If there’s one pertinent aspect of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s that it has virtually left no person on this planet we call home, untouched in some way, shape or form. Even if you haven’t fallen ill or been an asymptomatic person who has actually had the virus or have had to live under the restrictions of several lockdown levels, you will know someone out there who has. Here at Datafin, one of our own colleagues, Michelle Roberts, is now thankfully on the mend and going through the recovery process after she became infected and was hospitalized. It…

As a Recruiter, you play a crucial role between candidate and client, wading back and forth to try and marry the two successfully and send them on their hopefully blissful and lasting work marriage. Being in the middle often means a “tug-o-war” trying to meet the pressures of ensuring culture fits, salary negotiations and making that career match in heaven. And any Consultant would attest to the fact that this process also demands a humungous dose of patience and constant feedback between the two. Sometimes it requires only one interview like that perfect first date, for the employer to decide…

If you’ve been at the shops recently, I’m sure you have been unable to ignore the sea of red paraphernalia strategically placed to remind you of that certain day in February some of us might not be so fond of. Yes, the Valentine’s Day fever is upon us and it got me thinking about the idea of romanticism but not the “lovey dovey” kind. Instead, how can we apply this philosophy when it comes to the daily grind of our jobs, something I’ve touched on before in a prior blog. According to Wikipedia, the term Romanticism originated towards the latter…

There’s no doubt that almost every person who has felt the strain of the year that has been 2020, when a deadly pandemic mimicking the age-old Flu virus made its appearance and left many impacted by its wrath, perhaps feeling only too relieved that we will soon embark on a new year. We cannot however fool ourselves into thinking that things are going to drastically improve. Restrictive state measures and masks may well stick around for quite some time to come – the “new normal” – an existence we have now become accustomed to. When it comes to business, the…

It’s no secret that when certain jobs come to mind, whether it be an electrician or rugby coach, some of us still have a stereotypical picture of it being something only men are engineered to do.  This has long been the case when it comes to the sphere of IT.  The IT guy – donning a messy or intentional bedhead of hair, bearded and trendy spectacle-wearing man from those long hours in front of the PC, is typically what pops into many of our heads when we think of those working tirelessly writing complex code which breathes life into the…

As with most jobs, there are often tedious tasks to wade through before getting to the exciting bits that challenge and motivate you to be a more productive worker bee. Recently I was tasked with compiling a list which felt like it went on for days. Its completion haunted my every waking moment and I vowed to do whatever it took to get it done. I told myself like some of us do, even exclaiming out loud for extra effect, that there was purpose to this list aka “method to the madness”. With that front of mind, I “slayed” that…

Much the same as an unsuspecting virtual virus wreaks havoc on any given workday, sending you and IT techies into an immediate state of panic, so too Covid-19 has swept across the globe and left in its wake many workplaces completely disrupted.  I believe this is a time when I take my hat off to tech gurus who often spend countless hours to produce innovative networking tools we now rely on so dearly to remain connected to colleagues, friends and loved ones.  These digital tools have helped repurpose our physical offices where we used to gather as a workforce to…

As many of the lockdown regulations and restrictions were handed down to us by government since the Covid-19 pandemic hit our shores, it raised many an eyebrow and were fairly questionable. Some as you may or may not fondly remember included being forbidden to buy open toe sandals, sell hot food or jog whenever you desired. As a highly active democratic society, it came as no surprise that many of these lockdown rules were blasted on social media and the like and petitions drawn up in protest, lots of people sharing the sentiment that we were starting to mirror a…

Missing the little things… Some of us have been suffering from deep withdrawal symptoms, fondly reminiscing now of the little things in life we enjoyed pre-Covid-19. The other day in our work group chat, my colleague expressed, with a shared photo to boot, how she sorely missed the office coffee machine. This was followed by another colleague saying how she missed her walks to get her regular dose of cappuccino at her fave baristas located near to our office building. I have come to realise that addiction to good coffee is a very real thing people. A bit out of…

How the Career Search Process has evolved with Covid 19 upon us!   In true South African style, we are working to our own ‘African beat’ and time frames, so we are a little behind with this Viral phenomenon. Announced last night (23rd March 2020), The National Coronavirus Command Council has decided to enforce a nation-wide lockdown for 21 days with effect from midnight on Thursday 26 March, ending on April 16th, 2020. We are uncertain of how this will truly affect us but thus far with 1 week down of our Covid-19 ‘Social Distancing’ we have noticed some trends…