Search Results for: job interview

October 23, 2016

Older job seekers believe age discrimination remains rife in the workplace ⁰

Research released by recruitment website totaljobs claims that almost two-thirds (63 percent) of 55-64 year olds have said they have felt discriminated against by a prospective employer because of their age and only 6percent of the same age group see their age as an advantage when applying for a job. The research from totaljobs, based on responses from over 4,000 job seekers, also claims that 72 percent of 55-64 year olds spend over an hour preparing for an interview compared with just 62 percent of 16-24 year olds. The study also claims that young people are much less likely to feel discriminated against because of their age. Just 33 percent of 16-24 year had felt age discrimination, with this number falling to 21 percent for 25-34 year olds and 22 percent for 35-44 year olds – a stark contrast to the 63 percent of 55-64 year olds. Whereas 82 percent of 55-64 year olds and 62 percent of 45-54 year olds see their age as a disadvantage when applying for a job, only 31 percent of 16-24 year olds and 16 percent of 25-34 years olds feel the same.

September 13, 2016

Two thirds of older jobseekers say they feel discriminated against ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Over a quarter (27 percent) of jobseekers don’t research the role when preparing for a job interview and 60 percent don’t even bother to update their CVs for each role applied for – a basic and key component of any job hunt. And more than a third (37 percent) of jobseekers don’t research the industry when preparing for a job interview, claim new research from totaljobs. It should come as no surprise, then, that the research also reveals that 76 percent of jobseekers are finding the job hunting process difficult while 81 percent have job hunting fears. Fears include not being invited for interview (28 percent), never finding a new job (16 percent) and not having the right or enough experience (13 percent). For the older generation, a huge majority are worried that their age gets in the way of progression as almost two-thirds (63 percent) have said they have felt discriminated against by a prospective employer because of their age. More →

November 5, 2015

Lacklustre recruitment processes can lead workers to turn down jobs ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

A third (34 percent) of UK workers have changed their mind in the last two years after accepting a job offer, choosing not to go ahead with the new role. Research from Office Angels, analysing the effectiveness of recruitment processes in the post-recession economy, found that nearly half (48 percent) of workers have received multiple job offers at the same time in the last 24 months. At the point of resignation, half (50 percent) received a counter offer from their existing employer. The research asked both hiring managers and job seekers their views on what makes an effective recruitment process. Almost all (96 percent) of workers view the speed of a job offer as a decisive factor when choosing between job opportunities at competing companies, two-fifths (41 percent) stated the most important part of being successfully recruited was a clearly defined recruitment process and 28 percent of workers consider cultural fit in making a decision. More →

February 20, 2015

An inconsistent approach to social media can jeopardise your job prospects

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

With around 260 million worldwide users, of which there are over 13 million in the UK, LinkedIn has become the ‘go to’ site for many job seekers. But, as is the case with social media, use it unwisely and you can jeopardise your chances of career progression. A survey of 2,000 British workers by employment recruiter Randstad found that while three-fifths (61%) of employees tailor their CV when they are applying for a new job, less than one-fifth (19%) amend their LinkedIn profiles to match, and over a third (34%) don’t tailor either their CV or their LinkedIn profiles. The research also highlighted the different tactics used by men and women. While a quarter (26%) of men will tailor their LinkedIn profile when applying for a new job, only 14 percent of women will do so. Far more women tailor their CV only (52%) as opposed to 46 percent of men. More →

October 8, 2014

Two thirds of the world’s workers would move to another country to find a better job

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Almost two thirds of job seekers worldwide say they would be willing to move abroad for work, a ‘startlingly high proportion’ that says a lot about the evolving marketplace for talent, according to a new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The Network, a global alliance of more than 50 recruitment websites. The report claims that the proportion of people willing to seek a better job abroad is particularly (and unsurprisingly) high in developing and politically unstable countries. But there is also a very high willingness to work abroad for workers in countries that don’t face such challenges. For example, more than 75 percent of survey respondents in Switzerland, more than 80 percent of respondents in Australia, and more than 90 percent of respondents in the Netherlands say they would consider moving to another country for work, according to the report, Decoding Global Talent: 200,000 Survey Responses on Global Mobility and Employment Preferences, and their preferred destinations are London, New York and Paris. More →

