Top Five Sectors That are Hiring Right Now in the UK - and Five That are Not

We’re living through uncertain times. Many people are now having to find a new career, find a new job and get back into the job search. Doing this successfully isn’t always easy. Indeed, it can be hard to know where to start your search for your new job. 

Fortunately, we here at findcourses.co.uk have put together a list of five sectors that are hiring right now - and five that are not. We also talk you through the skills, soft skills and professional qualities that you need to get into these sectors. 

Administration

What are companies looking for?

As lots of people reskill and seek new careers, admin jobs are more important than ever. Admin roles make up almost ⅕ of all roles hiring right now. Administration makes sure that everything is organised and that it runs as smoothly as possible. This sounds broad because it is. But there are a couple of key roles which are in demand right now.

• Office Administrator

The behind-the-scenes superheroes, office administrators are responsible for making sure that everything in the office runs smoothly and according to plan. They have to organise the team, team events and even corporate events and travel. If this sounds like a lot, then don’t worry. Junior office administrators are almost as in demand as those with more experience. The requirements for both junior and senior roles are pretty similar. The only major difference is experience. You’ll normally need a relevant Bachelor’s degree, brilliant organisational and filing skills and be a great communicator. You’ll also need to have fantastic time management skills and be able to use Microsoft Office easily. 

• Personal Assistant

PA jobs are like office administrator jobs but on a more personal level. PA job descriptions often look like those of office administrators - but instead of a whole team, you’ll only work with one or two people. Like office administrators, you’ll need great soft skills and IT skills, an incredible ability to organise and a relevant Bachelor’s degree. Experience is also a little more important for PA jobs than it is for office administrator jobs. 

Social Care

What are companies looking for?

There has never been a better time to find social care jobs. Not only is this sector constantly hiring, but there are also government incentives for both applicants and employers at the moment. Social care covers everything from carers through to housing officers. It’s a huge and varied sector, with vastly different requirements. Here are just a couple of the top jobs in social care that are hiring right now. 

• Immigration Caseworker

An immigration caseworker looks at asylum and refugee applications and decides who meets the legal requirements to stay in the UK. It can be a challenging and emotionally-charged job, but it can also be hugely rewarding when you help someone in need find a safe home. UK immigration rules change fairly often so it’s also a role with huge scope for professional development. Immigration caseworkers need experience more than anything else. Most people get into this role through apprenticeships or by applying for trainee roles. After one or two years experience, they then take the role on as a career. As it’s normally entered through apprenticeships and trainee schemes, immigration caseworkers normally start earning from day one.

• Disability Support Worker

Disability support workers work with disabled people to help them become more economically and socially active. This role is all about empowerment. Disability support workers help advocate and give more confidence to disabled people. This can be helping them upskill or get an entry level role. Disability support workers work with people with physical disabilities and SENs. Disability support work isn’t a difficult area to get into. Employers are mostly looking for potential. Professional development is a big part of this role. You’ll need to be a great negotiator, a people person and a fantastic, empathetic advocate. As you learn on the job, you can earn from day one.

Human Resources

What are companies looking for?

HR is the backbone of any company. The HR team hires, fires, promotes and makes sure that everyone’s skills are being used to their fullest potential. As there is so much movement in the job market right now, HR jobs are plentiful, accounting for almost 10% of all vacancies. Most HR professionals have a relevant degree, but you can also build into this sector through payroll, recruiting and managerial experience. 

• HR Administrator

HR administrators work a lot like office administrators in that they are responsible for the day to day functions of teams. But they’re more geared towards hiring new people and arranging training for existing employees, as well as promoting people. If you want to get into this role, then a relevant Bachelor’s degree in something like Human Resources or Business Administration is useful. You can have an unrelated degree but, in that case, you’ll need relevant experience, ideally several years’ worth.

• Recruitment Consultant

Recruitment consultants can work within a company or they can be external: either as freelancers or as employees of contracted companies. Recruitment consultants are experts in finding the person with the right skills for a role. Organisations can pay a lot of money to recruitment agencies to have their roles filled, so they expect the best candidates. Most recruitment consultant roles require a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field like business or psychology. Well-paid positions are available from the entry level, meaning that, whether you’re a fresh graduate or looking to change careers, there are plenty of these roles around at the moment. Recruitment consultants need to be people people, great at networking and able to negotiate quickly and effectively.

Customer Services

What are companies looking for?

