Tips for job seekers - August 2025

So 2023 and 2024 were challenging years in the Technology and Transformation recruitment markets, with 2025 not massively different so far.  Whilst 2025 has shown some improvement, it’s been patchy at best, with demand ebbing and flowing. 

Clearly there is still some nervous sentiment from businesses given the impact of the autumn budget on cashflow, for many already stretched UK businesses, not helped by the unpredictability of Donald Trump and his stance on tariffs.  There are therefore, many people who are still struggling to find a new job opportunity, with many highly-competent people in my network still out of work.

I figured it worth sharing some tips with those who are still searching, with some contrary advice what’s being posted in the ‘recruiter-bashing’ posts I’ve read recently - here goes….

1)      Apply for the damn job, ignoring the fact there are already 200 applicants – the vast amount of applicants applying for roles are not remotely relevant. I’d say 10% (at best) are qualified to do the role, with many living in different countries, requiring visas/sponsorship, not having any of the fundamental skills to do the job or not having the specialist skills required to deliver what our clients need. Don’t be put off by the number, GET YOUR NAME IN THE HAT!

2)      Forget everything you’ve heard about the 2 page CV rule – it’s BS (in my opinion). If you’re a contractor (or a permie) with 15, 20 or 40 years of experience, trying to get all of that experience into just 2 pages is nigh-on-impossible. If you feel the content is relevant to the role you’re applying for, then include it! You can always shorten the CV when you know more about the role (if going via an agency), if the CV is 3, 4, or even 5 pages, I’d rather know about the experience and the potted history to understand someone’s journey. N.B. Probably no need to mention the summer placement at Wetherspoons or in my case the job at Burger King at 16 years old, assuming it’s not relevant to the job you’re applying for.

3)      Avoid a vanilla CV at all costs, we want flavour! No recruiter or hiring manager needs to be told that a Project Manager writes PIDs, RAID Logs, Project Plans – what we do want to know is “what did you actually achieve / deliver?”  Think about the STAR interview model (Situation Task Action Result).  Be specific with the names of the systems or clients or processes you changed / improved, in this employer-driven market, clients want the most relevant experience possible – I have genuinely been asked for “MS Dynamics AX 2012 Release 3 experience”, not just ‘an ERP bod’

4)      CV Keywords – Contrary to some of the posts I’ve read about AI supposedly doing all of the candidate filtering these days, I’m not using it?? Maybe I’m just oldskool, but I’m still using my trusted BOOLEAN searches to filter the applicants down to the ones who have bothered to put the bare minimum required skills on their CV.  N.B. If you’re applying for a Business Analyst job and you haven’t got the word “BA” or “Business Analyst” OR “Business Analysis” on your CV… guess what…. Your CV won’t even be looked at.  Following on from tip #3, it’s really important to include as much detail around the programmes or initiatives you’ve worked on, if you don’t have the experience listed on the CV, the BOOLEAN (and likely the AI) won’t flag your CV up as being worthy for review.   

5)      Use your network – sounds obvious right?  Most people I’m speaking to aren’t contacting their old bosses, colleagues, friends and even family and I can’t understand why.  In a world of increasing uncertainty and cost, people want to hire people they think they know and can trust, and if they can save on a recruitment fee as well, then even better. Providing you weren’t terrible at your job, most people will likely ask around to help you out (and maybe even benefit from one of the company referral schemes that exist).

6)      Pick up the phone! Before you complain that you’ve been ghosted by a recruiter or a TA team, have you tried calling them?  When it comes to sending my associates’ profiles to my clients, I’m fighting for the same corner as the associate, I want to see them get an interview and ultimately get the job. But I ALSO get ghosted by clients. Because they are busy with their BAU job. As I am also busy with other stuff. WE ARE ALL BUSY, LIFE IS BUSY.  So do the recruiter / client / TA team a favour, reciprocate. 

7)      Build a network of recruiters you can trust (and like) – similar to the last point, it’s really important to reciprocate the contribution to building a relationship with recruiters.  Recruiters don’t get paid for helping candidates, we only get paid for placing them.  I get that we need to have the relationships to make the placements, but for goodness sake you have a phone, why not check in by WhatsApp, text, email, linkedin, phonecall or teams. Once per month ideally, but even just once per quarter helps avoid having transactional relationships, it helps keep you front of mind and honestly it’s only fair.  Candidates need recruiters and recruiters need candidates, share the workload.  N.B. I’d suggest picking a handful of recruiters who know their stuff / sound credible / operate in your market, and build a relationship with them – Most agencies will work with different customers and therefore it’s worth having a small network of people you can keep in touch with to increase the number of roles you hear about (although Investigo are by far the best).

8)      Open to work banner – There are many mixed views on this, but with business under so much cost pressures, they are working their Internal Talent Acquisition teams hard to fill as many roles directly as possible. Make their jobs easier by using the banner, or as a minimum, ensure your LinkedIn profile is set as open to work (with all of the options you’d consider listed).  If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile yet, then it’s probably a good time to make one!

9)      LinkedIn Posts – Not everyone likes posting / publishing on social media, especially when it comes to being out of work or needing to find a new job, but honestly, I have encouraged so many people to do a bi-weekly or even a monthly post, to remind their network (and their network’s network when there is engagement on the post) they’re available, and in most cases, that person’s phone / email / DMs have lit up the next day.  It may feel uncomfortable, but honestly, it won’t be as uncomfortable as missing a mortgage payment or not being able to afford the shopping / Christmas presents / whatever you spend your money on.  Get your name out there, it’s a competitive market and such few people do this, it will make you stand out!

10) Keep your foot on the gas – As tiring and soul destroying as the job search can be (I’ve heard some horrendous candidate experiences recently, including that of my wife when she returned from maternity leave earlier this year), you should really be treating the job search as a job in itself.  Best to block out a time each day or a few days each week to check for new roles, check in with recruiters, ensuring to follow up on previous applications.  Even better, if the application has the name of the recruiter, drop them a message letting them know you have applied – try to stand out!

I could go on and write more but this is probably a good starting point for most.

If anyone else has any useful tips or comments to share - I'd love to hear them.  It’s still quite tough out there and I’m sure there will be people reading who could do with the help and advice! Thanks for reading :-)