At the beginning of August, the Bank of England warned the UK will fall into a recession this year after it raised interest rates to 1.75%, the most they’ve been raised in 27 years.

Unsurprisingly, the threat of recession has been a cause for concern for job seekers. After all, we’ve all heard the phrase: “last in, first out.” Fears of being made redundant can lead to decisions to stay put in a working environment that is not best suited to you because better the devil you know. Right?

While these feelings are understandable, don’t let fear of a possible recession halt your career progression or pause the search for your dream job. Yes, job-hunting in a recession can feel daunting, but it’s definitely not impossible. In fact, if you’re looking to dive into the start-up market, you may just find a recession is the best time to thrive in a new role. Many great start-ups, like PureGym, AirBNB, and Sipsmith, were born out of the 2008 recession, and imagine being a key player in that kind of success. All this to say, for forward-thinking start-ups, a recession can be a time of opportunity where they can outshine larger competitors and take advantage of newly available talent.

Although job-hunting in periods of economic downturn isn’t impossible, it is different than usual. The market becomes an employer-led market, meaning you will likely find there are fewer positions available and more competition for the roles you’re interviewing for. So, it’s important you stand out from the crowd and get yourself noticed.

In this article, we’ve outlined our top tips on job hunting in a recession - taking you through the process from CV writing to securing interviews and the interview itself.

1) Having A Top Quality CV

CV-writing tips and templates are all over the Internet so it can be difficult to know what to do for the best. Since 2017 we’ve been working hand-in-hand with start-ups looking to grow their teams, so we know exactly what they’re looking for and what to do to get your CV to the top of the pile.

As part of our candidate plan, we give individuals the following advice to help them bag big interviews:

• Don’t waste the top half of your CV. The top half of the first page of your CV is prime real estate. In this area, you should be qualifying yourself for the role and showing how great you are. While a lot of sites suggest you use this top space to introduce yourself, we find if the top half of the first page of your CV consists of contact details, hobbies, and irrelevant information - you can lose the hiring manager’s attention really fast. 


• Evidence-based examples. You’ll see this one a lot from us. Whether it’s writing a killer CV or smashing an interview, one of the best ways to prove you’re a great candidate is using evidence-based examples of your skills and career achievements. This sets you apart from others who simply list their theoretical skills with no proof to back it up. Here’s what we mean:

“Proficient in coding with .NET/C#” is fine. But compare this against: “Used .NET/C# to build X programme, ensuring we were prepared for the evolution of future versions and enhancing uptime by X%”

• State your career objective. Sharing your plans for your future and the type of role you’re looking for is important. Hiring organisations want to know you’re passionate about your search for this role, not simply looking for any job. Plus, it helps hiring managers determine pretty quickly whether your expectations and the reality of the role will align. 

This step is especially important if you’re not making a like-for-like move to explain why you’re after a slight change of direction. 


• Keep it short. It can be easy when building your CV to go over the top, including every single detail about your experience. We’ve all done it, but it’s something to try to avoid. Instead, keep your CV to 2-3 pages max and only include the most relevant detail applicable to the role you’re applying for. This may mean you have a couple of versions of your CV depending on the titles you’re searching for.


• Appearances matter. If you’re looking to fit a lot of information into your 2-page CV, including evidence-based detail and stating your career objective, sometimes Pages or Microsoft Word don’t have the flexibility you need. Try building your CV on a free and simple software like Canva where you can create columns, shrink your text size, and add various styling devices to help you create a detailed CV that still fits onto a couple of pages.


2) Getting An Interview

Searching for a new job on job sites and LinkedIn can get frustrating. You could send off 10-20 applications and never hear back. We know this feeling all too well. So here are our top tips on finding roles where you’ll have a high chance of securing an interview:

• Spend your time wisely. Job boards like Indeed and CV Library can be a great way to see what’s out there and apply for new roles. However, depending on your seniority and type of position you’re looking for, you may find you come away feeling frustrated and disheartened from a lack of response or progress.

We suggest using platforms like Otta, where you can be sure there are genuine vacancies matched specifically to the parameters of your search and you’ll always receive feedback on the success of your CV submission too! 


• Understand the competition. LinkedIn is a great place to hunt for a new role, which means it can be VERY competitive. So, unless you’re confident you tick almost all of the requirements, you may find you’re sending your application into a dark abyss never to be seen again. Of course, LinkedIn is a great tool, but there are some better ways to continue your job search to increase your chances of securing an interview.

• Networking. If you’re applying for a very niche or senior position, events and networking can be the best use of your time. Rather than crawling through job boards, use platforms like meetup.com and LinkedIn to find events to attend. And don’t forget to follow up with any companies you meet that you find particularly interesting.

• Follow up. After you’ve spent time hunting specific job boards or reaching out to interesting companies, don’t let all this effort go to waste. A simple follow-up email or LinkedIn message can be effective if done tactfully. You don’t want to come across as desperate, but simply state you’re keen on the role and interested in hearing their feedback. 


• Go the extra mile. Depending on your field, cover letters can be redundant and a little outdated. However, they were introduced to serve a purpose: to get your passion and achievements across in a way that can’t be done through your CV alone. So, there’s no harm in putting a modern spin on a cover letter and sending a short email alongside your application to outline why you think you’d be a great fit.

3) Having A Strong Interview

Making sure you have a strong interview is key. The increased competition for each role means the interview and hiring process can be drawn out as recruiting organisations have more applications and interviews to conduct. While this can be frustrating, there are a couple of things you can do to show your interest and manage your own expectations about the length of the interview process.

• Communication is key. Make sure you’re updating recruiters (whether internal recruiters or agencies you’re working with) on the progress of your job hunt and other opportunities that arise. If you have two very successful interviews, letting each company know about the other will increase their urgency to make a decision and add pressure for them to choose you before you’re lost to a competitor.

• Ask questions. At the end of an interview, try to gauge where the recruiter is at and when you’ll get a decision. Ask them questions like: “I’m really keen on this opportunity so I’d love to hear if you think I’d be a good fit for the role?” and “When can I expect to receive an update on the next steps?”

This will help you manage your own expectations and slightly quell the feeling of waiting by the phone for days on end!

• Balance push & pull. Another famous piece of advice from the Findrs team: you need to be balancing push and pull. Don’t forget, an interview is your time to qualify the role to determine if it’s right for you, so take the opportunity to ask questions and encourage the interviewer to sell the job to you. Plus, if you challenge them slightly, this can generate a psychological response where the interviewer wants to impress you and therefore wants you more.

We’ve gone into a lot of detail on our top tips for having a successful job interview in a recent article, so make sure you check it out here.

Here to Help

Starting your job hunt, while exciting, can be daunting - especially in this economy. These tips are here to give you an insight into how you can stand out from the competition.

For more support with your job hunt and preparing for interviews, we operate Candidate Plan, a completely free service where you can come and catch up with one of our excellent, friendly recruiters every Friday for advice and support on your job hunt, applications, CV reviews, interview tips, building confidence, and more.

Find out more about Candidate Plan here or get in touch at hello@findrs.co.uk.