There is a growing trend towards people making strategic career moves after approximately four or five years in a well paid job. The first job is viewed as an attempt to establish a high career profile with maximum benefits and earnings. There then follows a period of re-assessment and the undertaking of training courses designed to be a step towards a more personally fulfilling career. Although qualifications remain a significant indicator of ability, companies no longer assume that, by taking on a university graduate, they are going to get someone of high calibre and intelligence. Personality and communication skills are becoming increasingly important in the workplace.
Many employers now use psychometric assessment tests as a selection tool.
These tests have proved to be an effective method of measuring a candidate s degree of motivation, values, problem solving ability and communication skills. Permanent staff, as a percentage of the workforce, are decreasing in number. Workers, today, are becoming inundated with e-mail communications. The more e-mails we receive, the greater the distraction and the faster we tend work to try and make up for lost time. It is frequently impossible to reply to all messages and to weed out the junk e-mails.