Our latest research tells us that recruitment agencies do not get a look in compared to job boards and direct applications to specific jobs and organisations.
After a month of asking jobseekers what they do once they are happy with their CV / Resume, we found that 45% choose to upload it to a job board and make online applications via their systems. 39% apply directly to company opportunities and lagging way behind is the option to use a Recruitment Agency with only 12% taking that route.
There will always be a market and desire to use Recruitment Agencies especially within certain specialist industry sectors so it really does come down to what kind of jobs are being applied for. Many jobs can be found on job boards so it is quick and easy to make job applications online in this way where the CV/Resume can be saved within a users account. On the flip side of this though, some companies will never publish their vacancies on job boards or even enrol an agent, so direct applications to companies would be the chosen avenue.
Where have you found the most success when applying for a job? Tell us here.....
Do you think it is important to know the background of your company? Do you even care? Or are you one of the 67% of people who DO know the history!
When applying for a new job and you are invited to an interview, it is hugely important to research the company, its owners, history, growth, changes, staff, its industry and anything else you can find out. An interviewer could well ask you questions surrounding the topic so it is good to have the knowledge for this reason but also because if you are applying for a new job there, you probably should have the desire to know what kind of company you could potentially be employed by.
Researching this kind of information helps to give you an insight into the culture, values, ethos, mindset, vision etc so can be useful in deciding whether it is the kind of company that would suit you!
33% of employees DO NOT KNOW their company background but what exactly does this mean? Does it mean they are bad at their job? Not necessarily. Maybe the culture, staff, values etc do not matter to them and they can perform their job without having to know anything more about the organisation itself.
Knowing the history of the company is definitely more important to certain industry sectors and employment levels, such as, Managing Directors, Project Managers, Account Directors and such like.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. What job do you do and do you know your company's history? Comment below.....
Over the last month we have been investigating the likelihood of jobseekers using CV and Resume Writing Companies to review and re-write their CV's/Resumes.
We first looked into how likely people were to using them. It was a close call with just 10% difference between people saying "never" and others saying "definitely". In fact there was a small difference between Never, Maybe and Definitely looking at the illustration between the options below.
28% said they would never use a professional CV / Resume Writing company, 32% said maybe and 40%, definitely. We are safe to say that there is a market for such companies to help those get their CV / Resume's up to scratch.
Following on from this analysis, we looked into why people would decide to use such professionals. 44% clearly felt that they would do a better job than them - whether this is true or not is another story. This could simply be down to a lack of the individuals confidence rather than their actual ability. 38% just did not know where to begin when reviewing and re-writing their CV/Resume so needed some direction. Finally, 18% did not have the time to re-do their CV/Resume and so would choose to use the professionals. With people being so busy and rushed today and longer hours being worked, this reason is definitely a deciding factor for many.
So once you have made the decision to use an external professional, how do you decide which company to use? It is always a good idea to shop around and see which company is suitable for you and works within your industry and location. It is also a good idea to go on recommendations and potential partnerships of businesses who recommend their services. Here at TipTopJob, we currently recommend Get Interviews which offers services within the UK, the USA and Worldwide. They offer a FREE CV / Resume review in the first place before purchasing any of their services. You can read a little more about CVGetInterviews here and GetInterviews here.
Our latest review on how colleagues felt about each other sadly found that 6% cannot actually stand who they work with. Even though 6% is not a huge number, it is still a proportion of individuals who do not enjoy working alongside their colleagues.
On the happier note, a total of 74% fortunately "liked" or "loved" them (of that 74%, 33% LOVED their colleagues). This is great news for the morale, motivation and productivity of those organisations because if colleagues actually like each other, they will enjoy being around each other, be happier in their daily activities and therefore ultimately the company wins all around.
So, what is the advice to those who hate their co-workers? If it is really making you feel unhappy at work and you cannot concentrate on your work, then maybe it is worth talking to your manager/boss about changing your seating arrangements so you are either away from those you do not like or with people that you prefer to be around.
If there are multiple people that you cannot stand at work, then maybe it is worth considering a change in your role or even company. Maybe the industry you are in does not suit your personality and fit in with the kind of people you want to be surrounded by. Hopefully, it does not require a job or career change, but if it does, do not forget to check out the roles we have on our site and apply online there.
Here is an illustration of the full survey results that we found....
