As much as we all saw this coming but hoped it wouldn’t happen… here we are, in lockdown 3.0 due to the covid-19 pandemic. At least this time around we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, this will be the third and final lockdown, and we can all start living normal lives again soon. In the meantime, we want to take this opportunity to reassure our clients and candidates that we’re still hiring!

The Current Situation with Recruitment

During the first lockdown, everything ground to a halt. We were all in a completely unprecedented situation that nobody knew how to handle. So in March 2020, we saw a handful of companies implement a hiring freeze. However, it soon became apparent that this was just an initial knee jerk reaction. Business owners needed time to gather their thoughts and consider how the pandemic might affect business and adapt to the situation.

The IT, Digital & Marketing sectors were very quick to adapt. Many of the clients we recruit for were already used to remote working before the pandemic. So for these companies, it was business as usual. Any employers who didn’t already allow employees to work from home were quickly adopted remote working.

Additionally, most employers with hiring needs changed their hiring processes. Instead of interviewing face to face, video interviewing has become the norm. New employee onboarding is also more commonly done remotely.

Is Now a Good Time for Job Hunting?

If you’re thinking about looking for a new job, it’s definitely worth checking out what’s out there. Indeed, all the job listings we currently have advertised on our website are live and accepting applications.

Our Advice to Experienced Candidates

If you have experience in the role you are applying for, go for it! In our recent experience, candidates who want to find jobs are experiencing favourable results following interviews. Additionally, there is reduced competition from passive candidates who are sitting tight in their current positions.

Our Advice to Newly Qualified Candidates

If you’re newly qualified with minimal experience for a role you wish to apply for, now might not be the best time to look. The reason for this is that remote working presents many challenges for newly qualified individuals who may require extra mentoring. Hiring managers are therefore reluctant to hire people who they think will demand too much of their time.

However, we anticipate that returning to an office environment will open the door for more opportunities at junior levels. For now, if companies are unable to find the skills they need externally, they are likely to fill any urgent employment gaps by promoting from within. However, this will undoubtedly create more entry-level positions in the near future.

This doesn’t mean you should give up all together! If you have experience in customer service, a good place to start if you want a foot in the door is tech support. This can open numerous doors to other career paths.

The other thing you can do if you find yourself with time on your hands is work on building a portfolio.

Our Advice to Anyone Considering a Career Change

There are many people out there who are considering reskilling and switching careers from retail or hospitality. For anyone on furlough, the present situation presents the perfect opportunity to work on your skills. But before you invest in full-time courses or expensive boot camps, our advice would be to speak to a recruitment consultant first.

A recruitment consultant vs an agency recruiter — Before embarking on a career change, it helps to know the difference between recruitment consultants and agencies and which one might be more beneficial for your circumstances.

Recruitment consultants have a deep understanding of their market sector and know what their clients are looking for. They are therefore able to advise which career paths are worth pursuing. They can also steer you away from other areas which are oversaturated with entry-level candidates.

For example, when many people decide to embark on a new tech career, they focus on becoming a Software Developer. However, there are many other exciting career paths to follow, such as IT Project Management or Customer Experience Management.

Depending on your current job role, these career paths might be easier to transition into from your current one. Moreover, they are not as obvious career choices as Software Development, so you may, therefore, find yourself up against less competition for any jobs you apply for in future.

Let’s Reiterate – We’re Still Hiring!

We would like to reassure potential candidates that all the job listings we currently have advertised on our website are available and open to applications. In particular, the current vacancies we are most keen to fill right now are:

Junior Product Owner
Senior Product Owner
Data Engineers
Software Developers
Automated Testers
Front End Developers

Do you know anyone who might be looking for a job in IT, Digital or Marketing? If so, please spread the word that we’re still hiring with them by sharing this post on social media. They will be sure to thank you for it!