HR Pulse

Sales executives are in high demand during 2015 and mostly in Joburg

Online career classifieds portal Job Mail has released its first top vacancies report, which reveals that positions in the Johannesburg area are the most sought after this year.
The report is compiled based on the more than 12,000 vacancies offered and placed over the last 12 months on the portal.
“Our data has revealed some interesting insight into the local employment sector and job seekers’ landscape and we aim to repeat the report annually,” says Angelique Robbertse, Product and Marketing Manager for Job Mail.

Many job titles that were in high demand by recruiters and prospective employers who placed adverts on the site came from the sales and marketing, administrative, trade, artisans, financial, engineering and mining sectors.

Office administration remains a desirable career
A popular career choice, according to the number of jobs advertised, is that of office administration. “Positions of an administrative nature such as a personal assistant and secretary are often advertised by recruiters and employers. Matriculants and job seekers should take note and consider studying in this field or taking a short course to pursue a career in this line of business,” says Robbertse.

Managers in specialist industries earn more

The report further shows that the higher income jobs advertised on the site were managerial positions from the building and construction industry with an average monthly salary of R45 000, followed by engineering (R44 000), maintenance (R43 000), IT (R38 000) and clearing and forwarding (R35 000).

Unique skills an advantage

Unusual jobs advertised during 2015 were those of a wood technologist and game tester. “There’s still a great need for unique and specialised skills and having either can be extremely beneficial,” she says.

Experience is key

The data shows a year-on-year spike in graduates requesting internship positions to gain experience. “However, the feedback we receive from employers is that they’re after a qualification as well as the relevant experience, making it difficult for graduates to find employment immediately after they’ve graduated,” says Robbertse.

Gauteng abuzz with job opportunities

Geographically, Johannesburg is the city with the greatest number of jobs advertised, followed by Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein. Gauteng is the province in which the majority of positions was advertised followed by the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the Eastern Cape.

Mobile job searches preferred

When are candidates searching for the perfect job? The data reveals that the majority of job seekers are searching for employment from their mobile devices with Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays proving to be popular days and 9 - 10am, 2 - 3pm and 8 - 9pm the preferred time slots.