Blame employers - 06/2001

Employersí blinkered approach to jobseekers trying to break into new careers is a major contributor to the current skills shortage crippling many UK industries, a new study reveals.

A major UK-wide study conducted by totaljobs.com, a leading online recruitment service, to commemorate todayís Learning at Work Day, part of Adult Learnersí Week found that more than 82 percent of UK professionals would seriously consider switching careers within the next five years, many into sectors facing the steepest shortages such as teaching, nursing and IT.

However, 74 percent confessed that they are unlikely to ever do so because they believe it would require returning to the bottom rung of the new careerís job ladder. More than 90 percent of all respondents believe employers overlook the skills and talents people develop in other careers either to a strong (53 percent) or very strong (38 percent) extent.

Paul Ivory, executive producer at totaljobs.com, commented: ìThe results are hardly surprising when most employers continue to use tools like basic key word searching to shrink their CV piles. Only if a jobseeker has an almost identical position, in a very similar working environment, do they stand a chance of making the interview cut. The problem is, this blanks a rich vein of mature talent, who donít want to start at the bottom again, and who very often have very relevant skills to justify their expectations.î

The research, supported by Selby MillSmith, a leading firm of chartered occupational psychologists, also identified the careers the nationís workers would most like to pursue second or third time around.

Of the jobs facing real skills shortages, 7 percent would consider moving into nursing, 10 percent into teaching and 24 percent into the IT industry. Despite recent rises in police numbers, however, only 3 percent chose policing as their second-career choice suggesting the Met may need to work harder to attract mature candidates. Politics too, a job often linked with second and third careerers, was less than popular, again with only 3 percent pining a life of baby kissing and ribbon cutting.

A country of aspiring wordsmiths, it was writing - in some shape or form - that trumped the hot jobsí list. More than 36 percent of all respondents interviewed expressed a desire to pursue a literary path, either as a journalist (14 percent), corporate copy-writer (11 percent), novelist (7 percent) or scriptwriter (4 percent).

All but 7 percent of respondents believed that some of the skills developed in their current careers were transferable to their next career of choice.

Dr. Colin Selby, founder of Selby MillSmith, commented: ìThe question that beckons is why should a mother of three need the same nursing training as an unskilled person fresh from school. If as a country we can find ways to recognise the skills the mother has, and fast track her training through the skills she doesnít, we would go a long way to both solving skills shortages and generally enriching peopleís career experiences. Itís a debate we need to have.î

Learning at Work Day is run by the charity, Campaign for Learning, with sponsorship support from totaljobs.com. As part of Adult Learnersí Week, the day aims to encourage employers to grow talent by looking at new ways of developing both existing and new staff.

www.totaljobs.com