May 16, 2014

Employees’ time off increasingly squeezed by their job duties

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Flexible working may be perceived as more advantageous to employees than employers, but there’s new evidence that it encourages presenteeism rather than promoting a better work/life balance. The Glassdoor UK Annual Leave Survey has discovered that 44 per cent of employees undertake some work while on holiday; 18 per cent report that a colleague and 13 per cent their boss, have contacted them about work related matters while on leave. And that’s just those who take their allocated holiday time. The average UK employee uses just 77 per cent of his or her annual leave, and only half (50%) of UK employees take their full annual leave. Given that the average annual leave in the UK is approximately 28 days per year, this means that employees could be losing 6.5 days every 12 months. More →

April 29, 2014

Half of all young people entering jobs market would work for free

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

The death of an intern at Merrill Lynch last year after working around the clock, exposed the lengths many young people will go to get a foot on the corporate ladder. According to a new research project from Adecco, the demand for intern posts continues to grow; with half (49%) of all young people entering the jobs market willing to work for free. The higher the level of education the greater the intern trend; (38% – GCSE; 50% – AS level; 54% – A levels; undergraduate – 60%; post graduate – 68%). However, the survey of 16-24 years olds across the UK found that almost half (47%) of all young people would do any job that is available. The reason? Contradicting accusations that they are an ‘entitled generation’, 95 per cent of 16-24 year olds believe there is stigma attached to being an unemployed young person. More →

November 18, 2013

Interview: Dave Coplin of Microsoft on Big Data, engagement and culture

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

Dave Coplin joined Microsoft in 2005, and is now its Chief Envisioning Officer, helping to envision the full potential that technology offers a modern, digital society. He is a globally recognised expert on technological issues such Cloud computing, privacy, big data, social media, open government, advertising and the consumerisation of technology and is the author of a recent book called “Business Reimagined: Why work isn’t working and what you can do about it”. He is also one of the main speakers at this year’s Worktech conference in London on 19 and 20 November. In this exclusive interview with Insight he offers his thoughts on the lack of engagement between firms and employees, the most common misunderstandings about flexible working and the challenges facing managers in IT, FM and HR. More →

January 7, 2025

Here’s how to support neurodivergent employees at work

by Stephanie Clarke • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

Neurodivergent employees can offer many benefits to businesses. Employers should focus on retaining this talent

Businesses have much to gain from neurodivergent employees. According to a recent Deloitte report “teams with neurodivergent professionals in some roles can be 30 percent more productive than those without them”. Benefits of neurodivergent individuals to the workplace – according to the CIPD, range from “problem-solving, to creative insights and visual spatial thinking.” More →

October 17, 2024

First impressions count, and they’re harder to achieve through a screen

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

It appears to be more difficult to form accurate first impressions of a person’s personality during a videoconference compared with a face-to-face encounter

According to an oft-cited study by psychologists at Princeton, we more or less make our minds about other people within one tenth of a second of meeting them. Experience suggests first impressions are often wrong, or at least incomplete, but at least we can correct ourselves. According to a new study in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, many people says that it’s even harder to form an accurate impression of someone they meet through a screen. Marie-Catherine Mignault and colleagues at Cornell University questioned whether this perception was valid. Specifically, they wanted to know if it was actually more difficult to form accurate first impressions of a person’s personality during a videoconference compared with a face-to-face encounter. More →

February 20, 2024

Anger is not an energy in the workplace after all

by Neil Franklin • Business, News

A new study debunks the consensus that people in the workplace who express anger are judged to be competent and hold a high status

While a large body of previous research suggests that workers who express anger are judged to be competent and hold a high status—resulting in more power and money—a new study by Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) and Princeton University researchers debunks this consensus. In a new study published in Frontiers in Social Psychology, the researchers revisited these claims in U.S. experiments using similar methods as in previous work. In four preregistered, robust studies, the researchers revisited the paradigms that tested whether expressing anger could help a worker gain status in the workplace. Specifically, they asked: do workers gain status when they express anger? Is anger perceived to be a signal of competence? And at the most basic level: do others like anger in the workplace? More →

June 9, 2023

Artificial intelligence will boost short term headcount, claim half of employers

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

More than half (54 percent) of Britain’s employers expect Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will have a positive impact on their staff headcount over the next two years, according to a survey by Experis, a part of ManpowerGroup. The survey of 2,000+ British employers also suggests that more than two thirds (69 percent) of businesses expect AI tools and technologies – including ChatGPT, Machine Learning and Virtual Reality – to have a positive impact on upskilling and reskilling, as well as on employee training (68 percent). 67 percent of British organisations anticipate a positive impact on employee engagement because of AI technology, and 60 percent think it can positively impact the onboarding process too. More →