High unemployment- Lack of Jobs? Or just a shortage of good people?
We are being inundated with news about high unemployment figures. According to recent data employment among young adults ages 16-29 stood at 55.3 percent, down from 67.3 percent in 2000 and the lowest since the end of World War II.The most common reason cited is due to there being a lack of jobs, but has anyone ever thought it may be because there is a lack of good people?!
There has been a shift in people’s subconscious thinking, especially employers, about the job market where they now believe there is an abundance of candidates looking for work and this has put employers in a position of power. They believe they have lots of choice now, which has caused them to be fussier when hiring candidates and the candidates aren’t matching up to these new expectations and are no longer matching the criteria.
Employers want to hire the best of the best. They want candidates who will add value, who will build networks, who will help them grow and who will be an asset to their business and the challenge for candidates is employers believe they can get it!
In the past, employers didn’t have the luxury of cherry-picking the top talent. It was very much a candidates market and they could pick and choose where to work leaving organisations with no choice but to head-hunt the top talent from their competitors for an expensive fee. Now the tables have turned and as mentioned employers are enjoying their new position of power and perception of choice and they are only hiring the best of the best.
This is especially challenging for graduates as there isn’t the luxury of experience to lean on, it all has to do with your personality.
So how can you become the best of the best? How can you be the person employers want to hire? How can you stand out from the crowd? The first point to remember is that the company you want to work for is in business to make money, save money and mitigate risk, so you need to position yourself in a way that you can add value in one of those areas.
Also it is important to remember a brief lesson I learnt whilst studying psychology. The person who is interviewing you has an ego and it is important to stroke their ego and make them feel important by explaining to them that this is the industry and company you want to work for and nothing else will do. You want to learn from that person and be a part of their team and business and no one else.
The more focused you are on what you want, the more likely you will get a job in your chosen profession!
I placed a graduate recently really quickly and easily purely because he said he only wanted to work for a ‚green energy consultancy company. This made my job as a recruiter much easier as I only focused on getting him a job in that particular industry and of course it impressed his now employer because the graduate was so passionate and informed about the industry. He clearly demonstrated his value and it worked!
The best news is that having no experience is often more appealing to an employer, especially a dynamic, fast growth, entrepreneurial company than someone with experience as they will be seeking people who can be easily molded into their company culture with no pre-conceptions and bad habits. They will want to target a new younger generation, which is perfect for a graduate’s skills and they won’t want to pay lots of money for costly, experienced people who may or may not work out. So use this to your advantage and start studying about your own strengths and think about how you can add value today!
The Apprentice Project provides the education young people need after finishing University. We specialize in placing Graduates into Sales roles with the most dynamic and entrepreneurial companies in the UK and then training them on the exact Business, Sales and personal development skills they need to succeed. We also offer career coaching services to graduates to help become the best they can be and secure their dream job!
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Written by Emma Vites
Copyright © 2019 Emma Vites
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