This newsletter is distributed to anyone selling in a Slivers-Of-Time
marketplace. Also, to those waiting for a market to start in their area who have registered at www.sliversoftime.com
It will keep you posted on developments in this exciting new way of working. |
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IN THIS ISSUE |
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SPOTLIGHT ON THE SELLER: |
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Brand Me. |
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Nuno: strike up the brand |
Some people turn to Slivers-of-Time Working because they badly need to earn around other commitments. For others, it's more a journey of curiosity prompted by seeing Slivers on TV.
Take 25 year old Nuno Graca [Bookings: 9, Hours Sold: 84, Buyers: 5]. He's studying Business Information Technology and is about to start job hunting.
In anticipation of that he wanted experience of the non-academic world and he wanted it fast. “I only have odd periods when I can work”, he says. “I just wanted a lot of variety in that time”. So far Nuno has done Slivers work as a kitchen assistant creating school dinners, doing data input for his local council, interviewing for an NHS health campaign and as a table waiter for an exclusive dining experience company.
“Ilike the market system of Slivers”, he confirms. “And I love that I act as my own brand. I treat my buyers well and they book me again. Bookings are short so you quickly know whether you've made a good impact because you can be booked again a couple of days later. Without Slivers I would have struggled to find an agency posting. And it would have been one type of work for one company”. |
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SLIVERS FUTURES: |
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Agency Advance |
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Scott: Leader of the Pack
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Take a tough, no-barriers-to-entry, industry like recruitment. Add your own Unique Selling Point, like offering a Slivers market. What do you get? More business.
City of London based, Community Resourcing Ltd. was the first agency to offer Slivers-of-Time Working in the capital. Managing Director Scott Alger explains: “one of our clients asked us to advise them on whether this new way of working would deliver results for them. We looked at it and said ‘Yes'. Since then we've been there when big names on the high street and major players in the leisure industry have needed an agency to offer them Slivers workers for very precise bookings”.
Community Resourcing are also pushing their offering to new clients. Scott says: “we have full time member of staff just working on our Slivers market. It's a great talking point when we're talking with clients. I plan to add a second person in the new year”.
That new consultant will have plenty to talk about. Last month a major West London council decided to initiate Slivers working in their area. They invited agencies to tender and decided to work with Community Resourcing because of the existing expertise. For Scott it was vindication of their early adoption: “it's shown the value of being ahead of the pack on a new development”.
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TIP: |
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Add extra hours |
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Cartoon by Shamima Aktar Koli, Slivers-of-Time seller
[Bookings: 82, Hours Sold: 293, Buyers: 4] |
Still at work hours after your booking ended? Capture that on the timesheet.
If your buyer asks you to stay on beyond the times that you were booked for, let them know you'll be amending the timesheet so you get paid. |
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CASE STUDY: |
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Services to Silver Service |
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The kind of people drawn to Slivers-of-Time selling have often had interesting lives. That can be useful to an employer. Graham Skerrett [Bookings: 6, Hours Sold: 25, Buyers: 1] is a new entrant in the Hull Slivers-of-Time market run by Probe, the local NDC (New Deal for Communities).
A previous employer taught Graham skills ranging from Silver Service to Artic Warfare. In his ten years with the Army he served in Bosnia, Germany, the Falklands and Norway. At the end he moved back to Hull and found a job in a bakery. But it was insecure: “I didn't think the job would last, so I looked around for something I could start doing alongside” he says.
Graham has started selling Slivers in the evenings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. He explains: “I do my shift at the bakery from 5.00am to 1.00pm. But I'm full of beans for the rest of the day so it's good to get wider experience.”
In the weeks running up to Christmas, Graham was booked repeatedly by an upmarket hotel in Hull. On just his third booking he was suddenly told the manager had to leave and Graham was put in charge of running a dining room of 80 diners with 6 staff for over 2 hours. How did he feel about that? “Just great!”
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January 2008
Published on the last Friday of the month |
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Slivers-of-Time: the basics
Marketplaces for Slivers-of-Time are for:
who wants to work around other things in their life, such as:
-childcare
-studying
-part-time work
-caring for adult
-medical commitments
- Organisations who need top-up workers at short notice, for short periods:
-councils
-caterers
-retailers
-logistics supplier
Benefits:
- Sellers: do whatever odd hours of work they want and quickly build skills, experience and a track record they can print at any time.
- Buyers: access a self-selecting pool of local people who choose to work in a way that demands flexibility and rewards reliability.
Signing up:
Anyone who wants to know when a market-place is starting in their area should enter their details at:
www.sliversoftime.com
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