Job hunt? The changing market

A couple of years back I signed up to the Marketing Week job emails - and I still get them. I am not looking for a job, but I haven't unsubscribed from these notifications. And I've noticed something.

In the past there were jobs for 'Marketing Manager' or 'Marketing Director' and details of the job, the company, the product or service, yada yada... now the jobs advertised are far more specific:

'Channel marketing manager with experience in communications software'
'Research marketing manager in pharmaceuticals'

In other words the day of the general job description have gone. It is an employers' market so they can be very specific about the skill set of the people they want. And this is true of all industries and roles, not just marketing. Individuals who are job hunting have to really tailor their CVs and applications to match as closely as possible the requirements for any job they apply for.

For example, I looked quickly on a regional job site and saw an ad for an administrative assistant for a Government scientific department. Applying for that job with outstanding administrative skills will, of course, be the first stage - but what the employer is going to look for is perhaps an administrator with an interst in their area of science, maybe even with specific experience. So the job application should not just extol their talents and virtues as an administrator, but their personal interest in the subject and anything else they can use to make their application more relevant to the role.

Is that expecting too much for an administration job? Not at all. In the town where I live the Somerfield store has been closed with a Morrisons opening in six weeks' time. There were 45 jobs advertised. They had over 400 applicants for those 45 jobs. How would you choose who to appoint?

There are many resources on line for helping individuals to help jobseekers but it can be a bit of a minefield. Watch out for sites that will charge you to improve your CV, many of the services offered on line can in fact be found for free at your local JobCentre in the UK, or from other Government agencies. That doesn't mean you shouldn't employ the services of professionals, but be sure to research all the options before handing over any cash!