Latest research by specialist recruiter Randstad Financial & Professional has revealed that the mortgage industry is full of inexperienced interviewees.
Tara Ricks, managing director of Randstad Financial & Professional, said: “Memories of the great recession are fading. The economy is back on its feet and the UK is currently the fastest growing country in the developed world. The number of jobs is soaring, not least in the mortgage industry where business has clearly improving a great deal since the dark days of 2012.
“We’re currently recruiting for a significant number of mortgage advisors to work in the retail banking sector – the situation is utterly unrecognisable from two years ago. There should be a lot of spare capacity in the market – in the 12 months to October 2007, the industry was writing twice as much business as it is now – but a lot of mortgage professionals retired early when the crunch hit and lenders, brokers, and packagers alike have been left fighting over a smaller talent pool as they gear back up to write significant volumes of business.”
The firm says that with competition for talented employees so intense, the interview process has had to adapt, too. Mortgage roles now require just 2.1 interviews, down from 2.9 last year before the hiring sprees had affected the market – the same as it was at the very start of 2008.
52% of the mortgage professionals said they only had one interview before landing their current role, with another 27% only requiring two.
Ricks added: “With the jobs market white-hot at the moment employers are having to act decisively to ensure they land the top talent. In the time it takes to invite people back for third or fourth interviews, the best candidates are being snapped up by rivals.
“This is good news for people frustrated with the protracted interview processes of the recession – but it also means candidates aren’t getting then chance to show their true colours if they haven’t made a good first impression.”
Furthermore, 61% say they now find interviews harder than they did before the crisis took hold.
29% say that, despite being good at job interviews once upon a time, they are now out of practice. Another 21% say they’ve always underperformed in interview situations.
Ricks added: “There are plenty of people working in the mortgage industry who have done several rounds of job interviews over the course of their careers – people who were used to moving employers once every three years or so before the crunch hit. But, since then, many of them haven’t had a great deal of opportunity to brush up on their technique as they’ve found themselves sticking with the same employer.
“The job opportunities just haven’t been there or, in a tricky market, they’ve wanted the extra job security of bedding down in a company. But, after a tough few years, the jobs market has improved dramatically. If mortgage professionals don’t want to miss out on new opportunities, they might want to start sharpening their job-hunting skills.”