New research  discovered that almost half (46%) of workers don’t know which of their skills to show off in job employers – potentially aided by recruiters – could be doing more to stop jobseekers feeling confused.

It’s clear businesses could be doing more to clarify the skills required for a role.

“Employers are potentially missing out on talent as a result of unclear job listings and must ensure they’re hiring in the most efficient way by listing the specific skills needed for each role.”

According to the US-founded recruitment firm, confusion about what skills are needed has caused a lack of confidence amongst jobseekers.

A third don’t think they would stand out at interview whilst over four in ten leave an interview worried about how they performed.

“These findings demonstrate the need for candidates to not only understand which skills they currently possess, but also be able to do two things: match these skills to the needs of organisations, and talk confidently about them at interview.”

WHAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING YOU’VE EVER SAID TO GET A JOB? OR THE STUPIDEST THING YOU’VE EVER HEARD IN A JOB INTERVIEW?

The apprentice is back,so stupid statements are all over the media Lord Sugar has felt compelled to tell the world via the BBC website that all applicants aren’t stupid.But here are some of their quotes so far.

I’m the Beyonce of Business

Everything I Touch turns to sold

I’m not a one trick pony -I’ve got a whole field of ponies

Of course, if that last statement is from a horse trainer – fair play. If the second one is from a highly successful estate agent… understandable. But look, even the real Beyoncé, at a business meeting, in a business suit, discussing business, wouldn’t say something that cheesy. But let’s be honest – most of us have said some pretty dumb things under pressure in an interview.

A young lady, who shall remain nameless (for imminently obvious reasons), was asked that classic: ‘What are your three weaknesses?’ Rather than doing the SENSIBLE thing and flannelling with ‘Well, I’m too much of a perfectionist!’ and ‘I do tend to take my work home with me…’ and ‘I’ve been known to come in with flu…’ she actually told THE TRUTH. She said she was disorganised, had a tendency to be sarcastic, and struggled to get up in the morning. She didn’t get the job.*

Are you from the UK/Is English your first language?

Although you have a legal obligation to check that applicants are eligible to work in the UK – you shouldn’t need to ask any questions about their race, religion or native language.

Because although many jobs may require employees to speak fluently, none of them will need it to be their first language. And if candidates can speak and write in English to the required standard, and can provide proof of legal right to work in the UK, they’re well within their rights to be considered.

In fact, implying that their nationality would affect their ability to do the job could indicate discrimination.

What you could ask instead: ‘What languages do you fluently write or speak?’

Are you married?

Any questions about marital status, children or future family plans should not be asked at an interview.

Not only are these questions of a personal and potentially discriminatory nature, this particular line of questioning could also be used to determine a person’s sexual orientation – something which has no bearing on a candidate’s ability to do the job.

So, no matter what the context, questions like these should be strictly off limits.

What you could ask instead: ‘Do you have any current commitments which may affect your ability to do this job, or which may impact your attendance?’

How old are you?

Although this seems like quite an innocent question on the surface, there are very few reasons you need to ask for a candidate’s age.

Aside from needing to be over 18 to sell certain products (e.g. alcohol) – their age shouldn’t affect their ability to do a job effectively. This means that you have no right to ask about their exact age, or to let it influence your decision to hire them.

You should also steer clear of any other variants of this question, whether it’s asking for a date of birth for your records, when they graduated, or their potential retirement plans.

However, you can ask for date of birth on a separate equality monitoring form – but the person selecting candidates should not be allowed to see this.

What you could ask instead: ‘Are you over 18?’

How many sickness days did you take in your last period of employment?Subjects such as sickness, health, or disabilities should always be avoided at an interview.The only time you can ask about this is if it’s to establish whether an applicant needs an assessment to determine their suitability for the job, or to determine whether adjustments need to be made in order to accommodate a candidate’s needs (e.g. fitting a disabled toilet).

Once a position has been offered, you can make enquiries into health, but only if these relate to their ability to carry out the role effectively.

For more information, you can refer to the Equality Act (2010).

What you could ask instead: ‘Do you have any specific requirements in order to perform this job effectively?’

Do you have any previous criminal convictions?

There is no obligation for a candidate to disclose criminal convictions if the sentence has already been spent.

For this reason, you should not refuse employment to an individual because of a previous crime, unless it relates to the role in question (e.g. teaching, childminding, a senior banking or financial role).

Also, it’s worth bearing in mind that criminal records checks are carried out by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for certain roles (e.g. working with children, healthcare etc.), but this should be undertaken by employers before the interview stage. These were formerly known as CRB checks.

What you could ask instead: ‘Do you know of any reasons why you may not legally be able to take this position?’

Other questions you can’t ask: ‘What religion are you?’, ‘what are your sexual preferences?’ ‘Are you in debt?’, ‘do you have children?’, ‘do you smoke?’, ‘are you a trade union member?’

• 57% of people don’t play Christmas songs in their workplace

• Mariah Carey, Tom Jones & Wham! voted most annoying to listen to at work

• 7 out of 10 say you shouldn’t decorate before December

• Socks, underwear, and toiletries named the worst Secret Santa gifts you can give

Every festive film fan knows that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. But, according to our latest research, that sentiment doesn’t always ring true when it comes to the workplace – especially if what you’re singing is Mariah Carey.

We surveyed over 1,000 jobseekers and asked them for their views on what annoys them about working over Christmas, and 15% voted Carey’s hit ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ the most annoying song they have to listen to.

Other irritating songs on the office playlist include ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ and ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham!.

