According to the Office for National Statistics, the job market situation in the UK remains largely unchanged. As of late 2023-early 2024, unemployment remained at 4.2%, while the estimated number of vacancies fell by 49,000. At the same time, the number of vacancies is still above the pre-pandemic level, and considering that unemployment is not on the rise, UK job seekers can stay reasonably optimistic about their employment odds.
According to the House of Commons Library, professionals in the service industry traditionally enjoy the largest number of employment options because retail, hospitality, finance, health, and education remain the dominant UK market segments. On the other hand, real estate and technical jobs, primarily in the IT industry, have the highest economic output and GVA percentiles, as per the same source.
All in all, dedicated professionals should have good employment chances in 2024, regardless of particular industry and profession. Besides, one can always optimise the job hunting process — and this career guide should help make the most of your efforts.
Start with Relevant Job Search Sites
The apparent start here is Gov.UK’s Find a Job service — a unified platform for England, Scotland, and Wales, with a separate section for Northern Ireland. Still, job seekers would also be wise to explore a few other options on top of that, starting with
Indeed
IndeedUK supports searches by job title, location, skillset, and company name. The service regularly updates its listings and publishes company reviews, salary ranges, and interview preparation tips. Registered users can also sign up for job alerts to get instant updates when a suitable vacancy is posted. Indeed also has an Application Tracking System (ATS) of its own, and many UK employers use this service when looking for candidates.
Reed
Reed publishes new vacancies across different industries, allows candidates to upload their CVs, sign up for job alerts, and does almost everything one can expect from a job board. The bonus feature of this site is the Course and Training section, which allows job seekers to sign up for online and on-site courses to boost their employment chances.
CW Jobs
CW Jobs specialises in IT vacancies and is a solid start for all tech and IT professionals. Otherwise, the website works like most other boards — it has listings, ATS, career advice, job alerts, and plenty of other useful features that simplify the job-hunting process. One particularly valuable feature is a regularly updated section with IT events and webinars, offering job seekers a chance to network and boost their employment chances even further.
Milkround
Milkround is a platform for graduates and candidates looking for internships. The service has all the latest internship opportunities in various industries, including finance, IT, logistics, management, and many others. Signing up for alerts and event notifications is also an option.
The Dots
The Dots is more of a networking platform for creative professionals that also supports job search and allows publishing vacancies. This site is similar to LinkedIn but with a specific focus on creative jobs, i.e., graphic design, portfolio building, and project showcasing. Speaking of LinkedIn, you should not disregard this major professional network either. But if your profession has to do with visuals and graphics, The Dots is the first place to go.
Guardian Jobs
The Guardian also has a job section with career advice, advanced job search filters, a CV database, and a career planner – all carefully reviewed by the editorial team. Here, job seekers will find everything they need — from estimated salary ranges, the number of total openings in the UK, and the latest industry trends for professional growth. In the Career Planner section, candidates can also check out statistics on recruitment trends and new job openings over the past few months — for each specific career path.
Consider Relocation Options
Professionals open to relocation can always explore career opportunities in other cities — because job market demand fluctuates from one area to another. In late 2023, SignalHire, a SaaS database for recruiters that supports candidate search by multiple parameters (including location), carried out an interesting study to see which UK cities had the most job vacancies in autumn 2023 — judging from the sheer number of searches registered users performed over this period.
According to SignalHire data, the best UK cities for work are:
- London
- Edinburgh
- Cambridge
- Manchester
- Belfast
- Oxford
- Nottingham
- Bristol
Cambridge deserves a separate mention, with its impressive 8.5% corporate employment growth in late 2023 — higher than in any other UK area, including London. Notably, this growth rate primarily concerns knowledge-intensive (KI) industries — IT, high-tech manufacturing, and science. When analysed separately, KI job growth in the greater Cambridge area exceeds 10%, so this city could be a great job search destination for candidates with the right tech skills.