Customer service jobs have you working directly with the general public. At times, they can be challenging roles, but they also allow for varied upskilling opportunities and the possibility of fast promotion. Most customer service jobs don’t require a degree as they train you on the job, building your skillset to match the exact requirements of your job. Experience isn’t necessary for your first role, either. But if you’re going for something more senior, then one or two years experience is a bonus.

• Customer Experience Specialist

Customer experience specialists make sure that each and every customer has a great experience when dealing with an organisation. Customer experience specialists might have to solve difficult customer problems and come up with innovative solutions to improve customer interactions. You don’t need a degree to go into this area, but you do need some customer-facing experience, preferably in retail or telemarketing. If your skillset doesn’t quite match the sector, many employers will want to train you to match their exact requirements. 

• Customer Service Advisor

This job is similar to a customer experience specialist but is more focused on putting together an overall customer experience strategy. Customer service advisors work behind the scenes to make sure that the customer experience is the best it can be. Customer service advisors don’t need a degree, but do need some experience in customer-facing jobs. You’ll also need to have great people, communication, organisational and, of course, customer service skills. 

Hospitality

What are companies looking for?

Hospitality isn’t just limited to waiting and being a receptionist. It can refer to anyone whose job involves greeting or just generally being nice to customers, without necessarily serving them in a financial sense. You don’t need a degree to do this and, for some roles, you don’t even need experience. You do, however, need to be a great communicator, planner, organiser and have great people and IT skills. Two typical hospitality jobs would be:

• Travel Consultant

Travel consultants help people find and book their dream travel. They normally work at travel agencies in direct customer-facing roles. Customers can come in with no idea of where they want to go, only what sort of break they want, city, beach, etc. It’s your job to match the customer with their travel dream. You don’t need any experience, just a genuine interest in travel, great communication skills and a natural ease and bubbliness with people. 

• Events Administrator

Events administrators ensure that all elements and aspects of an event run smoothly. This involves dealing with any sudden or unexpected problems. Events administrators at larger or multinational companies do often have a relevant Bachelor’s degree, but there are plenty of entry-level roles that don’t require degrees. You do need good experience in customer-facing roles, but many employers will happily train and upskill junior events administrators. 

These are the five exciting sectors that are hiring the most right now. But, conversely, these are the five sectors with the least job opportunities right now.

Environmental Sector

Environmental jobs are mostly in the public sector. Bodies like DEFRA and Public Health England strive to better the environment. Unfortunately, due to ongoing departmental cuts, public sector jobs in this area are becoming fewer and farther between. Some consultancy firms are still looking for environmental specialists, but they normally need to have a highly specialised educational background, like a degree in Climate Science or Human Biology. 

Construction

Due to the UK’s lockdown and the ongoing Covid restrictions in many parts of the country, construction work has greatly slowed. But construction jobs are normally mostly filled by word-of-mouth and local job adverts. This is why it’s hard to tell if the construction sector is actually shrinking. Either way, don’t rely on finding casual or contracted labour in the construction sector. 

Publishing

Unfortunately, when the economy worsens, one of the first things to be hit is book sales. Books can be expensive if they’re new, while e-books are often cheaper and have been squeezing the book market for some years now. Publishing has always been a hard industry to crack, but many publishing houses have imposed a hiring freeze, with some warning of redundancies. Even if you have a degree highly geared towards this sector, like English Literature, it will be tough to find a job.

Railways

National Rail is a part of the government’s 16-24 recruitment scheme, and so jobs on the railways tend to be advertised via their own website rather than through job comparison sites. Currently on the Network Rail careers portal there are 222 vacancies - so if you can’t find a career on the railway on a job comparison site - don’t panic! . The jobs that there are require highly specialised degrees in fields like civil engineering. There are apprenticeships available, and they generally pay the minimum apprentice wage (£4.15 per hour) for at least the first two years. The railways are still a vital part of the UK’s infrastructure, so this sector might well pick up again soon.

Engineering

Direct engineering jobs, where you spend your days developing and innovating new products and tools, are like gold dust at the moment. This doesn’t mean that a STEM degree is any less valuable or worthwhile, it just means that, if you have an engineering background, you should cast your net a little wider when looking for a job.

Covid-19 may have made the UK job market the most challenging it’s been for some time, but, as the first five sectors show, there are still plenty of jobs out there. You just need to upskill, train or even reskill yourself so that you can embark on a new career.