Jobseekers spending £1.44 bn a year to find their dream job

Jobseekers are spending up to a staggering £1.44 billion a year on their job hunt, each spending on average up to £852 a year on interviews, which includes new clothes, courses and training, transport and haircuts. 

This is according to new research from totaljobs as part of its #MillionPoundJamie campaign, which has found that, on average, jobseekers spend £146 on every job interview they attend, including £33 on a new outfit, £20 on new shoes, and £24 on transport. The 16–24 age group spend the most, splashing out up to £167 on average for every interview.

However, despite this huge outlay, the data also reveals that 27% of jobseekers don’t research the role when preparing for a job interview and 60% don’t update their CVs for each role applied for – a basic and key component of any job hunt. Furthermore, 37% of jobseekers don’t research the industry when preparing for a job interview.

Meanwhile, for the older generation, a huge majority are worried that their age gets in the way of progression. Almost two-thirds (63%) of 55- to 64-year-olds have said they have felt discriminated against by a prospective employer because of their age, despite the over-55s often being the most prepared for an interview.

These jobseeking anxieties are the reason for totaljobs’ new campaign, #MillionPoundJamie. The campaign will take one jobseeker, Jamie Mudle, and make him the ‘star’ of a £1,000,000 advertising campaign to get him noticed and, hopefully, employed too. Totaljobs has teamed up with entrepreneur and star of The Apprentice, Claude Littner, internationally renowned body language expert India Ford, and career coach Aimee Bateman to offer advice for those struggling to get on the career ladder.

John Salt, Group Sales Director, totaljobs, said: “It’s concerning to see the amount of money that jobseekers are spending to get themselves noticed, when they are not preparing in some of the most basic, low cost, but effective ways they could be. Simple things like researching the role and the industry will obviously count for a lot at interview stage, as will the way jobseekers come across generally to their prospective employer in interview.”

Body language expert, India Ford, added: “97% of all hiring managers will make a subconscious decision on whether to hire you within seven seconds of you walking in – a decision that will be primarily based on your body language. Your posture, the way you walk, sit, move, make eye contact, your facial expression, and your gestures will all play a major role in a successful outcome.

“The fact that totaljobs is encouraging Jamie and others to act on the importance of body language is extremely insightful. Not only does it mean they understand what highly successful candidates do differently, but it also demonstrates how serious they are about helping their candidates secure a job.”

You can follow Jamie’s journey via a new web series here: http://www.totaljobs.com/get-you-noticed.