The job market is not fun right now (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The tail end of the pandemic saw a mass exodus of workers from their no longer suitable jobs, dubbed The Great Resignation.
Then came quiet quitting, where those who hated their jobs but couldn’t leave simply started doing as little as humanly possible without having to face the uncertainty of the current job market.
The job market has been unstable at best since the first lockdown in 2020, with young people who graduated during the pandemic worried their job prospects would never recover.
It’s true that unemployment has risen in the UK, and the labour market is extremely competitive, so if you’re trying (and failing) to find a job right now, be comforted by the fact that it’s not just you.
If you’re not looking for something extremely specific to your career goals, it might help to know which jobs are in demand at the moment.
Using data from job search sites Indeed, Totaljobs and Reed as well as Google Search Office furniture company Furniture At Work compared the number of vacancies for certain roles with the number of Google searches for jobs in the same roles, to reveal the jobs with the most vacancies and least applicants.
The research found that there are a number of entry level roles that are struggling to find applicants, making them much more desirable for someone trying to get any job at all.
These are the jobs no one wants in 2024
Teaching assistant
Delivery driver
Project manager
HGV driver
Receptionist
Data analyst
Virtual assistant
Business analyst
Assistant psychologist
These include delivery driver, receptionist, virtual assistant and teaching assistant, all of which have way more openings than the number of people searching for the roles online.
There are some more specialist jobs too, like teacher, HGV driver, assistant psychologist, data analysis, business analyst and project manager.
If any of these sound up your street and you’re scrambling for work, what are you waiting for?
How to ace your job interview with the STAR Method
If you do manage to bag an interview, here’s a handy acronym that will help you coast through the process.
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result:
First, describe the situation you were in – set the scene.
Then, explain the task at hand, challenge or goal.
For action, explain what you did in order to complete the task.
Finally, what was the result or outcome? Make sure it’s positive.
Here’s an example:
SITUATION: Sales dropped in the first quarter.
TASK: My team was given a target to increase sales by 10%.
ACTION: I developed and delivered an in-house sales training course for my team.
RESULT: Sales increased by 25% and the training course was rolled out across all teams and divisions.
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MORE : This is when it’s ok to job hop – and when you should stick it out for your career’s sake
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Beggars can’t be choosers.
