Job Market Research

When you are looking for a new job, you need to be aware of what is going on in the labour market and what the latest job trends are. The job market varies according to the economy, as many people are now all too painfully aware of, having lost what they thought were secure jobs.

Your aim is to discover

• the types of jobs which are out there at the moment
• where you can find them and
• the skills, qualifications, aptitudes you need to get a job and to succeed
• how you can get the skills and qualifications if you don’t already have them.

Since you will already have some skills and knowledge, gained either in previous employment or at school or college, you can start by looking at industries in which these will be useful.

It could be that you lost your job because the industry you work in has been seriously affected by the recession. In this case, you will probably want to look beyond your current industry, perhaps considering fields which aren’t affected or are even thriving in the recession. So take a look at the jobs being advertised locally and make a note of the industries they are in. they might not be jobs you could do, but there could be other openings in the same industry. You will just need to dig a little deeper to find them.

For example, if you are qualified in admin or secretarial work, you could think about moving to the medical field. This might mean having to take a short course in medical terminology, but it could mean a guaranteed job in a career with a future.

Governments provide statistics covering changes in the labour market and these are usually issued on a monthly basis. You will get some general trends from watching the news on TV, but look online for more details. This will enable you to get an overview of all sectors of the economy and then you can focus on the ones which interest you and which are hiring at the moment.

Education, for example, has beenexperiencing growth for several decades and is likely to continue to do so. Many adults go back into education during a recession and this opens up more jobs in the sector.

Hospitality is another growth area, and has many hard to fill positions, but these are often low paid.

Hairdressing and beauty are also areas in need of more skilled workers. So it seems that whatever the economic climate, we want to look good.

Understanding the job market and which industries are experiencing growth will help you decide which career is right for you – or which industry to target with existing skills. Remember that many industries need admin staff, accountants, book keepers, cleaning and catering staff. Technology is part of just about every industry these days. So if you are good at computing, look at the industries which are doing well and offer them your services.