The race for jobs

With firms currently facing an unprecedented battle for talent, a recent study has revealed the key attributes small business owners typically look for when recruiting new employees.

Official UK labour market statistics show the number of job vacancies recently exceeded the number of unemployed people for the first time since records began, with estimates placing small business vacancies at a record high of 575,000. In such a challenging climate, recruiting the right candidate has never been such a difficult but critical task for small firms.

New research by iwoca provides an insight into the hiring process, with the findings suggesting small business owners generally prioritise personal skills over qualifications. Honesty, for instance, was found to be a particularly key candidate attribute with 44% of respondents citing it as important, while 38% said they would prioritise candidates with a good personality.

More traditional professional attributes were mentioned by a slightly lower proportion; skill sets which match the job description and experience in a similar position, for example, were each cited by 37% of respondents. Interestingly, an undergraduate degree was rarely deemed to be important, with just 6% of small business owners seeking such a qualification when recruiting for positions in their business.