Employment Plus Practical careers advice for UK jobseekers and employers

Employment Plus

Practical careers advice for UK jobseekers and employers

Latest Articles

The In-House Candidate: Making a Move Within the Building Without Making It Awkward
Career Development

The In-House Candidate: Making a Move Within the Building Without Making It Awkward

Internal job moves can be the smoothest career step you take — or the most awkward. This guide covers the manager conversation, confidential applications, internal pay bands and what to do when your own employer says no. It also sets out how UK employers can run internal recruitment fairly, with proper feedback and no shadow vacancies.
Agile, Hybrid, Compressed: A UK Jobseeker's Field Guide to Flexible Work Language
Flexible Work

Agile, Hybrid, Compressed: A UK Jobseeker's Field Guide to Flexible Work Language

Job adverts love flexibility vocabulary but rarely define it. This practical guide helps UK candidates ask better questions, compare offers honestly and spot when 'flexible' is just wallpaper. It also sets out what employers should state plainly in 2026.
Recruitment

The Passport, the Share Code and the Start Date: Right-to-Work Checks Done Properly in 2026

A new starter is in reception with a coffee and a lanyard, and nobody has actually looked at their documents. Right-to-work checks are dull, quick and quietly essential — here's how the timeline is meant to run, from share codes to record-keeping, and where UK employers and candidates keep slipping up.
Career Development

The Advert Asked for the Moon: How UK Jobseekers Can Apply Without Talking Themselves Out of It

Entry-level adverts that demand five years, a degree and a minor miracle are a UK hiring staple. Here's how to separate the real dealbreakers from the wishlist, apply at 60–70% and explain the gap without apologising — plus a note for employers who want a wider pool.
Pension, Perks and Probation: The Offer-Letter Maths Worth Doing Before You Sign
Pay & Benefits

Pension, Perks and Probation: The Offer-Letter Maths Worth Doing Before You Sign

A salary is only one line in a UK job offer. This guide walks through pension contributions, private health cover, holiday buy-back and the perks that quietly vanish during probation — so you can put a realistic number on the package before you sign.
The Money They Find at the Door: Life After You Accept a Counter-Offer
Pay & Benefits

The Money They Find at the Door: Life After You Accept a Counter-Offer

A resignation often produces a sudden burst of budget that was apparently unavailable a week earlier. This guide looks at what happens after you accept a counter-offer, how to weigh the trust question, and why employers who only pay up at the exit door create longer-term pay fairness problems.
The Gap Between Gross and Net: A New Starter's Guide to Reading That First UK Payslip
Pay & Benefits

The Gap Between Gross and Net: A New Starter's Guide to Reading That First UK Payslip

Your first payslip can feel like a let-down, but it is usually just a document doing several jobs at once. Here is how to read the gross-to-net gap, spot an emergency tax code, and check the lines that matter in month one.
Recruitment

What the Screening Layer Sees: A UK Candidate's Guide to AI-Read CVs in 2026

Automated screening is now a normal part of UK hiring, but it is not a mystery box. Here is how candidates can make an application readable to software without sounding like a keyword generator — and how employers can use filters without losing good people.
Before You Hand In the Badge: Mapping UK Notice Periods and the Pay They Affect
Pay & Benefits

Before You Hand In the Badge: Mapping UK Notice Periods and the Pay They Affect

Resigning is a calendar decision as much as a career one. This practical guide walks UK candidates through statutory and contractual notice, garden leave, pay in lieu, probation clauses and the bonus and pension cut-offs that can shape your final payslip — plus what employers should get right.
Office Days Aren't Free: The Hybrid Paycheck Maths UK Jobseekers Should Run First
Flexible Work

Office Days Aren't Free: The Hybrid Paycheck Maths UK Jobseekers Should Run First

Hybrid roles can be a genuine win, but the commute bill and the unpaid travel time often go missing from the offer conversation. Here is a practical way for UK candidates to price office days before signing — and why ignoring the maths costs employers good people.
More Work, Same Badge: When Your Role Outgrows Its Job Title
Career Development

More Work, Same Badge: When Your Role Outgrows Its Job Title

A dry promotion can feel flattering for about a week: you are trusted with more, but your title, pay and formal recognition stay exactly where they were. This guide looks at how UK employees can spot the pattern early, record what has changed and ask for a proper review — and how employers can fix scope creep before it turns into a resignation.
The Vacancy That Never Was: Spotting a Ghost Job Before You Give It Your Evening
Recruitment

The Vacancy That Never Was: Spotting a Ghost Job Before You Give It Your Evening

Some job adverts are less a doorway than a shop window — always lit, never open. Here's how UK candidates can tell a real opening from a ghost job, and why employers who leave adverts running end up paying for it in reputation rather than salary.
The Quiet Power of a Good Reference: A Practical Guide for UK Hirers and Candidates
Recruitment

The Quiet Power of a Good Reference: A Practical Guide for UK Hirers and Candidates

References are back on the hiring agenda — and a vague one can cost you a role or a hire. Here's how UK employers can ask better questions within the rules, and how candidates can set their referees up to succeed.
First Ninety Days: Turning Probation Into a Welcome Rather Than a Warning
Recruitment

First Ninety Days: Turning Probation Into a Welcome Rather Than a Warning

Probation is too often a calendar entry nobody prepares for until week eleven. Here's a practical framework for clear objectives, honest check-ins and transparent extensions — plus the questions candidates should ask before they sign.
The Extra Ten Grand Question: Should You Stay When the Money Arrives Late?
Career Development

The Extra Ten Grand Question: Should You Stay When the Money Arrives Late?

That pay rise which appears the moment you resign is rarely about your value suddenly being spotted. Here's how to weigh a last-minute counteroffer against trust, scope, flexibility and where your career is actually heading — plus what employers can do so they never need to make one.
Career Development

After the Break: How to Talk About Your CV Gap With Confidence (and How Employers Should Hear It)

A career break for caring, health, study or redundancy doesn't erase your experience. Here's how UK returners can present the gap clearly on a CV and in interviews — plus a fairer way for employers to assess them.
The 'Free' Trial Shift: How UK Jobseekers Can Tell a Fair Test From Unpaid Work
Pay & Benefits

The 'Free' Trial Shift: How UK Jobseekers Can Tell a Fair Test From Unpaid Work

Trial shifts can be a sensible way for employers to see you in action — but they can also drift into unpaid labour. Here's how UK candidates in hospitality, retail and care can ask the right questions, spot the warning signs and know when a shift should be paid.
Post, Pause or Plan Ahead: Reading the UK Hiring Calendar in 2026
Recruitment

Post, Pause or Plan Ahead: Reading the UK Hiring Calendar in 2026

UK recruitment has a rhythm: January surges, Easter lulls, summer cover gaps and a pre-Christmas freeze. This month-by-month guide helps SMEs time their job ads and helps candidates apply when hiring managers are actually receptive.
Proof, Not Polish: Showing Your Extra Value Before the Job Title Arrives
Career Development

Proof, Not Polish: Showing Your Extra Value Before the Job Title Arrives

You do not need a grand title to prove you can do the job. This guide looks at seven credible ways UK candidates can build evidence of extra value — and how to put it on a CV or talk about it in an interview without overegging it.
What 'Competitive Salary' Really Costs UK Employers — and What to Write Instead
Pay & Benefits

What 'Competitive Salary' Really Costs UK Employers — and What to Write Instead

'Competitive salary' is not a number, and UK candidates know it. Here's why vague pay adverts waste hiring time in 2026, what a useful salary range looks like, and how to handle regional pay differences without losing trust.