HMRC guidelines likely to affect contractors

HMRC and what we must disclose

Due to new HMRC guidelines introduced in April this year, we as an agency need to now report quarterly gross payments being made to any limited company or umbrella company contractors who work with a client through IC Resources. This is the same for all agencies within the UK and if you are currently working with IC Resources you will have already been contacted for information that we now need to have on record in preparation for these audits.

How will the regulations help HMRC?

The regulations will provide HMRC with information that will enable it to decrease false self-employment and abuse of offshore working.  This will help HMRC to:

• support intermediaries that comply
• penalise intermediaries that don’t comply
• make sure the right tax and National Insurance is paid by people working through intermediaries
• reduce unfair commercial advantage

For more information on the guidelines, please read this HMRC article.

There is obviously some concern from contractors as to how this will affect them and what this means long term for contractors and protecting their business finances. Essentially only time will tell as to how this information may shape new guidelines and contractor legislation in future, however in the short term, the onus is on the recruitment agencies to provide this information, and as long as your tax deductions are in-line with financial regulations and are seen as a true contractor, there is no need for any concern.

If you have any questions about contracting, please do contact us.

DANE SMITH

PRINCIPAL CONTRACTS CONSULTANT

#recruitment #contractingjobs #electronicengineeringjobs #HMRC

Google it!

Is it or will it ever be OK to use the internet in every aspect of life, being heavily involved in technology I thought so. I discussed this with my daughter, Caitlin Carey, whom just having completed her AS exams was surprised to hear an exam board suggest the possibility of using the internet during exams.

Google It by Caitlin Carey

Here is what she said on the topic:

Nowadays, the internet can be used for pretty much everything; a calculator, dictionary, thesaurus... These objects have been used in schools for a long time, but are now more conveniently found online, for those who do not want to heave around a large book. Recently, the chief of the exam board OCR (Mark Dawe) has said he believes that Google should be allowed in exams.

Whilst it cannot be denied that the internet has become a very large part of modern society, should it really be used for exams? An argument in favour of the idea might state that it makes exams more realistic and applicable to everyday life. It is true that the internet has become an intrinsic part of working for many, so using it in exams could be preparing you for a lifetime of using the internet in real life. A frequent complaint of current exams is that the methods and knowledge used is irrelevant and may never be used again in later life. Therefore it could seem plausible that using the internet in exams would be appropriate.

This use of Google in A-levels and GCSEs would still involve interpretation of information, and would involve utilising the tools that are available to us in life. Of course, the time of internet available would be limited and only for certain exams, as stated by Dawe, therefore might not just be giving people an easier way of passing exams. On top of this, there’s a lot of text recognition software out there, to prevent plagiarism - programmes that can scan to see where something has been lifted or copied from a website.

However, this attempt at prevention is unconvincing. As I’m sure anyone who has ever had a confusing piece of work due in the next day will know: It is very easy to take a paragraph and just re-word it. Whilst this may be acceptable for unimportant pieces of homework, it shouldn’t be that easy for an actual exam. It just encourages cheating in the real world, and stops people having their own ideas. For an English exam for example, it’s so easy to look up interpretations of poems rather than coming up with your own. Consequently, this just spawns thousands of identical answers and a lack of individuality. For a physics paper, a quick Google search will turn up many of peoples PhDs posted online. It essentially takes away from what is actually inside a person’s head and just leads to regurgitation of other people’s work. No more individuality or unique ideas.

The Campaign for Real Education has spoken against the idea, say it is “dumbing down”. In our country, we are three years behind the Chinese at age 15. Should our laziness and reliability on technology worsen this gap further? Subsequently, this use of technology would “lower [the] credibility” of exams, as it isn’t testing intelligence or memory. No. It would be testing who is better at doing a Google search. It could lead into losing that sense of accomplishment at doing something hard and succeeding. Though this use of the internet will inevitably become part of exams in the future, perhaps the education system and society isn’t ready for such a change yet.

