Employers still looking but candidates sitting tight

While the job year usually slows to a crawl by mid-December in Australia, recruitment expert Peter Gleeson says employers are pushing to attract candidates now so they can interview by January.

Mr Gleeson, the executive general manager of Chandler Macleod, says employers are looking to have new recruits on board and working by February.

He says it is candidates who are now sitting tight and watching what is happens in Europe and the US to try and figure out what impact global activity will have on the Australian economy and the local employment market.

Mr Gleeson says many candidates had made more than one move since the GFC and being burnt so they now want to ensure their next move is the right one.

While the Australian recruitment market usually packs up in December and re-opens in the second or third week of January, Mr Gleeson says there has been a lot of late year activity.

“The big message for candidates is while it is fine to be a bit cautious, be brave enough to consider opportunities and don’t close down over the next two months,” advises Mr Gleeson.

“Keep your networks alive and really think long and hard over the break about how you are going to demonstrate how you would add value to any organisation you would join.”

“While you have to have the skills, the main thing you need is the right attitude. Even if you have been feeling a bit downtrodden over the last few months, you have to create an attitude of confidence around what you can do.”

Mr Gleeson advises the career-minded to spend the break really understanding how they would explain the value they would add to a new employer. Also, know your career history inside out.

“A lot of [employers] started this financial year anticipating better times and thinking they would increase their workforce,” he says.

“Then we’ve had the incredible instability in international markets, the strengthening Aussie dollar and lack of willingness of consumers to spend and that changed hiring plans. However, now, late in the year, there is renewed interest in hiring.”

The ANZ survey measuring the number of advertised jobs showed a slight increase in November – the first increase in eight months. The OECD also predicts Australia’s economy will grow by 4.0 per cent in 2012 and 3.2 per cent in 2013. It slowed to 1.8 per cent in 2011 mainly due to natural disasters.

Despite the good news the market remains wary after a slight rise in the official unemployment rate from 5.2 per cent in October to 5.3 per cent in November.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in November increased by 0.1 percentage points and full-time employment dropped by 40,000 while part-time employment rose by 33,600.

About 10,000 new fulltime jobs need to be added to the economy each month to improve the figures and some economists were expecting that result.

The definition of employed includes anyone aged 15 or over that worked at least an hour in the week of the survey.

Australia’s unemployment hit a high of 10.90 per cent in December 1992, so 5.3 per cent is regarded as low. The average rate between 1978 and 2010 is 7.11 per cent. A record low of four per cent was recorded in February 2008.