Alleged worker shortage, but somehow I can't find a job

[lobeliasb]

All you hear about in the media is that there is a worker shortage and that companies are crying out for staff, but where exactly are these desperate companies? I have 10 years experience in marketing and sales (but have moved into marketing exclusively in the past 8 years) and can't get an interview for the life of me. I have a BA and a masters and still, crickets.

I would like to move away from marketing and go more into data analysis (something I did frequently in my last role), but it feels very much like transferable skills don't count anymore. You need to have done the exact job role being advertised, and many companies want you to also have done that same role in the exact same industry or niche. In fact, I have applied for roles that are exactly like my current role, same exact duties, but they want 5 years experience in X and Y when realistically, someone with 3 years experience is just as good.

How is anyone meant to move on to a different role for more pay if employers seemingly only want lateral movers? I'm mystified. It wasn't like this a few years ago. Not to mention the pay is awful and every role has 200 applicants on LinkedIn desperate for the paltry wage. Sad state of affairs.

If you aren't getting interviews then your CV isn't demonstrating that you meet the job description requirements.

You need to ensure that you map your experience to that JD and tailor your CV to the role.

So if the role says:

• experience analysing large data sets
• able to translate data in to relevant reports

Then you need to explicitly state that you have analysed large data sets of data in excess of xx rows using SQL

And so on

Often AI is used now to sift CVs so you have to ensure that you are hitting the key words

I should have been more clear - I do get some interviews, of course never for positions I really want and I find the pay for most marketing roles is quite low (mid 20's is average in my region for a mid-level role). My CV is written as you suggested, has all the key words and shows how my experience matches the job posting etc. I think the issue, for me at least, is that marketing is just so saturated and every job posting gets inundated with applicants. Trying to move outside the field is proving very difficult.

How is anyone meant to move on to a different role for more pay

I think this is key.

you want more money for a role you have less experience in compared to you current role.

if you are changing roles then I would expect a lateral move, possibly even to a lower role. You don’t have the experience so why would you expect a promotion into a role you have no expertise in.

transferable skills are all well and good but you will still need to learn the role.

if you want to move roles you may need to swallow a year or two at a lower/equivalent position until you know the role, then start moving up the ladder.

I changed roles relatively recently. I took an entry level role as an “in” to the industry then once I felt confident I started applying to move up.

Yes, but what I'm saying is that job postings are written in such away that it seems they only want someone who has done that exact same job. I doubt most people want to just keep doing the same thing for years. When I move jobs, it's usually to something slightly more senior, not the same thing I was doing before. And many companies demand the experience be in the same niche or industry as well. What if you are sick of working in say, paint manufacturing? I have also applied for jobs that would be a step down but nope, I'm overqualified.

Same! Hence my name 🤣

15 years of marketing and project management experience. Can code, write content and all sorts.

And yet..... I can't find any work. I've applied for a humiliating amount.

I know it's partly due to the area I'm in (Sojth West!)... But people keep banging on about WFH / Remote jobs as well. Well, tried that on LinkedIn. And I can't get anywhere in amongst the other 500 or so applicants.

I'm trying Rishi and Jeremy. I am trying!!

A recruiter (I shan't name and shame) but a recruiter with an office in Exeter who advertise many marketing roles told me I'm too old for the industry! I'm 35. 5* reviews on Google as well. Absolutely gutted she said that!

I have a degree. I'm Google certified. I have experience. I am creative and analytical. I've had such cool clients and yet..... nada.

Unfortunately someone with a marketing background wouldn’t have valuable enough transferrable skills to become an analyst on a higher salary. You need to consider a pay cut.

You do need years of experience if you want the higher salary. The market is so saturated that employers can find recent IT graduates who are skilled enough to do the work highly competently yet are happy to accept a junior salary. I wouldn’t say the world is crying out for more analysts either, it’s not a field with shortages. It’s industries like like medicine, care, teaching etc that need more staff.

in comparison to your competition, you need to prove that you have the experience of using all the relevant programs eg R, SQL, python by writing solid examples of when you have used each software at a high-scope level. It’s not good enough to imply you know what you would do with it or that you’re self-taught. They don’t really want to hear about your marketing background unless it is directly linked with you completing analysis functions because you will come across as less experienced than other candidates

I'm back with my final point.

Companies like Seasalt HQ paying NMW for decent professional jobs. And want 3 interviews, 2 presentations and 5 million references. For NMW. I mean, come on!!

Another one is Stovax in Exeter. They want marketing professionals for £21500 a year 🤣

That's so absurd! Too old for it? It's marketing, not gymnastics. Get real. My area of the Midlands is pretty desolate as far as jobs go, but like you said, the remote jobs have a ridiculous number of applicants for roles that really don't pay much at all for the experience and passion they demand.

have you tried using a recruiter? and also most of the jobs that are empty are service and hospitality roles!

