Blogs

The Centre of Excellence (CoE) team ensure proper governance and control is in place to maximise the full potential of the Power Platform. This includes setting governance in working practices, standardising processes, installing the CoE kit and then actively monitoring the platform, all whilst providing critical information to management so that they can work jointly to sha...

The demand for Security Cleared professionals from clients implementing Microsoft technologies and carrying out transformation programmes is ever increasing. However, as is widely documented, the UK is currently facing a shortage of technical skills, so with the unique requirements of Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) cleared roles, the challenge to attract and ...

Why embellishing your salary could be a detrimental choice.With so many people facing financial struggles at the moment and fearing even worse over the upcoming months, we are seeing an increasing amount of candidates withholding or embellishing their current salary/package rates when searching for a new role. The perception is this would increase their value. We absolutely ...

Leading European IT recruitment group, Focus Cloud, has acquired specialist Microsoft recruitment firm, Cognitive Group. Together, they have formed a new global brand, the Focus Cloud Group, which will provide global recruitment solutions across the major cloud platforms Microsoft, Workday, SAP, Salesforce and Service Now, as well as the Life Science and Cyber Security indus...

How gender diverse is your role?We recently carried out some research on the male/female split of a selection of different functions within the Azure, D365 CE and F&O spaces - see below. It was no surprise to find that the more technical roles have a much lower female contingent than areas such as project management. However, the disparity of different roles was alarming, wi...

It's not you, it's me... or is it?So, you’ve started a new job full of vigour and excitement, eager to get going; your interview was great, the people sound wonderful - “they’re just like me” – and the projects are going to be challenging but fun. But then reality starts to kick in and those rose-tinted glasses fall off... This could be within days, weeks, or months. Do you...

Callum joined us in April 2021 as a D365 F&O Contract specialist recruitment consultant. Although he had a background in IT recruitment he had never worked in Microsoft Dynamics before but by September, he had already beaten a previous company record that had stood for years and even came very close to equalling the individual best-ever monthly performance. Although he humbl...

It's ​#NationalCodingWeek (13th – 17th September 2021)WHAT IS IT?National Coding Week is an annual event that prompts people to learn new digital skills or share the skills they have. There are plenty of free resources available to get started! Whether you’re a graduate, business, tech novice or still at school – there are ways to get involved.https://codingweek.orgWHY IS IT...

IR35 Q&AWe caught up with guest blogger, Dave Chaplin, to answer some of your IR35 questions. Take a look at these bitesize videos to hear what he had to say.What is the new Off-payroll legislation, commonly referred to as IR35, and how does it differ to the original legislation that has been in force for nearly 21 years?​What are your thoughts on HMRC's CEST for determin...

With April just around the corner, we understand how concerning the changes around IR35 may still be for many contractors. It’s likely that employers looking to engage contractors may seek support to maintain contractual engagements either by reviewing their processes to maximise the probability of securing roles outside of IR35 or by seeking to engage workers on a Statement...

How can I get my role determined?Under the off-payroll rules, from April 2021, private sector clients are responsible for determining a contractor’s IR35 status. The decision must be contained within a Status Determination Statement (SDS), alongside the client’s reasoning. There are a number of tools available to you such as the ‘Check Employment Status for Tax’ ​(CEST) whic...

​With the whole world investing in digital right now, there will be a myriad of success stories and unfortunately, quite a few failures. So ensuring a project has the right blend of skills and talent has never been so important. Here we look at some of the pitfalls organisations should consider when undergoing a transformation project; specifically looking at how and when ...

​Microsoft Inspire never lets us down, with its spectacular presentations, product releases, and, as the name suggests, an overwhelming feeling of excitement that fuels you for the year ahead. Although a much different affair this year (do we need to mention why?!) hosting it as a purely digital event has not been to Microsoft’s detriment. Indeed, it was far more accessible ...

Below is a snapshot analysis of the growth of the Microsoft skills market over the last 12 months. We have specifically looked at Azure, Dynamics and Power Platform. Where do you stand? See the results below.​What does the future look like?Although the number of people registered with power platform skills is relatively low, there has been a massive 227% growth in skills in ...

LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful platform, especially if you want to find a new job. But this doesn't necessarily mean you need to apply for 50 roles. 90% of recruiters actively use LinkedIn as their main "job-board", so you should see it as your public CV. If your profile is optimised, recruiters and hiring managers will come to you. Add skills to your profile and use key...

​Join us at "The Stay Inn" on Wednesday 3rd June for the D365 and Power Community, virtual pub Quiz!Think you've got what it takes? Contact david.scallon@cognitive-group.com or join by clicking the Teams link below at 6.30pm. What to expect?8 rounds of questions - 4 x general knowledge / pub quiz style questions- 4 x Microsoft Dynamics & Power Platform related. ​If the shee...

Since lockdown found ourselves having the same conversations over and over again... quite understandably, everyone wants insight into what's happening in the market and what they should be doing next. So, we thought we'd put this out to the masses and carry out a Linkedin Live Q&A session with our very own Jonathan Keen - CEO, Josh Hutchison - Azure Business Lead, David Scal...

The term ‘Citizen Developers’ has been popping up across several IT functions and within different verticals for a while now, from app development within airports to automotive repair companies.  But what does this term actually mean, and how important could it grow to become? What is a ‘Citizen Developer’? Citizen developers are those that build software using rapid develop...

Why finding the right recruiter will transform your life. Ok, perhaps that’s a little dramatic but the sentiment is there – “transform your job search” may be more appropriate. As a contractor, finding a recruiter is like dating, or like goldilocks and the three bears; some are sickly sweet and some don’t care enough about you, but when you find that one that’s “just right”,...

When seeking your next role, two things spring to mind that are valued beyond all else. The company and the project. In an ideal world, you’ll get to join an industry leading organisation that just so happens to be implementing a ground-breaking project with scope to learn loads of amazing new skills. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, and there’s a good chance you w...