Following on from the post I did last week, I thought it would be worth taking some of the headline figures from the ONS Labour report and delving a little further to see what professional opportunities there are in the market today.
As per the ONS report a few weeks ago, 143,000 people found new jobs in the three month period to Feb 2011, but there was no indication about which sectors or professions the jobs were created in.
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Taking data from over the Easter weekend, this post is an informative snap-shot of permanent, contract and temporary roles that are available across the UK right now, and the different professions they relate to. Like in the ONS report, there are wide regional variations which you will see later on, but they do give an insight into what roles employers are looking to recruit right now. I have taken all the information from three of the largest generalist UK job sites – Totaljobs.com, Monster.co.uk and Reed.co.uk. As many employers and recruiters do advertise the same roles on multiple job boards, there are likely to be some duplications, and so this is certainly not a scientific report ! Nevertheless, it does give you a good barometer of job trends within the UK right now, rather than three months ago.
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The figures below are calculated by adding the total numbers of jobs vacancies advertised on each job board on one day over the bank holiday, and then taking the average across all three.
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UK Vacancies Currently Available (Ranked By Profession)
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- Sales - 12950 jobs advertised
- Engineering & Manufacturing – 10374 jobs advertised
- Computing & IT – 9469 jobs advertised
- Graduate Roles – 9165 jobs advertised
- Banking & Insurance - 8900 jobs advertised
- Accountancy – 7346 jobs advertised
- Retail – 5189 jobs advertised
- Marketing & PR - 4582 jobs advertised
- Secretarial & Admin - 3932 jobs advertised
- Customer Services – 3905 jobs advertised
- Construction & Property - 3904 jobs advertised
- Education - 3508 jobs advertised
- Management Consultancy - 2996 jobs advertised
- Logistics & Distribution - 2798 jobs advertised
- Nursing & Healthcare - 2693 jobs advertised
- Catering & Hospitality - 2691 jobs advertised
- Public Sector - 2623 job advertised
- Human Resources - 2488 jobs advertised
- Legal – 1891 jobs advertised
- Science & Research – 1621 jobs advertised
- Tourism & Leisure - 1501 jobs advertised
- Oil/Gas & Energy – 1090 jobs advertised
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If you were to go these job sites now and have a look for yourself, the numbers of course would have changed, but they are as realistic as possible. So, the professions with the most jobs available currently include Sales, Manufacturing / Engineering and Computing, so good luck to anyone seeking a role within these sectors. At the other end of the spectrum, it is likely to be much harder if you are looking for a job in the Oil & Gas, Tourism or Science & Research sectors – there are 8 to 9 times fewer roles here than in the Top 3.
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If you are still finding it tough out there, then you can keep one step ahead of your competition by using all the other tips and advice that we give you here at Approachthemarket.com. If you are in a profession which ranks lower down the scale where there are less jobs, then a great first starting point if you have not already looked is our Happy 100th Birthday Post which you can read here. The article highlights what we believe are some of the best posts on our site over the last twelve months for those in the job market today, and the tips and advice should really help you keep on track.
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Where you live can also have a dramatic affect on the number of jobs available to you. Geographically, it is no surprise that most job opportunities right now are in the South East and London, with the fewest jobs in the North East and Wales. The figures I have compiled here only come from Totaljobs.com and Reed.co.uk, as the regions are compiled differently by Monster, so they are not included. If you are currently job hunting and live in an area where there are very few jobs available and are happy to relocate, the figures suggest the South East & London are the places to head to.
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UK Vacancies Currently Available (Ranked By Region)
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- South East – 39695 jobs advertised
- London – 20531 jobs advertised
- North West - 8566 jobs advertised
- South West – 7898 jobs advertised
- West Midlands – 7164 jobs advertised
- Yorkshire – 6252 jobs advertised
- East Midlands - 5071 jobs advertised
- East Anglia – 3778 jobs advertised
- Scotland – 2977 jobs advertised
- North East - 2661 jobs advertised
- Wales - 1898 jobs advertised
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Best wishes
Leslie Fearn
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Leslie has over 15 years Recruitment experience helping blue-chip corporates to SME businesses recruit for their Finance teams. As one of the founding Directors of McGinnis Loy, a Specialist HR and Finance Recruiter across the Thames Valley and London, he is still actively recruiting in the marketplace today. Follow his helpful tweets on Twitter: @McGinnisLoy
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