Australia's most in-demand job skills

Engineers, Business Development Managers and Purchasing Officers are just three of the many skills that remain in demand as employers make strategic hires, a report released by recruiting group Hays shows.

The October to December Hays Quarterly Report also highlights employers’ preference for candidates with like-for-like experience and emphasises that this is not the time to break into a new industry.

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“For job seekers, this means it is not the time to break into a new industry. With employers more stringent in their selection criteria, candidates need to sharpen their existing skills and industry experience to enhance their value.

“Employers meanwhile need to be aware that candidate shortages still exist in many areas. Many organisations have invested in retention strategies to keep their best people, so there’s still a shortage of high quality candidates for certain roles, particularly those that require excellent leadership skills and very specific experience.”

According to the Hays, such candidates are needed across sectors such as banking and accounting, construction, architecture.

Following is a breakdown of the various job descriptions across sectors.

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Banking: Mortgage brokers, settlements and mortgage processing officers, relationship managers, business development managers, paraplanners, financial planners, senior financial planners, client services officers, novated lease consultants, vehicle finance sales managers and experienced operational and credit risk assurance managers;

Construction: project managers, site managers, project engineers, foremen/women, contracts administrators, estimators and occupational health & safety specialists;

Contact Centres: Outbound sales professionals, experienced customer service representatives, team leaders and managers, sales team leaders, sales contact centre managers and entry-level customer service officers with a stable resume and strong communications skills;

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Education: Early childhood teachers, early childhood directors, diploma trained group leaders, casual certificate 3 early childhood staff and secondary teachers in it, sciences, mathematics and design and technology;

Engineering: 12D design engineers, senior structural engineers and senior civil design engineers within civil and structural, Revit design drafters in building services, candidates with the appropriate engineering authority from the local rail operator/owner and structural engineers with telecommunications experience;

Healthcare: Locum physiotherapists with musculoskeletal, aged care or mining sector experience, clinical nurse consultants, facilities managers, community care coordinators, residential care coordinators and psychologists in aged care, nurse educators and occupational rehabilitation specialists;

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Human Resources : Industrial relations specialists, hr advisors with ir skills, learning & development consultants, workplace health & safety professionals, workforce planners, rto training coordinators and hr generalists;

Information Technology: Level 1 and 2 Helpdesk Support, service delivery managers, network engineers, Microsoft system engineers, storage engineers, .net specialists, mobile app developers (iOS/android/tablet), business analysts and solution architects;

Legal: Construction lawyers, planning & environment lawyers, mid level corporate lawyers with an energy and resources focus, banking & finance lawyers, litigation lawyers, insurance lawyers, employment lawyers and career paralegals;

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Resources & Mining : Mine engineers, geologists, diesel fitters, electricians and occupational health & safety advisors;

'Retail:' Planning managers, senior planners, merchandise managers, senior buyers and national sales managers;

Hays Sales & Marketing: Business development managers, sales representatives, sales executives, account managers, marketing managers, marketing communications managers, communications coordinators, marketing coordinators and digital marketing professionals;

Employers also favour candidates who can display long-term loyalty in their CV’s along with a genuine reason to move and who have worked in large, established organisations.

Consequently non-financial benefits such as flexible working hours and working from home options are increasingly offered.