Employers: What employers want

Main ideas / lessons conveyed

• Scale of hiring (Wales): In the last 12 months, there were over 350,000 online job vacancies in Wales.
• What employers are looking for: Employers value transferable skills, especially:
  • Decision-making
  • Adaptability
  • Resilience
  • Digital skills
• Industry-specific in-demand qualities (Wales):
  • Health: communication, compassion, enthusiasm
  • Energy: communication, management, customer service
  • Public services: communication, training and development, management
• Language skills as an employer requirement:
  • The Welsh Government aims for one million Welsh speakers by 2050.
  • Welsh language is important in industries such as local government, education, and health & social care.
  • UK employers also seek other languages (e.g., German, French, Spanish).
  • Stats mentioned: 17.5% of UK adults can fluently speak two languages; 6.5% are multilingual.
  • Common roles needing a second language: customer service and call centers, sales, account management, business development, education, reception, admin support.
• How technology is changing hiring and work:
  • Over 80% of advertised UK jobs now list digital skills as a requirement.
  • Employers use technology differently, including video or phone interviews, meaning candidates must adjust their interview approach.
• Interview expectations and performance factors:
  • Pre-pandemic, the average interview was face-to-face.
  • Since 2019, there’s been a 57% increase in interviews overall (as stated), with more than half of employers saying they will continue using video interviews.
  • A main reason candidates fail interviews: lack of understanding of the role.
  • Enthusiasm matters: 4 in 10 employers would reject a candidate for showing no enthusiasm.
• Remote/hybrid work trend (pandemic impact continues):
  • More people are working from home, and the pattern continues.
  • Homework trend in the UK (as stated): 4.7 million (2019) → 9.9 million (2022).
  • Welsh Government goal: 30% of the workforce working remotely regularly.
  • Guidance: be flexible about work location.

Methodology / actionable guidance

• Do your research before interviews
  • Ensure you understand the role, since lack of role understanding is a top reason candidates fail.
• Demonstrate enthusiasm during interviews
  • Show interest and energy—many employers would reject candidates who show no enthusiasm.
• Practice interviews for different formats
  • Because employers may use video or phone, practice answering and presenting in those formats (not only face-to-face).
• Prepare for digital skills expectations
  • Since digital skills are required in most advertised jobs, ensure your skills align with what employers list.
• Be flexible about where/how you work
  • With remote work targets and increased homeworking, be ready to work from different locations.
• Strengthen language skills if possible
  • Consider Welsh language (given the one-million-by-2050 target) and other in-demand languages (German/French/Spanish), especially for customer service, sales, admin, and related roles.

Speakers / sources featured

• Careers Wales (in Wales) — source of the video content.
• Welsh Government — cited for targets and workforce goals.
• UK statistics (as quoted in the video) — referenced for language fluency and remote-work/homeworking numbers (no specific statistical agency named).