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New survey reveals unemployed fears in hunt for elusive job

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Job seekers line up on Wabera Street waiting for a chance to get an interview at the Sarova Stanley on May 26. The hotel was conducting recruitment for its hospitality department. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Jobseekers feel they are discriminated upon when applying for vacant positions, and believe that it is “extremely beneficial” to have connections of people in authority to be considered for employment, a new survey shows.

The survey by a Nairobi-based jobs placement start-up, Shortlist, presents insights on unemployment, up skilling, and bias in the hiring process.

In the report “Unlocking the Next Generation of Kenyan Talent”, the survey found out that nearly half of respondents who were seeking for jobs had been applying for positions for longer than six months.

The survey conducted last month was based on results from 5,744 respondents.

According to the findings, one in five candidates (22.3 per cent) feel that they encounter bias when applying for jobs.

One in four (25.4 per cent) stated their belief that it is extremely beneficial to have an inside connection in a company to even be considered for a job.

The report also analysed how demographic data like gender, amount of work experience, and employment status affects Kenyans’ perception of their job search.

For instance, a professional who has been seeking for a job for more than six months is almost twice as likely to feel they are encountering bias in the application process as someone who has just begun their job search.

“The survey uncovers candidate’s opinions on the job application experience, presenting key points in the recruitment process where Kenyan employers can improve,” said Shortlist chief executive and co-founder Paul Breloff in Nairobi.

Respondents agreed that they are discriminated against in the labour market due to their age, with 75 per cent affirming that “knowing people in high places is critical to getting a job”.

According to the British Council, majority of young people report that they do not receive essential job-seeking skills like preparing a CV and filling out job applications.

The survey found that while 73.5 per cent of respondents find it important to receive detailed feedback from employers and recruiters on their job applications, only 23.4 per cent reported that they do in fact receive this sought-after feedback.

“This data presents actionable feedback from a big number of Kenyan professionals and suggests ways that employers can be more candidate-friendly and attract the best talent,” said Mr Breloff.

He said if two-thirds of professionals believe that their CV alone does not allow them to showcase their ability and fit for a role, employers should explore other ways to assess their skills.

This is where applying data-driven and tech-enabled approaches can revolutionise the Kenyan employment market, both for employers and jobseekers.

The survey showed that career growth is more important than salary or company reputation.

Ranking for top reasons why respondents apply for a job with accompany were; opportunities for career growth (69.2 per cent), alignment with the company’s mission (14.4 per cent), competitive salary (8.5 per cent), reputation for stability (4.2 per cent), responsibility in the role (2.5 per cent), and well-known brand name (0.9 per cent).

The survey also found that respondents find that the most important skills to develop, further their career growth and get hired for a job are; functional skills related to their expertise and specific role, and written and verbal communication skills. Others are new technical skills like coding languages such as Java, to enter emerging industries, and performing well in interview.

“Women are 10.5 per cent less likely to indicate that it is important to develop new technical skills to enter emerging industries than men,” the survey showed.

Shortlist, launched in Kenya in 2016, and headquartered in Nairobi with offices in Mumbai and Hyderabad in India, announced $1 million (Sh100 million) seed funding in June 2017. It serves over 150 clients, including M-Kopa, UberEats, Dalberg and Twiga. Candidates have completed over 400,000 jobs applications on the Shortlist platform.

In November 2016, it acquired Nairobi-based Spire Education to expand service offerings to include training.