We’ve recently released the results of our latest candidate surveys, for both our commercial and industrial candidates, where we examine what job seekers are looking for in prospective roles.

The latest reports suggest that we are seeing an increase in job prospects, and we’ve seen some results that we weren’t expecting too.

Candidate Survey Results

We asked our prospective industrial and commercial candidates the following questions:

Question #1: How Important is Remote Working to You in Your Next Role?

Industrial Candidate Responses –70% of our survey respondents reported that remote working was not something that was important to them when selecting their next role; 24% had no preference either way and only 6% reported that remote working would influence their next job role.

Commercial Candidate Responses – We saw a more even split when it came to commercial candidates having no preference or feeling that remote working was unimportant in their next role – both coming in at 48%. Just 4% of candidates valued home working as extremely important feature of a new role.

Question #2: Would the Appearance and Content of a Company’s Website Put You Off Applying/Accepting a Role With?

Industrial Candidate Responses – When asked about a company’s online presence and how it impacted a candidate’s decision to apply for a role, 26% of industrial candidates reported that it would make them think twice about applying for a role. On the other hand, 74% said that it wouldn’t be a problem for them.

Commercial Candidate Responses – Whereas only 26% of industrial candidates would be put off a role based on a company’s online presence, a bigger chunk of commercial candidates (34%) would be put off applying or accepting a role, and 66% said it wouldn’t bother them.

Question #3: Would You Research a Future Employers Employee Reviews Prior to Interview/Acceptance of an Offer?

Industrial Candidate Responses – When we asked our industrial candidates if they would be interested in what other employees thought of the company before they attended an interview or accepted an offer, just 38% said they would and 62% said they wouldn’t research employee reviews.

Commercial Candidate Responses – When we put the same question to our commercial candidates a much larger portion of 66% said they would research employee reviews, compared to 34% who said they wouldn’t.

Question #4: Would You Review a Prospective Employers Social Media Accounts?

Industrial Candidate Responses – When we posed whether an industrial candidate would review a potential employers social media account, 26% said they would, compared to 74% who said they wouldn’t.

Commercial Candidate Responses – Once again, our commercial candidates chose the opposite response to our industrial candidates. When we asked this question, 62% of commercial candidates said they would do their social media research and just 38% said they wouldn’t.

Question #5: What is the Most Important Thing to You in Your Next Role?

Industrial Candidate Responses – Salary and benefits proved to be the most popular choice for industrial candidates when they were considering a new role. This remains consistent with the findings from our previous survey from earlier in 2021.

Commercial Candidate Responses – Security and career progression with 28% and 24% were the most important factors for commercial candidates when looking for their next role. This too remains consistent from our previous survey findings.

Question #6: If a Prospective Employer Offered an Enhanced Benefits Package, Please Select Three Benefits You Would Like

Industrial Candidate Responses – When asked to select which three enhanced benefits that would prove to be most attractive to them, industrial candidates overwhelmingly chose holiday entitlement above statutory entitlement at 74%, followed by flexitime chosen by 35% and ongoing training and development with 32%.

Commercial Candidate Responses – Commercial candidates also selected holiday entitlement as their preferred perk (69%) but selected ongoing training and development (45%) and enhanced pension contributions (38%) as their second and third choices.

Question #7: Why Are You Looking for a New Role?

Industrial Candidate Responses – Finally, we looked to find out why our candidates were searching for a new role. 21% had been made redundant, 32% were simply seeking a new challenge and 47% cited reasons such as end of contract, career change, finished education and relocation for their looking for a new position.

Commercial Candidate Responses – The numbers look similar on the commercial side, with 17% having been redundant, 38% looking for a new opportunity and 45% citing reasons such as unemployment, career change, looking for more localised work, end of contract and looking for more hours.

Report Takeaways

Once our survey results were collated, our MD Kirsty Walpole had this to say, “We were very surprised that remote working was important to only 4% of commercial candidates surveyed.”

“We would have expected this to be higher, but we think that more candidates are open to a return to ‘normal’ working practices, now restrictions have been eased and equally they could be missing the comradery of team environments.”

“Security and career progression topped the poll for commercial candidates whilst salary and benefits proved the most attractive factor to industrial candidates when considering their next role,” Kirsty continues, “this matches the results from our candidate survey completed earlier this year, so candidate choices have remained consistent.”

“The last survey indicated that 73% of candidates were looking for a new role due to redundancy but now only 38% are seeking a new role for this reason, indicating that the economy is in recovery and jobs are increasing.”

You can see the reports in full here:

Commercial>

Industrial>

If you’re interested in finding out more information about our recruitment services, don’t hesitate to contact us today.