What are the Key Challenges faced by Job-seekers in the Current Market?

Introduction

The ultimate objective of every job-seeker is to land their dream job as quickly as possible. Surely with the right skill-set and appropriate experience, this should be an easy job! However, there can be nothing further from the truth. There are multiple challenges that job-seekers face in their search for the right role. These challenges not only impact the job-seekers but also employers and to a certain extent, recruiters. These have been extracted from feedback received from recruiters, job-seekers, employers and human resource professionals.

Challenge # 1: Stiff Competition for Roles

Issue

The top job sites contain a huge pool of candidates. Thus, it is not uncommon for a role to attract a high volume of applications. In such a scenario, it is very easy for a deserving or more appropriate application to get drowned in the noise.

Impact

Stiff competition reduces the likelihood of getting noticed and hence lowers the probability of landing the coveted role. This can have a demoralising effect on the individuals concerned.

Challenge # 2: Poor Matching and Recommendations

Issue

Significantly high number of job sites are notorious for recommending jobs that are not aligned with their skills and preferences. This happens when matching algorithms are outdated.

Impact

Incorrect matching and recommendations force job-seekers to waste a lot of time sifting through irrelevant leads. This makes the job search process more inefficient than it needs to be, resulting in additional frustration for the individuals.

Challenge # 3: Application Fatigue Due to Repetition

Issue

Several job sites require the applicant to repeatedly enter the same information for each application. Further, the job-seeker registration process can be very tedious, requiring registrants to enter a lot of information, although they have uploaded their CV.

Impact

The duplication of effort is very time-consuming, adding to overall effort required to be invested in the process. Lot of candidates are known to be de-motivated by this, which is reflected in abandoned applications.

Challenge # 4: Limited Communication and Feedback from Recruiters/Employers

Issue

In most cases candidates do not receive any response or feedback from recruiters after applying for a role. At the utmost they receive a stock response informing them that their application has been received and their candidature has been rejected!

Impact

The lack of constructive feedback means that candidates are blind to areas of improvement and are none the wiser when it comes to their next application. It is also frustrating and demoralising as every candidate has high hope riding on their application.

Challenge # 5: Limited Filtering and Search Options

Issue

Many job sites provide limited sorting and filtering capability which limits the candidates’ ability to focus on jobs meeting their criteria, e.g. location, remuneration, job type, etc.

Impact

Candidates waste a lot of time sifting through job listings that do not meet their criteria. This makes the job search longer, inefficient and frustrating.

Challenge # 6: Automated Rejections

Issue

Many recruiters use outdated tracking systems which assess applicants’ CVs based on outdated and irrelevant algorithms. This leads to wrong rejection of CVs automatically, even before a human being has had a chance to view it.

Impact

Automated filtering based on outdated technology and criteria leads to qualified candidates missing out and a sub-standard set of applications being retained .

Challenge # 7: Scams & Fraudulent Activity

Issue

It is not uncommon for scammers to post fake jobs on the top job sites with the objective of collecting personal information and/or money or other currency (e.g. crypto-currency) from job-seekers.

Impact

Candidates, especially the latest entrants to the job market, run a high risk of falling victim to these scams and fraudulent activities, which may result in their personal data falling into wrong hands.

Challenge # 8: Lack of Transparency related to Remuneration

Issue

Many recruiters do not disclose remuneration information, both cash and benefits-in-kind. This makes it difficult for the candidate to assess if the role meets their expectations and/or criteria.

Impact

Candidates end up applying for roles which are below their expectations and/or do not meet their critical criteria. The entire effort in this case is wasted.

Conlusion

The above challenges force job-seekers to explore alternative avenues for meet their recruitment objectives, e.g. social media, networking, personal referrals, etc. Also, the above-mentioned challenges are not unique to job-seekers in UK, but these are symptomatic of the problems faced by job-seekers globally.