The Midlands Metro Alliance has started work on the £450M, 11km long metro extension between Wednesbury and Brierley Hill. Read more…
Former ICE President Gordon Masterton has been appointed chair of the Independent Assurance Panel (IAP) for High Speed 2, which peer reviews and provides procurement advice to the railway builder. Read more…
Balfour Beatty will work on phases 3a and 3b of the East Leeds Orbital Route (ELOR), which are expected to cost £80M. Read more…
Willmott Dixon is lined-up to build a new £21m fire service learning and development centre and 24-hour fire station at Highwood Mill, near Horsham. Read more…
The construction industry is nearly double the scale and importance to the UK economy than recorded in official figures. Read more…
Impressions of the £200 million Siemens factory at Goole have been released after more plans were submitted to East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Read more…
A question that is often asked during interviews and that can be difficult to answer: what are your weaknesses? This blog is dedicated to exactly this question, to give you some guidance on how to answer it professionally.
Firstly, remember that there is no “one size fits all” approach to answering this question. We suggest you find the way that works best for you. When you prepare for the interview, sit down and tailor the answer to yourself.
For more interview tips and other useful guides, take a look at our Advance Advice section.
A good way to start is to describe your weakness to the interviewer(s). For example, you could start by saying “My big weakness is sometimes doubting my work.”
You don’t want to eliminate yourself from the race by mentioning something too negative. However, you also want to show that you’re human, and nobody’s perfect.
This will help the interviewers understand why you perceive this particular habit to be a weakness of yours. You can also demonstrate whether or how it affects your daily work. So using the above-described example of a weakness, you could say “I hold myself and my work to a high standard and want to make sure that everything is done right. Sometimes this means that I don’t come forward with an idea or that I take more time to finish a task I have been working on.”
Lastly, explain to the interviewer how you are dealing with this weakness and what you might have learnt from it. In the above example, it might be that you’re working on worrying less and voicing your ideas more often, while still putting a focus on delivering high-quality work.
If you go into the interview prepared, having come up with a suitable answer for you, then you have nothing to worry about. Remember that the main focus for the interviewers is to find out whether your skill set and personality are the right fit for their team.
Advance TRS is growing quickly and we are always looking for ambitious, driven people to join the team. If you are interested to find out more about our current opportunities, visit our website or for a discrete conversation, contact Jessica Wells, Talent Acquisition Manager.
Lancashire MP Andrew Stephenson has been appointed as minister for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. Read more…
Winvic Construction has been appointed by Packaged Living to construct a £47.3m Private Rented Sector (PRS) scheme in the heart of Milton Keynes. Read more…
Morgan Sindall is predicting another strong year of growth driven by construction and partnership housing after it unveiled a positive set of results for last year. Read more…
Anglian Water has become the first water company in Europe to join US-based, water innovation organisation, WaterStart. Read more…
Plans to build nearly 350 private rental flats on a car park next to Nottingham Railway Station have secured funding. Read more…
Network Rail has begun the search for contractors to work on the rail network in southern England as part of a new £200M framework. Read more…
South East Water has appointed Oliver Martin as its new regulation and strategy director. Read more…
Skanska has secured a £240m commercial building contract to construct 20 Ropemaker Street in Central London for Great Elm Assets Limited. Read more…
Alstom, French multinational company who operate worldwide in rail transport markets, are set to take over Canadian train producer Bombardier. Read more…
Lancashire MP Andrew Stephenson has been appointed as minister for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. Read more…
HS2 Ltd revealed on 19th Feb designs for Old Oak Common Station, as part of the Schedule 17 submission to the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC). Read more…
Network Rail has begun the search for contractors to work on the rail network in southern England as part of a new £200M framework. Read more…
