All in the name of good taste

I ran the marathon; it hurt. It was hot, I am blistered but finally, after a week, no longer sore.

I’d like to introduce you to my team (photos to follow); Alison, Harneet and Daniel sit with me here in Lab49’s back office to support the operations of the company. Whilst sitting at our desks, working like hounds, we try to find time to make a valuable contribution to the culinary world by combining very unlikely snacks to create new, interesting and often vile flavours. Wasabi Peas feature heavily in our experiments due to their strong flavour and texture. Itsu Wasabi Peas are highly recommended.

Current experiments include:

1) Pret chocolate drizzle popcorn with Mana wasabi peas (surely they should be called Wasapeas?)
2) Itsu wasapeas (there, so renamed) with Itsu honey fennel cashews
3) Wasapeas and Jaffa Cakes
4) Toffifee chocolates with wasapeas
5) Aero Bubbles with wasapeas

Verdicts are as follows:
1) Bland. Popcorn is not sufficiently flavoured to make impact and wasapeas are lacking in wasabi.
2) Delicious. Very strange flavour and texture combo but utterly delicious.
3) Alison trialled this. It was as vile as it sounds and apparently a “poor idea”.
4) Again, Alison was Chief Scientist and the verdict was “tasty and the hazelnut added a delicious crunch”.
5) Harneet joined Alison in this experiment; verdict was “good combination with the smoothness of the chocolate and crunch of the wasapeas”.

Alison is strangely experimental with her food but cannot eat anything that is in the shape of an animal; for example, Lindts Easter Bunnies.

Ideas for snack combinations are very welcome.

 

Marathon

For my sins, I’m running the Berlin Marathon on the 20th of September (the day before my daughters’ 2nd birthday!). I’m raising money for CHASE (www.chase.org), a charity that supports life-limited children and their families. You can sponsor me by visiting: www.justgiving.com/marie-downes

 

We’ve been busy!

sorry for the lack of updates recently; we’ve been incredibly busy with recruiting but also moving to our new offices.

You can now find us at:

7 Birchin Lane
London EC3V 9BW.

I’ve taken a couple of photos of the new office. Enjoy.

Don't judge me!!

[caption id="attachment_113" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Our cool new reception area complete with Microsoft Surface"][/caption]

 

Try to remain calm

Economic crisis, swine flu, Lily Allen constantly having a pop at other ‘celeb’s. It’s a cruel old world out there at the moment and it’s easy to get a little down because of it. There was an article in the Metro this morning reporting that there had been an increase in sick days due to psychological disorders since the credit cruch started to kick in.

Despite the tough times, there are joys to be had. Enjoy your evenings and weekends with your friends and your families. Try to ensure that you take the time that you need to refocus on what is truly important and switch off from work (at the appropriate times of course!).

Talk to your friends and family, have the odd indulgent lie-in/cream cake/night out, make time for your hobbies and interests. Sure, it’s important to show your employer that you are committed to your job but don’t get committed because of it!

 

Don’t curb your enthusiasm

I just spoke with a very experienced and very sharp candidate regarding one of our Java vacancies. Whilst he did well in terms of demonstrating his considerable technical skills, I was seriously put off by his blase approach to the interview. When I speak with candidates, I work hard to convey enthusiasm, interest and energy. It’s a terrible shame when a candidate can’t reciprocate.
Don’t forget that we are not only looking for people with good technical skills. Excellent interpersonal skills are vital in the kind of work that we do. You must be able to interact with a variety of people and demonstrate knowledge, enthusiasm and interest to end users. Interviews are an opportunity to shine; make the most of them!!!

 

I tweet!

Not very well. I’m certainly not as interesting as Stephen Fry or say, John Mayer but still, I tweet! You can follow me as: Lab49Marie.

Twitter have just launched twitterjobsearch which aggregates the jobs postings on Twitter. I like the interactivity and immediacy of Twitter and so being able to tweet with those interested in your vacancies/company is pretty cool. We use gtalk for that too (Lab49Careers) but given that many work places block instant messaging tools, it might not work for all. Feel free to contact me on Twitter instead and I’ll do my best to respond to your message.

 

Want to cross-train into Flex?

Here’s the deal. Lab49 are offering VERY talented Java, C++ and XAML specialists the opportunity to cross-train into Flex. We employ on a full-time and permanent basis and will ensure that you get to use your existing skills in addition to your new Flex skills. You will be working with some of the smartest and most talented Flex specialists in the business so the training will be simply excellent.

I must stress that your existing technical skills must be absolutely top rate; the Flex training will be intensive so you’ve got to have solidity in what you’ve already got rather than risk losing that skill.

So, if you’re looking to work with an emergent technology and want to be a technical pioneer, you’ve found the right company. Contact me at: marie.downes@lab49.com.

 

Jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs!!!

We are on a serious recruitment drive here in the London office. If you have strong Java, C++ or Flex skills, I want to hear from you. We’re working on some fantastic projects (see the career defining project alert at the top of this page) and want you to be a part of our team. Contact me to find out more: marie.downes@lab49.com

 

Movember…

Nope, that’s not a spelling error. Our London colleague, Jakub is participating in Movember (or ‘tache for cash’ as he calls it). Jakub will be growing a tache during November and based upon our donations, we get to choose the style of the aforementioned tache. I’m personally hoping he goes for the Tom Selleck look (Tom Selleck, always cool) but depending upon his tache growing prowess, he could end up with a Johnny Depp, or if he’s really good at this, perhaps Brian Blessed?

 

Flex gurus of the world – UNITE!!

Well, unite at Lab49 anyway! We’re looking for really strong Flex Engineers to work on some really exciting and ground-breaking projects here at Lab49. We genuinely are looking for the absolute best Flex specialists to work with us. Whilst you will be working on some amazing projects, you will need to apply your Flex knowledge like never before. The work will be hard, the environment will be pressurised and you will probably doubt your abilities at some point. However, you will be working with a truly fantastic Lab49 team who will support you, work closely with you and bring you into the fold from the off. You’ll gain lots of exposure to complex and challenging investment banking systems too. If you’d like to learn more, please feel free to get in touch: marie.downes@lab49.com.