When lockdown hit in March 2020, the numbers of remote workers changed overnight – mostly due to the impact of COVID-19. In April 2020, 46.6% of people in employment worked from home.
While some companies used to offer the ability to work from home as a perk, it has now become the norm for most businesses. By 2025, an estimated 70% of the workforce will be working remotely at least five days a month. While 2020 may be considered the year of remote working, it is just the beginning as we see the trend continuing each year.
If you’re looking for the possibility of a flexible/hybrid office job, then now may be the perfect time to look. Whether it be an Admin Assistant, a Payroll Clerk, a Call Centre Agent, an Accountant, a Receptionist or an Office Administrator, the possibilities are endless when it comes to commercial job opportunities.
Preparing For An Office Job Interview
Even if you have little to no experience, there are plenty of ways to ensure that you secure that all important first interview. We have a blog on the best tips and tricks to ensure you ace your interview which is a huge part of the job seeking process. The interview process itself can be a great way to build experience, as you learn to answer questions and articulate your answer in an effective way.
Everyone knows how daunting a job interview can be, but you should be able to walk out feeling proud of your performance and ready and raring for your new start!
Adding transferable skills to refine your CV
Transferable skills are those that you can carry from one job to the next which are incredibly useful when you’re applying for a new job or thinking about a career change. Regardless of experience, your CV should include all the transferable skills that you’ll use in any job and can turn you from a good employee into an invaluable employee.
- Problem solving – Your problem-solving skills help you not only identify that there is a problem, but also help you find out what is causing the problem and figure out a solution. When obstacles arise in any industry, companies need employees who can handle them efficiently, calmly and logically.
- Adaptability – Employees must be able to adapt to changes, learn new skills and make sure that work is done efficiently, even if demands increase. Demonstrating that you can adapt to change shows that you’re able to go with the flow whilst getting your work done.
- Willingness to learn – This is linked with adaptability and comes in handy if you are lacking some experience in the industry. Being confident enough in your abilities to learn quickly and take on information efficiently is a brilliant skill to have. It shows adaptability to a changing world and a willingness to continue to develop vital skills as you go on.
- Teamwork/leadership skills – These go hand in hand as you need the ability to work well in a team as well as lead one, depending on your role. Leadership skills indicate that you can effectively manage and delegate tasks, organise a working calendar, and set clear and actionable goals. And being on the team and part of the team are two separate things, employers want you to actively make positive contributions to the group to help it succeed.
- Computer skills – You don’t have to have a computer science degree to understand the basics of the programmes that most workplaces use today. If you have a basic understanding of common workplace technology you can learn to operate new tools and software quickly. If not – there’s a YouTube tutorial for pretty much anything these days!
- Communication skills – There are four main skills required to communicate effectively: writing, listening, speaking and presenting. These skills allow you to pass information concisely to your superiors, staff and colleagues via email, phone calls, instant messaging or in person.
There are many ways to include your transferable skills on a CV. You can list them in a ‘Skills’ section, reference one or two in your professional summary at the beginning of your CV or identify them in the descriptions of your professional experiences.
These skills don’t need to be acquired from professional experiences however, they can be gained from outside of work – in college or university, during a volunteering project, or when working on personal or creative projects.
TOP TIP: If your transferable skills list is very long, make sure to specify the skills that you think will fit the role you’re applying for, you can leave out any that don’t seem relevant as to not overcrowd your CV.
Upskilling
The shift in technology within commercial jobs is forever growing, which means your skills need to advance with technology. The workplace is changing rapidly and we need new skills for a new world.
“The skills required in the workforce are changing fast. Jobs are changing on you, even if you’re not changing jobs”, says Linda Cai, vice-president of talent development at LinkedIn. “Recent LinkedIn data shows skill sets for jobs have changed by around 25% since 2015. By 2027, this number is expected to double.”
If you show you are willing to move with the times, continue to improve on your skills, and adapt to the changing job role you will be a more effective worker, stay relevant and competitive in your industry, potentially get noticed for more raises and recognition or position yourself for better job opportunities down the road.
There are a huge variety of free online upskilling courses that are available for all sorts of job roles. Google offers free, flexible online training programmes designed to teach job-ready skills in high-growth, high-demand careers.
If you’re looking to make a change in your career and are looking for an office job, please get in touch with a member of our friendly team.