Of course, SignalHire data may not fully reflect the market situation across all industries because it analyses searches run through a single contact database, used mainly by recruiters and marketers. This means the data may be skewed towards digital occupations. Still, it is a very good indicator of the top UK cities that have the largest number of vacancies. Analysing market demand for specific professions via additional sources will provide more insights, and it makes sense to start researching employment options in these cities first.
Research Employers & Customise Resumes
Roughly half of all resumes get rejected because they are not tailored to a particular position. Unlike a CV, which presents a comprehensive overview of a candidate’s professional and educational path, a resume is a more to-the-point document that should always be adjusted for every job opening.
Candidates do not need to write a brand-new resume for every new vacancy, of course. However, it is important to research the employer to at least try to anticipate this employer’s expectations. Pay special attention to:
Objective: this is one of the first resume parts recruiters will look at, and it is best to customise the objective for each new position — usually, all the details a candidate needs are already mentioned in the job description. The goal is to align your objectives with the potential employer’s expectations.
Experience: this seems obvious, but even the same job (or volunteering) experience can be highlighted from different perspectives, depending on the company candidates are applying to.
For example, a marketing specialist can be ‘developing and executing comprehensive marketing strategies’ or ‘collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure consistent brand messaging across all channels.’ Those are all marketing responsibilities a candidate probably has experience with, but depending on a given vacancy, one area may take precedence over the other.
Soft skills: today, soft skills are more important than ever because most jobs depend on productive collaboration within the firm and, often, outside of it. Once again, depending on the vacancy, it’s wise to adjust your soft skills presentation. Communication and conflict resolution are the top soft skills in demand for some jobs, while other vacancies emphasise time management or leadership above all other qualities.
Accomplishments: candidates often overlook this part when writing resumes, and, for some vacancies, it is quite acceptable not to dwell on your accomplishments. However, this is not the case with managerial and administrative positions.
Yet, formatting accomplishments as a separate part of a resume may appear a bit presumptuous. So, the best way to go about it is to mention professional achievements within the experience section. In a marketer’s resume, possible phrasing can go like:
- Developed targeted strategies, leading to a 40% expansion in customer base;
- Implemented tactics to optimise ROI, achieving a 20% improvement in cost-effectiveness;
- Elevated the content marketing strategy that contributed to a 35% increase in website traffic and a 20% growth in social media followers, etc.
Keep Networking
It’s impossible to overestimate the power of networking, so candidates looking for a job, as well as already employed professionals, can only benefit from visiting industry-related events. The UK offers multiple opportunities for practically every occupation. Some of the major conferences across different industries that regularly take place include:
IT:
- Infosecurity Europe
- London Tech Week
- The AI Summit London
- Cloud Expo Europe
- DevOpsCon (London)
Finance:
- The City Week
- FundForum International
- The Global Borrowers & Bond Investors Forum
- Finance Magnates London Summit
- International Financial Cryptography Conference (IFCA)
Business-related:
- Business Change & Transformation Conference
- International Conference on Knowledge Economy (ICKE )
- International Conference on Advanced Policy Management (ICOAPM)
Besides, one can choose from less prominent events relevant to a specific industry — every opportunity to network is a chance to make new connections and certainly not an opportunity to be wasted.
Prepare for Interviews
The last, definitely not the least tip for all job seekers is to take interview preparation seriously. A quick research may be enough for customising the resume, but making a good impression on the potential employers requires a little extra effort. Before a personal meeting, make sure to familiarise yourself with the company’s missions, goals, and products. Also, prepare a list of job and company-specific questions. Knowing who you would be talking to (i.e., recruiter vs department lead) will help a lot — this way, you’ll be able to ask relevant questions and get adequate answers.
Most importantly, stay calm and try not to stress too much. This quick guide should help you boost your chances of landing a job interview, but it’s up to you to showcase your professional strengths. And confidence is the best strategy here!