Whilst the internet is a useful commodity in the real world, it perhaps shouldn’t be used in exams as it could take away from testing actual intelligence and detract from originality.

EVA CAREY   RECRUITMENT MANAGER

Electronics & Engineering Division

How marketing has changed for advertising jobs

‘’It stands to reason that should a market change with the ebb and flow of technology and new developments, then so should the way in which the said market is advertised. Few markets are subject to as much change as the job sector, particularly in the last 10 years, meaning that the services provided by a recruitment advertising agency have developed dramatically.’’   The Accord Group, 25 June 2014

Like all marketing, recruitment advertising is ever changing. Over the last 10 years there has been a big move from ‘old’ to ‘new’ marketing techniques, as a result of the birth of social media platforms combined with the development of smartphones. Advertisers must adapt and modify their content to the way the audiences consume them and this is paramount for the recruitment industry, with 2 billion users and potential consumers currently on the internet.

There are myriad platforms - LinkedIn, Xing, Facebook, Twitter and a vast range of ‘online job boards’. These ‘new’ techniques offer a fast paced and ever-updated forum for finding and advertising jobs and therefore, recruitment agencies have had no choice but to evolve with the market, and it has been essential for agencies to improve their online appearances to stay ahead of the competition.

IC Resources’ online marketing has moved with the digital age and, as has been our policy since inception, is staying ahead of the game.  You can find us here:

IC Resources website 
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
G+

THOMAS HUGGINS 

SENIOR CONTRACTS CONSULTANT

Get your company to buy you an Apple Watch!

What company wouldn’t invest £299 on an insightful afternoon training course to boost your productivity?

Efficiency and memory, specifically in my work place are two of the key factors of success and a diary plays a large part in this; whether you have an old school, leather bound journal and fountain pen like my colleague Dave, or integrate your life into a cloud based calendar system.

I am the latter, regularly having 10-15 “events” each day which are delayed, brought forward or cancelled more often than stuck too. I needed a system to provide a non-intrusive reminder for each call or meeting I arranged and the ability to change these on the fly, as and when needed.

With this efficiency in mind, there is also pressure to be available at every given moment and react to new leads, despite the time of day. My inbox receives 150-300 emails per day, some are urgent and others will go straight in the “trash”. Trying to fit as much into one day as possible and not miss an opportunity, I religiously check my emails up until I go to bed and the first thing I check in the morning are my emails. I know this might shock some people who won’t even consider working past 6 o’clock, but for many of my colleagues; not so much.

I needed a system which would provide non-intrusive updates, especially at home, but also limit the desire to reply to every email, unless it is absolutely necessary. It’s not that I am necessarily lazy; I am just a big believer that technology is the answer to making life as easy as possible. It should lead to greater efficiency and comfort of current tasks.

I’ve long awaited the announcement and release of the Apple Watch, and having received mine two weeks ago, I’ve seen the subtle benefits it has had during my work day and when I’m at home.

When I’ve been asked what it does, the first thing I say is that it makes my life a little easier and makes keeping on top of work better. I don’t think I’ll be getting reimbursed for my purchase just yet, but 6-12 months from now, it will not surprise me at all to see them becoming as essential as company cars, laptops, phones and tablets………or even the odd afternoon training course.

CHRIS MOFFATT

SENIOR CONSULTANT

Get yourself noticed - the perfect ASIC design CV

There is a sea of information out there telling you how to write the perfect CV. What there isn’t much of, unsurprisingly, is information on how to write a great CV specifically for a career in chip design. Here is some advice on what hiring managers in the ASIC design world really want to see on your resume, which will increase your chances of getting an interview.

CV length

For an experienced engineer, a CV should be no more than 4 pages. For graduates, CVs should ideally be 2 pages. You want to make your CV as easy and attractive to read as possible.

