Free Resume Advice For Job Seekers

Following is a link that provides valuable information on current market conditions across various industries supplied by Hays Recruitment:

http://www.hays.com.au/forecast/

Cheers,

Annie Cerone

Latest statistics (from the Australian Bureau of Statistics) for the December quarter 2008 reveal that full-time employment has risen, part-time work has decreased, overall employment was up, and the participation rate has increased 0.1 percentage points to 65.1%. During December quarter 99,000 jobs went unfilled. Despite the growing economic downturn, there were still 39,000 unfilled professional jobs and 60,000 unfilled trades jobs during the December quarter. Demand for skilled labour exceeded supply by 110,000; however, this was down from a supply gap of 120,000 in the September quarter.

The latest Clarius Skills Index indicated that skilled jobs in media, marketing, medical research, hospitality and tourism, and science would be those hardest hit. The index measures labour supply and demand, where a score of 100 equals a balance between. Anything above that figure indicates a skills shortage, and anything below represents an oversupply. The index is currently at 103.1 suggesting that Australia is still suffering from a talent shortage despite the worsening economic climate. The Skills Index also noted that despite the gloom in the economy, this figure is currently still higher than a year ago.

Although overall unemployment is rising, the skills shortage is still severe in some sectors. The Skills Index for building and engineering professionals had risen 0.4 points to 104.5 during the December quarter, and the index for accountants and auditors was also up 0.2 points to 101.4. The index for tradespeople in the metal sector had also increased by 0.3 points to 107.9.
 

Cheers,

Annie Cerone

Following on from last week’s blog on the current Australian job market, let’s look at the shortages within the professions first up. Regardless of current job market conditions, the demand for accountants is outstripping supply on a local, national and global level. The shortage of accountants in Australia is reaching critical level. There is a continuing gap between the supply of domestic accounting graduates and employer demand in Australia. There is also an acute skills shortage in the design professions. These professions include engineers, quantity surveyors, planners, landscape architects. Finally, there is a critical shortfall in professional engineers. Engineers Australia chief executive Peter Taylor states that there is an estimated shortfall of more than 20,000 professional engineers to meet current demand in Australia. Australian universities continue to produce fewer than 6,000 graduates each year. Herein lies a further skills shortage as Taylor asserts that there are not enough teachers with tertiary qualifications in mathematics or science to enable the engineering students to get enthused about and qualified for engineering tertiary studies. Hence, a lack of qualified teachers in these areas.
 
Let’s now look at the skills shortage across the board. Many Australian industries are suffering from a shortage of skilled workers, from automotive and electrical trades to IT and finance. The following is a list of skill shortage areas:

Aged Care

Automotive Electrician

Automotive Vehicle Body – Panel Beater

Automotive Vehicle Body – Vehicle Painter

Automotive Vehicle Body – Vehicle Trimmer Carpenter

Baker/Pastry Chef

Chef/Cook

Children’s Services

Civil Engineering

Community Services

Engineering – Fabrication

Electrical Engineer

Electrician (including electrical wiring)

Electronics

Engineering Tradesperson – Mechanical

Fire Protection

Financial Services

Hairdresser

Information Technology

Electrotechnology Instrumentation Tradesperson

Joiner

Light Vehicle Motor Mechanic

Nurse

Plumber

Refrigeration & Air Conditioning

Wall & Floor Tiling

Regardless of current economic conditions (both nationally and internationally), these skill areas are expected to remain a priority in the future. If you’re looking for a career change, this may be an opportune time to consider it and do some research. Remember, it’s never too late. Here’s a perfect example, in the 1990s I was dealing with an Accountant who was working full time in the profession and in his late 40s. He revealed to me that the following year he would only be working in a part time capacity in order to pursue further studies in medicine. How’s that for a career change!

Cheers,

Annie Cerone