Two key hurdles to employment for young jobseekers are identifying appropriate skills and a lack of interview technique, according to research from Fish4jobs.

Of those 16-24 years olds surveyed, two in every five (42{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}) stated poor interview technique let them down. A quarter (23{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}) said they struggled to identify how skills learnt on the sports field, taking part in school activities such as the Duke of Edinburgh award and voluntary or part-time work could be transferred to the workplace.

This lack of confidence is worsened by many employers failing to provide interview feedback to applicants, with more than a third (35{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}) of respondents saying this was the most disheartening part of their job search. Young jobseekers struggle to stay upbeat in the face of the lack of response from potential employers.

Besides wanting to improve their interview technique, many 16-24 year olds said they would also like help with the basics of a job search, such as writing a cover letter and CV. In spite of a number of large employers using psychometric tests, just 9{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} of young jobseekers felt they would benefit from advice on how to prepare for these, suggesting that they are unaware of how some employers use these tests as a first stage ‘filtering’ process.

Of those surveyed over a third (37{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e}) have spent more than 6 months looking for a job, while a fifth have been actively looking for more than a year. In the last month, 93{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} had applied for at least one job with 32{6060b2de664e4eaa3e7b7e86961ce2c4bbd7a29b6c1097abf8257a4e5b07383e} applying for more than 20.