Your profile

This should be a few lines stating what you are, the amount and type of experience you offer and what you’re looking for. Graduates - make sure this profile is tailored for the sort role you are applying for; for instance, if you’re applying for a role in digital IC design, avoid mistakes such as stating that you’re looking for a role in embedded systems. Be specific!

Technical content

This can be tricky, as it can be difficult to know how much technical information is too much, or not enough. Most importantly, make it crystal clear what you have done. For instance:

Have you designed IP blocks / modules, or have you done chip level design?
Have you been responsible for chip level architecture?
Have you architected an SoC, or implemented something from a specification?

These are all things that managers will want to find out. Make sure to include several paragraphs to illustrate your main projects and what your specific responsibilities were. A list of bullet points is never enough.

In general, managers really want to see the most recent projects (the last 2-5 years, which for complex projects should only be 2 or 3 projects), with detailed descriptions of exactly what you did in these projects. How did you do it? What tools / programs / methodologies / languages did you use? This approach is preferred to a description of the project as a whole, or what you did within the wider team. Managers will want to find out what you have coded, how you’ve verified that code, and the tools you have used in the flow.

Layout and format

Bad formatting is a huge turnoff. Make your CV easy on the eye, and make sure your formatting is neat. Avoid using tables, and make sure to space out your text. Clear white spaces between paragraphs go a long way!

Career gaps

If you’ve been out of industry for a while, it’s a good idea to say what you did during this time. Gaps in your career history aren’t typically considered a bad thing, so don’t be afraid to say you went off to try something new for a bit, travelled round the world, or were job hunting – the main thing is to avoid unexplained question marks.

If you would like any advice on how to make your CV stand out from the crowd, I’m always happy to help.   Feel free to contact me.  Please also check to see if you might be suitable for the ASIC design jobs we am currently recruiting for.

CAROLINE PYE

PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT

Will we be the forgotten digital generation?

I read an interesting article about the almost insatiable desire to digitise everything and how this will potentially impact us all in the future.

Not wanting to be a harbinger of doom, but is the drive to store everything in the cloud going to mean that, in generations to come, no-one can access any of this information?

We might save trees by not storing everything on paper, but we might lose a generations worth of history!

Would be interested to hear your thoughts about the digital generation, please do email me..

To see what roles we have on offer that could contribute to creating innovative solutions to this potential problem, check out all our open semiconductor, software, electronics and user experiences jobs.

MATT ANDREWS 

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER

UK Semiconductor Giants – The Best Companies to Work For

After noticing that Intel made Glassdoor.com’s Top 50 Best Places to Work list, I wanted to dig a little deeper to find out how our home-grown leaders fare against this, and as it turns out the result is as top-notch as their technologies!

Both ARM and Imagination Technologies, two of the UK’s biggest success stories, scored a fantastic 3.7 and 3.6 respectively, showing they can give Intel’s impressive 4.0 a run for its money in the coming years.

An ARM employee said “It is great to work for a very successful company at the forefront of the tech and communications industry.” (They are) “Increasingly involved in new markets - servers, internet of things etc - which brings lots of opportunities for personal growth and development.  The company strongly promotes a healthy work culture whether work/life balance, work environment, general health and well-being and respect for your peers.”

A view that is fully supported by ARM’s exceptionally well run promotion program, and the fact that many of their engineers spend their entire careers there very happily. Imagination, the relative ‘youngster’ of the two, embraces its recent success by remaining true to their young, friendly atmosphere, allowing their engineers to flourish as they choose, with the full backing of the company;

“Friendly people, exciting company philosophy, it is really interesting to work there. The company is leader on the GPU for mobiles market, and so the projects are amazing. Not too much pressure from the hierarchy, we can feel really involved in the company achievements.”

(Engineers at Imagination) “Develop leading technology across multiple fields so there are numerous interesting projects to be part of / learn about. Growing very rapidly so opportunities for career development as teams have to scale. Very exciting times as the company becomes more well-known and talked about. Invests heavily in its employees so it’s not a company people want to leave.”

Well done Britain, we do love working here!