Loads of graduate positions are minimum wage. There’s loads of unpaid internships floating around too, wanting highly qualified candidates. I wouldn’t say the job market is particularly generous - many recent graduates find it hard to enter their degree field because of the ridiculous demands. I was in the same boat when I graduated in 2019.

i bought some clothes from seasalt the other week and out of curiosity checked their vacancies. Couldn’t believe my fucking eyes at the salaries they were offering - AND didn’t they want you to go into the office too?

Yeah she said, while spluttering and eating her lunch down the phone (gross) that I'm too old.

It's just plain nasty.

This skills shortage is area dependent. In the SW there isn't one. If you apply for a role on Indeed and then go into "My applied jobs" or whatever. It tells you how many people applied for each role.

It's usually between 500-1000 in the SW for a low paid professional role.

You know it's bad when nursing and teaching are considered well paid careers for the area!

There are many jobs out there, you just don’t want to apply for them (retail/hospitality).

😢 I'm happy to work on site. But when houses cost £300k or rent is £1300 a month - how can anyone possibly live on that? It's heartbreaking for the local community to have employers like this.

It's your CV - not you, and not your experience. If you're not getting interviews when you're qualified for the job, it's always the CV (and covering letter).

Use the covering letter to really hammer home how you meet each of the essential and desirable criteria. By the end of it they should be easily able to see how you tick each box and have no excuse but to invite you to interview.

The roles I'm going for are more market research/insight analyst type roles, not hard science or tech industry analyst roles and they don't require coding languages in the main. I have done jobs that literally match the job descriptions but the job title is different.

A recruiter (I shan't name and shame) but a recruiter with an office in Exeter who advertise many marketing roles told me I'm too old for the industry! I'm 35. 5 reviews on Google as well. Absolutely gutted she said that!*

I got the same vibe when I was applying for jobs in london. Lots of applications, many of which I was extremely qualified for- direct experience etc. never even an interview.

I have often wondered if in big cities they have a lot of younger people who can take a lower salary, and won’t have children or family ties yet. When I was working I did notice the workforce was very young- mainly under 30, and women left after children.

I moved to a northern town and started getting interviews immediately, and got a job within 3 months. The demographic is very different, lots of older women, lots of part time working. A big thing I have noticed is that men take more time off and seem to share child related issues- whereas in london they nearly always had a sahp. Dh used to get asked all the time “can’t your wife do it’ when he needed a day off for child illness, whereas here they don’t bat an eyelid when he says he’s leaving early for school pick up as they all do it.

possibly due to the expense of childcare/less likely to be near family in a city?

I applied for a job in 2011 and the salary was £19500

The same role has become vacant last week and this time they are paying £21000

They want a degree and 5+ years experience. Also they've asked for line management experience.

😆 Welcome to the South West.

I'm in my thirties as well. I wonder if I should drop my graduation years from my CV? Although my work experience would give it away, unless I delete my earlier roles as well. Ad agencies are particularly ridiculous for this - you're too old if you are over 30.

If you have the experience and wholly got that across on your application, it could just be that the other people who applied are more experienced so you shouldn’t let this knock your confidence. You could get the next job. Do you have any “research analyst” contacts that can check over your application?

I’m not 100% sold on applying for jobs on Indeed, I feel you get a better response by applying on the employer’s website directly. I just imagine employers get hundreds of jobseekers sending a generic CV to each role and employers don’t always follow through with everything as a result.

I have been on the other side of Indeed and advertised roles last year. We didn't always receive the covering letter. I remember candidates saying "as per my covering letter, I am looking for XXX" and we never had it. Last week I had the same as a candidate. They hadn't received my covering letter.

Also don't ever use the Indeed CV as it jumbles up information and makes your CV look crazy. Always submit your own.

Where are you based? My DP's company is looking for a similar role and finding it impossible to recruit someone! My business is also finding it impossible to recruit for a variety of roles too and the staff they do hire are really poor and barely make it past their probation period!

I wish more employers invested in staff development so you can naturally get promoted or change your role. Instead you get the wrong hires with people exaggerating on their application or the right person not being selected cause they don’t know how to effectively draft an application etc

I think you’ve basically identified the problem yourself; you’re in a saturated market. For comparison, I work in data protection and DH works in information security. We’ve both moved around plenty in the past few years, always to progress rather than move laterally, and we both still receive a fairly constant stream of messages from recruiters wanting to know it we’ll consider a role they’re looking to fill. I literally can’t remember the last time I had to search and apply for a job of my own volition. Maybe you need to consider a different career?