City sees bustling recruitment summer
Some surprising stats on the City job market have come out of the summer that was. Employers would be wise to take note and, even wiser perhaps, some action.
August has proven a milestone month for eFinancialCareers.com and suggests the job market is more than thriving with the autumn recruitment cycle ratcheting up earlier than usual.
A record 62,701 visitors came to the network August 29. That combined with a record 36,569 online applications for over 9,000 jobs the previous week shows job seekers were at their most active this month. By contrast, in August 2005 job applications were down a typical 7%.
So was August the month to relax at work, poke one's head up from the desk or trading screen and scan about for other employment opportunities? Just under 50% of the 343 respondents to our recent poll said their productivity on the job had dissipated:
How productive are you during August?
- Very productive: with fewer meetings I get more done: 21.3%
- Just as productive: it's unprofessional to slacken off: 29.2%
- Not at all productive: holidays are on my mind: 49.6%
It is tempting but difficult to draw conclusions based on more online activity on a jobs board and less focus at work says Ian Brown, editor-in-chief of eFinancialCareers.com.
"It's interesting as a bit of fun to make a correlation between the two," he says. "On a serious note, if I were an employer I might be looking at ways to stagger holidays to capture more summer business from competitors and keep my people focused."
As the competition for talent pushes banks to hire faster (see related article below), we have another poll making the rounds on workers and the honesty of their CVs. It seems the City has spawned an ethical bunch as 82% of respondents say they have never lied on their CVs.
Over 12% said they had exaggerated information or told white lies, however, while 3% reported their current CVs contained outright fabrications. One respondent to the poll was staggered by the results: "I just cannot believe that only 12% have exaggerated their CVs (11% before I "confessed")! The 82% are guilty of lying on an anonymous poll... how sad!"
Business as usual as summer in the City winds down and the autumn rush gets set to kick off?
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