How to Improve the Chances of Getting a Job

Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers

The results of recent research among employers around the world have shown that they regard less well qualified employees with a great attitude as seven times more valuable than a well-qualified candidate with a poor attitude.

Two-thirds of employers also said that they valued staff with a great attitude more than they did those with useful skills and this was particularly important for small firms.

With May's monthly UK figures for the growth of staff appointments showing a slowdown in growth the research findings contain particularly useful advice for job seekers.

The latest figures, produced jointly by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG, indicated that the growth of job vacancies was at a five-month low for both permanent and temporary positions.Recruitment consultants signalled a modest improvement in the availability of staff to fill job vacancies during May.

Kevin Green, the REC's Chief Executive, put the slowdown in the context of fragile economic growth and called the findings a worrying deceleration in the UK jobs market, particularly because it called into question whether the private sector would be able to absorb public sector job losses.

He also suggested that as prices continued to rise many employed people who might otherwise be thinking of looking to change jobs were staying put. Looking forward he commented on the current disconnect between employer needs and available candidates suggesting that the mismatch between vacancies and skills available could hinder future growth.

His comments make the message about demonstrating the right attitude even more pertinent and are relevant not only to those actively looking for a job change, for example to progress a career from a secretarial to an executive PA role, but also to those long term employed who may soon be able to take advantage of the Government's new Work Programme.

The new proposed scheme is intended to allow unemployed people to access training and guidance in a way that the Government says will allow providers greater freedom to tailor the right support to the individual needs of each customer. Payments to providers will be based on results.

The likelihood is that training providers will therefore also have an incentive to look for candidates who have a good attitude and commitment, rather than having the perfect skills, which the providers will be helping them to achieve.

In some ways the research findings about the value employers place on good attitude compared with the skill level is positive news for candidates looking for work. It suggests that if they have and can show a positive commitment they can fill the gap in their skill set in order to compete successfully for a position.


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Looking for an Executive PA job in London? Showing you have the right attitude can make an impact on employers and make you stand out. By Ali Withers.