours of Cyberport and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, a VC reverse pitch event and a Tech Founders showcase event that Sanderson iKas were happy to sponsor, as well as the opportunity to attend events as part of the wider StartmeupHK festival.

My main takeaways from the week are:

• Hong Kong has an amazing, vibrant tech scene, the people I have had the pleasure of meeting this week have ranged from the latest fintech startups to Google. There was such as buzz throughout Hong Kong during StartmeupHK and it has been inspiring to see the size, quality, diversity, and ambition of our tech community.
• There is an incredible infrastructure in place to support tech companies scaling in Hong Kong, including InvestHK, Cyberport and the Hong Kong Science & Technology Park.
• People are as important as ever. It was lovely to tell my story, share market insights and talk about Sanderson iKas’ experience of recruiting in Hong Kong during one of the panel discussions.

The feedback I received both at the events and on LinkedIn afterwards has confirmed our belief that the quality of people has such an impact on business success, we look forward to helping the tech community grow into the new year.”

All in all, an amazing event and a fantastic way for UK businesses to explore Hong Kong.

If you would like to find out more about Sanderson iKas please follow the link below or get in touch with Adam to have a chat.

https://www.sanderson-ikas.hk/

How important are employability skills in the cyber sector job market? Well, they’re invaluable! These essential skills, personal attributes and values set you up to thrive in any workplace and the Sanderson team were thrilled to join the recent SANS Institute UpSkill event to deliver an Employability Skills training session for the cyber sector.

Established in 1979, the SANS Institute is a cooperative for information security thought leadership and have an ongoing mission to empower cyber security professionals with the practical skills and knowledge they need to make our world a safer place – a great partner for the Sanderson team to get involved with.

During our training session we had the opportunity to engage with a whole host of inspiring cyber professionals and provide them with a toolkit and top tips to help them transition into the industry.

Joining the training was Sanderson Managing Consultant for Cyber & Information Security Mary Pearson. Her key takeaways from the day were:

“I feel passionate about supporting anyone who is looking to start a career in cyber security. Partnering with the SANS program has allowed us to impart our knowledge to work towards the common goal of reducing the skills gap in security, with schemes like this I am positive we will get there!”

There is a cyber security talent pool ready and waiting to be tapped into, so if you’re an employer looking to hire entry-level cyber security professionals into your organisation, or offer any internships in this area, then please do get in touch with Mary Pearson for more details and how Sanderson could help you find your next hire.

This September, the Global Sanderson offices rolled up their sleeves and took part in World Clean Up Day, in partnership with our long-lasting client, Northumbrian Water.

World Clean Up Day is a global event that brings people together to help make a positive impact on our environment. At Sanderson, we do what we can to support environmental initiatives, and this event was an excellent opportunity to contribute to a cleaner environment in our local communities.

Teams from our UK offices and our colleagues from Noida, ventured out to clean their local communities and collected waste that had been left in the streets, parks and surrounding areas.

Our colleagues shared their thoughts on what the clean-up meant to them:

“It was so eye-opening to see the waste that hasn’t made it into the surrounding bins, and even made me think how much I personally throw away at home”.

“Initially, we were worried there wasn’t enough to clear, but as we started to look, we found so much. I guess we have become blind to some of it because it’s what we are used to, which shocked me”.

“I really enjoyed spending my afternoon helping my community and socialising with people from different teams, thank you so much for this opportunity”.

As we reflect on World Clean Up Day, take a look at these alarming facts

• Each year we produce 3% more waste than we did the year before, highlighting the urgency of waste management.
• Over 1/3 of the world’s food supply produced for humans goes to waste, we need to be aware of our consumption.
• It is not known how long glass takes to break down but, it is so long that glass made over 3,000 years ago can still be found today which signifies the lasting impact of waste.

A big to everyone who got involved from Sanderson and keep an eye out for more events the Sanderson CSR Team are helping to run.