Network Rail has finished building the new Yetminister rail bridge in Dorset. Read more…
Higgins has secured a £44m contract to deliver affordable homes at the former Shredded Wheat Factory in Hertfordshire. Read more…
Plans to build nearly 350 private rental flats on a car park next to Nottingham Railway Station have secured funding. Read more…
Southern Housing Group has signed up to six new southeast and London development sites, which will add 488 new homes to its pipeline. Read more…
Winvic Construction has been appointed by Packaged Living to construct a £47.3m Private Rented Sector (PRS) scheme in the heart of Milton Keynes. Read more…
Skanska has secured a £240m commercial building contract to construct 20 Ropemaker Street in Central London for Great Elm Assets Limited. Read more…
Kier, Willmott Dixon, Interserve, Bam, Vinci and Welsh construction firm Andrew Scott are among the firms to have landed a place on the £1bn South West Wales regional contractors framework. Read more…
Transport infrastructure continues to dominate infrastructure sector construction with around 57% of total output for 2019. Read more…
Morgan Sindall is predicting another strong year of growth driven by construction and partnership housing after it unveiled a positive set of results for last year. Read more…
Laing O’Rourke has been chosen by Everton Football Club to deliver its new 52,000-capacity stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock on Liverpool’s waterfront. Read more…
Yorkshire Water has gone out to tender with five new Lots as part of an £800 million clean water network reactive repair and maintenance contract which will help transform its processes and lead to greater customer experience. Read more…
Manchester City Council has gone out to with a framework contract measured and unmeasured water charges potentially worth up to £30 million in total. Read more…
Scottish Water has gone out to tender with a major contract for the survey, design, manufacture, systems integration, testing, delivery, installation and commissioning of low voltage motor control centres worth an estimated £160 million in total. Read more…
British Water has committed to increasing the number of women on its non-executive board and has urged the rest of the industry to follow its lead. Read more…
South East Water has appointed Oliver Martin as its new regulation and strategy director. Read more…
Anglian Water has become the first water company in Europe to join US-based, water innovation organisation, WaterStart. Read more…
According to a new study from finance specialist, Together, small and medium-sized businesses are set to drive a commercial property boom in the next two years as they move or extend their existing site for additional staff and equipment. Read more…
Many of us spend a big chunk of our workdays at a desk. So it might not come as a surprise that your workspace can make a big difference to your motivation and productivity. A tidy desk can equal a clear mind and help you work more efficiently. We’ve collated some tips to help you improve your workplace.
Having plants around you won’t just give your workspace a nicer look and feel, they also help to keep the air fresher and cleaner.
We spend big chunks of our days sitting at desks. This can have a significant impact on your posture and general wellbeing. A desk that allows you to adjust its height, so you can either stand or sit down while working can make a real difference to your health and productivity.
It is also worth investing in chairs that support the back and enable an ideal sitting position.
It’s also a good idea to keep the office light and bright, using lighter shades for your walls instead of dark colours. The odd splash of colour here and there will give it a great look.
Utilise and maximise natural daylight wherever you can as this, too, will help with productivity.
A cluttered desk means more distractions and can impact your productivity and concentration. Having storage options where you can put paperwork and utensils will keep your desk much tidier and in turn, help to stay focused.
We hope these points give you some inspiration for improvements you might have been wanting to make to your own workspace!
If you’re a driven and ambitious individual and you’re currently looking to take the next step in your career then we’d love to hear from you.
Advance TRS is growing quickly, so we are always looking for new people to join the team. If you are interested to find out more about our current opportunities, visit our website or for a discrete conversation, contact Paul Metcalfe, Advance TRS CEO on 07793 554 413 or email pme@advance-trs.com.