‘Fairytale Of New York’ was voted the nation’s favourite festive hit – despite also appearing in the top five worst – and one in three UK workers admitted they don’t even like listening to Christmas music at all in the office.

And it’s not just songs that talk to our inner Scrooge. Over 70% of us said that any decorations put up before December 1st would make us lose our holiday cheer.

And aside from time away from our families, 31% called office Scrooges the worst part of working over the Christmas break, followed by the Christmas rush (23%) and constantly having to listen to Christmas music (11%).

But it isn’t all doom and gloom. Although more than half of us don’t do Secret Santa, a staggering 81% enjoyed taking part – no matter how questionable the gifts are.

The presents most likely to make you wish you got gift vouchers instead include socks, underwear and toiletries. Re-gifting was also voted as one of the worst Secret Santa surprises.

Some people clearly step up to the challenge creatively, however. A few of the more unique gifts included everything from a mushroom growing kit and a single lemon, to a worm farm and wrapped-up wrapping paper.

Next year, maybe stick to a novelty mug…

Here’s a rundown of the worst (and best) parts of working over Christmas:

Top 5 worst Christmas songs to listen to at work

1. All I Want For Christmas Is You
2. Baby It’s Cold Outside
3. Last Christmas
4. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day
5. Fairytale Of New York

The 5 most annoying things about working over Christmas

1. Office Scrooge
2. The Christmas rush
3. Other (e.g. time spent away from loved ones)
4. Constantly listening to Christmas music
5. Terrible Christmas jumpers

The best time to decorate

1. December 1st (38%)
2. A few weeks before Christmas (37%)
3. End of November (14%)
4. Never (8%)
5. Straight after Halloween (3%)

The team wishes all our Clients and Candidates a very merry Christmas and Happy New year .

No shirt, no shoes…

As the old saying goes, you are how you look. Unfortunately however, some candidates underestimate the importance of appearance, and end up looking exactly what they are – unprofessional.

Some of your favourite interview fashion faux-pas included:

• The male candidate arriving to an interview wearing jeans and no top

• The female candidate offering to change shoes half-way through questioning (and then proceeding to take out the entire contents of her bag to show the extra shoes she had brought)

• A skype interview conducted entirely in pyjamas

• A one-eyebrowed applicant

• The candidate who incorporated ‘protection’ into their outfit (saucepan lids stitched into the lining of their overcoat). Yes, we’re confused too.

Our favourite? The gentleman who arrived at the interview wearing a fishing hat full of bait (N.B. he was not applying for a position at a tackle shop).

The nervous eaters…

Unfortunately, some people get a little peckish when they’re panicking. The most sensible applicants opt for a well-balanced breakfast before the big day to avoid the mid-interview rumbles. Then there are the less sensible options…

For some of you these options included:

• Someone pulling out a cereal bar from their bag when things got a little too much

• The liquid lunch interview (‘Am I allowed to order a beer?’)

• An impromptu interview picnic

• The interviewee who managed to take in a takeaway before turning up

Bringing the bestie…

To combat interview anxiety, some candidates turn to loved ones for some much needed moral support. Unfortunately, sometimes this is taken a little further than a pre-interview phone call or text message, and applicants actually bring their sources of encouragement with them.

Moral support for certain interviewees included:

• A candidate’s best friend

• Extended members of the family (including, but not limited to, aunts and uncles)

• Spouses (In one case, a man even took his wife into the interview with him. Unfortunately, she proceeded to answer most of the questions for him).

Our favourite? The applicant that brought their mum to the interview and left her in the lobby.

You have nothing to fear but fear itself… and ducks

Many interviewees would admit to feeling scared before an interview. In fact, it’s a perfectly natural reaction. What isn’t as natural is running out of an interview screaming half-way through.

Our favourite unusual interview phobia was the poor young lady who applied for a job in a lake-side office but who had make a sharp exit on account of her overwhelming fear of ducks.

Our advice? To avoid awkward situations, always check the area you conduct your interviews in (and hope an applicant’s Anatidaephobia* doesn’t get the better of them).

I’ve started, so I’ll…

Finally, some of your most popular gripes included:

• People asking for a cigarette break during proceedings

• Applicants arriving with no idea what job they’re being interviewed for

• People asking their interviewers out on dates

Our favourite? One keen interviewee in the East Midlands, who completed over half of the interview before rushing out without explanation. It turns out their parking ticket had expired.

At least they managed to avoid a fine.

.Honourable mentions:

• People with personal space issues (including almost sitting on an interviewer’s lap by mistake),
• The candidate who left their headphones in
• The candidate who only spoke in rhymes
• The candidate who asked to borrow money
• The candidate who arrived in a dustbin lorry (no, really).
• Although in fairness to the latter, they were only hitchhiking.

*The fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you.

Measures boosting job creation in the UK’s house building, transport infrastructure and science sectors, as well as an increase in the National Living Wage, are just some of the announcements expected in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement later today.

The BBC reports some of the measures that will affect the world of recruitment in Chancellor Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Statement since succeeding George Osborne will include:

• Cutting the rate at which benefits are withdrawn from people when they start work. This will take the form of changes to Universal Credit – the flagship single payment being rolled out across the UK – to reduce the ‘taper rate’ from 65% to 63%, meaning benefits will be withdrawn at a rate of 63p for every pound of net earnings.
• Increasing the National Living Wage to £7.50 an hour from April next year
• £1.4bn aimed at delivering 40,000 new affordable homes in England
• An additional £2bn a year for science research funding by 2020
• £1.3bn to improve road

Great Britain won two swimming silver medals on day four of the Olympics thanks to Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.