THE number of jobs available across the UK has skyrocketed, reaching the highest levels since the pandemic began.
There are currently more than 1.9 million positions that need to be filled, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC)’s Jobs Recovery Tracker.
The new record comes after an influx of 223,000 new job adverts, all posted in the week between September 13 and September 19.
For job hunters, this is likely to be good news as it suggests that there’s lots of choice and a chance to negotiate better pay.
But it could spell further trouble for the economy as critical industries such as nursing, delivery driving and teaching are all worryingly understaffed.
Which industries had the most job vacancies?
The tracker also looks at which roles are hiring and where the most jobs can be found.
The most adverts were for sales account managers and business development jobs with 91,600 roles currently available.
Next up was nurses with 87,700 vacancies, followed by programmers and software developers (55,000), care workers and home carers (55,000), and financial or investment analysts and advisers (47,400).
Storage occupations, bookkeepers and sales executives also made the top ten. Somewhat surprisingly, given the ongoing HGV crisis, there were only 39,000 adverts for van drivers.
REC’s research also tracks which industries have seen the biggest spike in vacancies week-on-week.
It found that lots more school roles are currently being advertised – probably because kids have gone back to school.
School secretary job vacancies rose by 17.6%, Crossing patrol vacancies were up 16.4% and educational support assistant roles increased by 9.8%.
On the other hand, dispensing opticians (-11.4%), photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators (-9.2%), and pharmacy and other dispensing assistants (-7.2%) saw the steepest weekly declines in active job adverts.
Which regions are advertising the most jobs?
The research also looks at which regions have the most jobs on offer. This can be particularly useful for anyone that is willing to move for the right opportunity.
Unsurprisingly, cities dominated the charts, but jobs were spread out across the north, south, east and west of the UK.
The borough of the City of Westminster had the most adverts with 232,000 roles up for grabs, next up was Manchester with 48,000 roles and Birmingham with 44,600.
Hertfordshire and Berkshire also made the top five list with over 39,000 vacancies being advertised each.
While growth was recorded in every local area in the UK, Scotland saw the largest increase in active job postings week-on-week.
Four out of the top ten greatest increases in roles available were in Scotland, the most notable being Na h-Eileanan Siar (+29.0%), the Shetland Islands (+21.9%), and Perth and Kinross and Stirling (+17.8%).
Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said: “Job postings are rising in every area of the UK. That’s good news, and we are seeing more employees starting new positions than ever – but demand from employers is even higher still. There is a real chance now that shortages of available workers will slow the recovery.”
Matt Mee, director of workforce intelligence at Emsi Burning Glass, said: “Employers are going to have to work harder to fill their vacancies.
“This might mean a number of things, including raising the salaries they are offering; charting clearer and better career progressions for employees; looking for talent pools in other areas; and seeking to create better and more flexible working conditions to attract new workers.”
How to ace a job interview
James Reed, chair of Reed Recruitment, explains seven common interview questions and how to ace your answers:
- TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF. Real Question: Who do you think you are? And will you know what to leave in and what to leave out?Break it down, rehearse, breeze it. Make your answer sound natural by practising.
- WHY ARE YOU APPLYING FOR THIS JOB? Real Question: What can you do that we need? Do you know what we need? Reflect the job spec in your answer. Discuss their needs before yours.
- WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST STRENGTHS? Real Question: Do you really know yourself — and what our problem is here? Answer with the job description in mind. Go beyond adjectives such as “hard-working” and “trust-worthy”. Give examples.
- WHERE WILL YOU BE IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME? Real Question: Are you after this job or just any job? How soon will you need a new challenge? Do you have a realistic sense of what we offer you? If you do not know, calmly say so — it is only natural. “I want to be doing your job!” is usually a fail — it’s too confrontational. One honest reply is to acknowledge you are there to talk about the job on offer, not the job it leads to. Also, use the opportunity to detail your achievements.
- WHAT DO YOUR CO-WORKERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT YOU? Real Question: Do you sound calm or wary about this? Are you self-aware or just self-conscious? This catches out people not been telling the whole truth, so use true examples.
- HOW WOULD YOU MANAGE YOUR WORK IF NOT IN THE OFFICE? Real Question:The world is unpredictable. Can you handle the unexpected? Be specific about what you would do — that simple.
- HAVE YOU IMPROVED IN THE LAST YEAR? Real Question: Are you ready to be challenged and learn from your mistakes? This tests self-knowledge, resilience and ability to improve in less strong areas. Aim to convince the interviewer you are happy to accept a challenge and learn from the experience.
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