Companies thinking of recruiting are watching the jobs market like hawks, looking for any sign that recovery is on its way. It's a fine balance of not recruiting too soon and recruiting early enough to get the best people.
So figures released this week by the Office for National Statistics suggesting that the downturn may be calming is good news for these companies and, in turn, for job seekers.
To put this hint of recovery into perspective, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies Nigel Meager said: “Vacancies, which now stand at 430,000, have remained stable for the past three months after over a year of steep decline. The pattern is completed by the figures for redundancy, which also appear to have peaked.”
It's important that you, as a job seeker, monitor the jobs market as closely as these companies do, so you're ready – and your CV is ready – for when recruitment begins to pick up. As employment opportunities increase, there will be an optimum point where the number of companies recruiting has increased but most people currently in jobs won't have started looking. This is the key time for anybody, whether currently employed or not, to land a new job.
Read more on the Institute for Employment Studies website
