What jobs search trends do we expect to see in 2022?
I think we'll see people reflecting a lot over the Christmas break
and there will be a lot of candidates looking for new positions
in the early part of the new year.
I think people are less concerned about
any kind of instability based on the pandemic,
and are just looking to find a job that they enjoy
that has conditions that suit them.
So I think we will definitely see more candidates on the market,
and I think that they will be looking for roles that offer more flexibility,
whether that be remote working,
or more working from home,
or more flexibility around hours and things like that.
So yeah, I think that's absolutely what we're gonna see,
more job seekers and looking for more flexibility in the positions that they go for.
Will job seekers and recruiters be focusing more on remote positions?
I think it's fair to say that job seekers
will certainly be more interested in remote positions.
I think the pandemic has proven that there are
more ways of working flexibly and remotely.
So there is a bit of an expectation or a preference of that from candidates.
Whether there is a match for that from the employer side,
I suspect not, I think most employers are more flexible now,
if they've been able to work in that way during the pandemic
but I think for many employers,
they're going to be looking to get back into offices,
they might not be office based anyway,
so therefore, there's not that opportunity.
But I think there'll be more job seekers
looking for that remote opportunity and less remote opportunities,
but certainly an increase in terms of that flexibility
and remote working in a way that we've never had before.
So hopefully, enough opportunities for people to go after.
How can job seekers better prepare for remote positions?
Well, if you're offered a job, and you are working remotely for that job,
then that company will have hopefully, a really strong
induction programme ready for you
so it'd be very much immersing yourself in that
and learning a lot about how things are going to work.
I would also suggest that you think about
what extra support you might need that you could request from your employer.
Think about how you get yourself into a good routine.
So if you're working remotely, are you going to do office hours?
Are you going to do different hours?
What's going to work for you?
What's the setup going to be like at home?
Are you going to work from a spare room, on the kitchen table,
or how's that going to work?
And thinking about the health and safety elements of that as well
because you don't want to end up working on the sofa
or hunched over something and get very uncomfortable.
And I think it's really important as well when you're working remotely
to have regular check-ins both with your manager
and your colleagues so that you feel connected,
and that you're able to share any concerns
or ask any questions that you have throughout.
What tips should graduates follow searching for a job in 2022
with little to no experience?
I think that there will be a lot of students and graduates
that don't have any work experience due to the pandemic or certainly very little.
So you won't be alone if that's the case.
If you do have any work experience at all,
even if you think it's not relevant for the role,
or the industry that you're applying for,
still put it on your CV and your application,
there will be transferable skills that will be relevant to an employer.
If you have no work experience at all, be a bit creative.
Think about where you can add skills from.
So have you got any extracurricular activities that you've been involved in
whether it be at university or outside of university?
Is there any hobbies or something interesting that you get stuck into
that could provide some examples of skills that you might get
otherwise from a work setting?
So be creative and make sure that you put something.
Which skills will be in high demand in 2022?
Well, I mean, it will very much depend on the industry and on the role, won't it?
But I think in terms of soft skills,
we'll be looking at things like resilience,
particularly for graduates so being able to handle challenging situations
and be able to bounce back and I expect that you'll see
all sorts of different application form questions that relate to that kind of topic.
I think employers will be looking for people that can work autonomously,
particularly for remote roles or roles where there's less office time.
So I think that will be really important as well.
So you might hear that described as being a bit of a self-starter
or working autonomously.
I think teamwork's also going to be really important
because the makeup of teams
with people working from different locations perhaps
might also be a bit different and will require different skills
from those traditional workplace settings.