Planning permission has been granted for the £430M A30 Chiverton to Carland Crossroad scheme in Cornwall. Read more…
Kier has been appointed by Kirklees Council to deliver a £15m leisure centre in Liversedge, West Yorkshire. Read more…
Johannesburg-based architects Counterspace, directed by the all-woman team of Sumayya Vally, Sarah de Villiers and Amina Kaskar, has been selected to design the Serpentine Pavilion 2020. Read more…
More than 35 tonnes of quagga and zebra mussel shells, which are found in huge numbers and cost millions of pounds to remove, were crushed and used to create four new tern rafts during a conservation project at the award-winning Walthamstow Wetlands in North London. Read more…
Friday 7th February marked the official opening of Anglian Water’s new state of the art filtration system at its Water Treatment Works in Norwich – the £36 million scheme is the largest of its kind in Europe. Read more…
The government is set to approve the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project. Read more…
Network Rail, Highways England and Transport for London (TfL) have agreed to join the board for Transport for the South East, whilst working together with civic and business leaders representing more than 7.5m people and 300,000 businesses to form investment plans for the South East’s transport network. Read more…
Atkins has secured a contract to provide consultancy services for the 18km Fehmarnbelt link between Denmark and Germany. Read more…
Network Rail has awarded places on four Lots to Jacobs for their prestigious Design Services Framework (DSF), to deliver multi-disciplinary technical and professional services, including geotechnical, civils and structures capability. Read more…
Balfour Beatty has confirmed the appointment of Beth West as Managing Director of its regional construction business in the South of England. Read more…
Anglian Water will start work this month on an £8 million scheme to install a new pumping station at its existing water treatment site in Pitsford, Northamptonshire. Read more…
Amey Consulting has teamed up with Sheffield Hallam University to deliver a trailblazing Railway Engineering degree apprenticeship scheme to help attract new talent into the railway industry. Read more…
Barratt Developments has built 793 homes in the Bristol region in the last 12 months, and brought more than £47m to local communities. Read more…
The value of new UK construction contracts signed in January 2020 rose by a whopping 33% year-on-year, according to latest market intelligence. Read more…
Real estate technology company Blueground has launched its first collection of furnished apartments in London. Read more…
Barratt Developments has built 793 homes in the Bristol region in the last 12 months, and brought more than £47m to local communities. Read more…
While there are some definite parallels between sales and recruitment roles, if you’re a skilled salesperson there are many reasons why you might want to consider becoming a recruitment consultant. Take a look at some of them below. Could a career move be on the cards for you?
As a salesperson, you’ll probably have learnt to deal with rejection, acquired some good negotiating skills and are used to picking up the phone to speak to strangers for a large portion of your day. All of these are deemed some of the most difficult aspects of recruitment, and as you’re familiar with them already, you’ll be able to hit the ground running!
Due to the uncapped commission structures in most recruitment businesses, the sky really is the limit here in terms of earnings. The more people you place, the more you bill and the more you will take home at the end of the month. What’s not to like?!
If you’re a driven and hard-working individual, you’ll be able to progress quickly in recruitment, with potential to move from Resourcer to Principal Consultant in a comparatively short space of time. You’ll play an active role in the company’s success and might soon be a team leader yourself. An opportunity you won’t want to miss out on!
If you enjoy working with people then you will enjoy a role in recruitment. You’ll speak to people for most of your working day, building relationships and with those, your network. If someone has had a great experience being placed in their ideal job by you, they’re likely to stay in contact and reach out to you again once they’re looking to make their next career move.
These are just some of the reasons for considering a move from sales to recruitment. If you think you’ve got what it takes to become the next recruitment superstar and you’re driven and ambitious, then we want to hear from you!
Advance TRS is growing quickly, so we are always looking for new people to join the team. If you are interested to find out more about our current opportunities, visit our website or for a discrete conversation, contact Paul Metcalfe, Advance TRS CEO on 07793 554 413 or email pme@advance-trs.com.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps has set aside £500M to reopen disused rail lines and stations. So what is the history behind these abandoned lines – and what precedent has been set for their revitalisation? Read more…
Amey Consulting has teamed up with Sheffield Hallam University to deliver a trailblazing Railway Engineering degree apprenticeship scheme to help attract new talent into the railway industry. Read more…
The Scottish Government has published its budget for 2020/21, revealing a “bold and ambitious programme” to develop the country’s infrastructure. Read more…
Anglian Water will start work this month on an £8 million scheme to install a new pumping station at its existing water treatment site in Pitsford, Northamptonshire. Read more…
The University of Birmingham has confirmed winners of its framework deals to deliver at least £500m of investment over the next ten years. Read more…
Leeds City Council has given the go-ahead to Hammerson’s plans for a new 205-bed hotel at its City Quarters concept. Read more…
Balfour Beatty has confirmed the appointment of Beth West as Managing Director of its regional construction business in the South of England. Read more…
The value of new UK construction contracts signed in January 2020 rose by a whopping 33% year-on-year, according to latest market intelligence. Read more…
The £1.5bn A14 road scheme to improve journeys between the East of England and the Midlands has been completed more than half a year early. Read more…
