Many of us have thought about retraining as a result of the pandemic, but how do you decide where to focus your efforts? We’ve been looking at the job market information across the different regions of the UK to help you understand which jobs and sectors are growing. In this article we have put together relevant free courses to help you increase your chances of successfully transitioning into a new role!
South East, South West, West Midlands and North West
These regions actually share a lot in common when it comes to the top sectors advertising jobs at the moment, these include: legal, customer service and accountancy.
Whilst becoming a lawyer or an accountant can take years of study and exams, there are also supporting roles in these sectors that can be easier to transition into such as those in business administration. Why not try this free business and administration level 2 course to see if this could be for you?
With plenty of opportunities in customer service, we’ve also found some free customer service courses for you to consider. With customer service roles now requiring you to work digitally from home you may also want to consider Career Skills for the 2020s: Navigating the Online World of Work.
Whilst the above sectors had the most job adverts, the top five job titles advertised in all of these regions included: Nurse, Support Worker, Care Assistant and Warehouse Operative.
Here are some free courses that you could try to see whether work in the health and care sector could be for you:
- Working in the health sector level 2
- Level 2 Certificate in Preparing to Work in Adult Social Care
- Level 2 certificate in caring for the elderly
We’ve also found a free course in warehousing and storage, however, it’s currently only available to those who are unemployed in receipt of benefits living in Greater London*.
In the South East, labourer was also a top job being advertised, whilst administrator featured in the top 5 for South West as well as the West Midlands. Meanwhile, in the North West, production operative made the list.
London
This region has the same top job sectors as above, however there were some significant differences in the top jobs being advertised, with a focus mainly on technology, marketing and sales jobs:
Here are the top jobs we found:
- Business Development manager
- Data Engineer
- Marketing Manager – here’s a free course in how to create a social media strategy
- DevOps Engineer
- SEN teaching Assistant – free courses in SEN and disabilities
East Anglia
Whilst accountancy was still a top sector for jobs, social care and IT & telecoms also had the most job opportunities.
We found lots of free courses in social care as well as some in IT & telecoms:
When it came to looking at the most advertised job titles however, the most prominent opportunities were still in health, care, social services and logistics.
East Midlands
In the East Midlands, construction, engineering and social care came out on top.
We found a free course in construction that is available to those in the Leicestershire areas as well as some other areas outside the region (Peterborough & Cambridgeshire, Stoke and Staffordshire, Hampshire, North Lincolnshire, Wiltshire and Dorset).
As with many of the other regions, the most advertised job titles were mainly in health, care, social services and logistics, with both HGV lorry driver and Warehouse operative coming in the top five.
Yorkshire & Humberside
Legal, customer service and IT & telecoms were the sectors with the most job opportunities for this region so these free customer service courses may be relevant for you if you’re interested in retraining for these roles within those sectors.
The most popular jobs in this region were the same as the South West:
Nurse, Support Worker, Care Assistant, Warehouse Operative and Administrator. Have a look back in the first section to see relevant courses for these roles.
North East
Similar to the East Midlands, construction and engineering featured in the top sectors, along with health.
The most popular jobs in this region also focused on health, care and social services as well as warehouse and production operatives.
Scotland
In Scotland, IT & telecoms, customer service and construction came out as the top sectors with the top jobs as nurse, care assistant, support worker and labourer
Wales
Unlike any of the other regions, manufacturing and transport & logistics came into the top sectors, as well as accountancy. The top advertised job titles were production operative, trainee accountant, nurse and support worker.
But don’t let this list stop you!
Whilst we’ve highlighted the top sectors and job titles for each region, this is a snapshot of the data we have collated from last month, so it is likely to change in the future, particularly as the lockdown comes to an end and restrictions are eventually relaxed. There are also other factors that impact your likelihood to get a job in a particular region, such as the number of people applying for those jobs.
You may also choose to take a course for your own development or enjoyment, regardless of whether there is a job opportunity at the end of it. Overall, the most popular courses taken at the end of last year included ‘Essential IT Skills Level 2’, followed by ‘Business and Administration Level 2’ and ‘Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills’. Whilst the courses with the greatest annual increases were ‘Leadership & Management’ rising 3,074% year-on-year, followed by ‘British Sign Language (BSL) Level 1 & 2’ (1,894%) and ‘Office Admin and Reception Skills’ (904%).
However, if you are taking a course specifically with the hope of it unlocking future opportunities, it’s worth taking some time to search for those jobs within your region and read some job descriptions to understand what the requirements tend to be for those types of roles before committing significant time or money.
