Crystle Pearce is a Managing Consultant at VMA Group, an international executive search and recruitment specialist for professionals working in communications, marketing, and digital transformation. She also sits on the board of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC UK&I), a global network of 10,000 communication professionals across 80 countries, including many from the Global Fortune 500.
In this conversation, Crystle shares her advice for job seekers and offers practical tips for those employed who are thinking about their next career move.
Hi Crystle. Always lovely catching up. Many people have said this is the toughest job market they’ve seen. What’s driving this?
Hi, Mimi, and good to see you too. Economic uncertainty is the main one. With geopolitical events, the recent UK Budget which focused on taxing and saving, and the rise in National Insurance paid by employers, increasing costs as wages rise over time, means companies aren’t sure how much they can invest in these uncertain times. They can’t fully add to their functions or teams the way they’d want to. According to our VMA Group ‘Mini view report’, which is a snapshot of the UK communications market, permanent employment dropped to 59% in 2025 (from 76% in 2023), while those unemployed or between roles rose from 4% to 20%. It’s been a tougher job market overall.
Is AI also adding to this?
AI has been around for decades, but the speed of adoption and development since the launch of platforms like ChatGPT and Copilot in 2022 and 2023 has been exponential. Businesses are investing in AI, but most haven’t fully embedded it across their organisation. In many ways, many are still experimenting and getting to grips with it, but they’re keen to do so quickly which I think is also part of the problem. Skills employers are looking for more now are around the use of AI and wider data analytics in content management and storytelling. I know some marketing and communications agencies that have KPIs set to use AI on their client accounts. Meta also recently announced that it will start to assess employee performance by AI-driven impact starting from this year. Employers want to know you have an understanding of how to use AI impactfully. When companies ask for AI skills, they also need to know how they want candidates to use it and demonstrate its value to their organisation.
Some people feel the job searching process is now broken. What do you think?
I think it is to be honest. I know candidates are having a really tough time due to fewer roles and recruiters are being inundated with hundreds of applications. As recruiters, we’re often caught in the middle. I think we all need to try and understand what everyone is going through.
Our role as recruitment consultants is to find the best candidate for that role for our client and this takes time and there’s a process. To give you an idea, it takes about 60 seconds to review a CV against a role we’re working on, and it takes time to tailor a rejection response, if we don’t use the auto reject button.
When you have 300 applications to go through for each role, that’s 20 hours a week. As a specialist recruiter, I’m also headhunting candidates for the roles I’m working on.
You then have to factor in time for interviews, which are 30-45 minutes each. On average, we’re probably interviewing 10-15 candidates each week to submit five strong candidates for each role. That’s a minimum of 15 hours per week spent interviewing prospective candidates. And we don’t just work on one role, we have multiple roles and these are all different levels and disciplines.
On top of this, we still have our internal responsibilities and this could be attending external events, client meetings, working on thought leadership pieces and attending or hosting roundtable events.
To add to this, our hiring managers are inundated too, and they’re also juggling dozens of roles. They’re not always able to give us quality feedback that we can share with candidates. Maybe our talent partners are also waiting to hear back from the hiring manager with detailed feedback.
It can be a flawed process for all involved.
As a candidate, the best you can do is control what you can, how strong your application is and how you package yourself for each interview stage. And if you don’t get the role, think about what you can learn from the experience to come back even stronger next time.
For those who’ve been job hunting for months, or even years, how can they keep up the momentum and morale?
I appreciate it’s not easy. Celebrate the wins and try to remind yourself it’s not personal. If you didn’t land the role, it’s probably down to factors outside your control – timing, budget constraints, or it just wasn’t the right role for you.
Try to keep your focus on what’s the best role fit for you and your skillset. It’s also important to give yourself job search breaks. Keep your job search to specific days or times. Reach out to your network for honest feedback and advice, and lean on your friends and family for moral support. Job searching can be a long and frustrating process, so I do feel for candidates.
What are common mistakes you see candidates make with applications?
Not covering the basics. We know that AI and Application Tracking Systems (ATS) are being used to sift through CVs, so make sure you include the keywords and skills listed on the job description. When a recruiter only has 60 seconds for each of the 300 applications they’re reviewing, without those, we might not progress with your application.
Also, keep it simple. I personally like CVs with uncomplicated designs, in fonts like Arial 10 and 2-3 pages (although I’ve never rejected a candidate with more than three pages). Have a clear story that highlights your achievements and how you’ve made an impact in the businesses you’ve worked for.
Make sure you research the company, the role and tailor your CV. Another common mistake is not putting your location on your CV, or just having the UK, which is too vague. Companies now expect most candidates to come into the office a few days a week, so we need to know where you’re based. If the role is London-based and asks you to be in the office 2-3 days a week, put that you’re based in Surrey, but willing to commute into London up to three days a week. That tiny bit of info can help your application.
People also don’t realise this, but when you apply for a job on LinkedIn, your application goes to LinkedIn Recruiter, which is a separate platform. That’s where recruiters track and review your applications, or will message you from. It’s a separate platform with its own inbox from the wider LinkedIn social platform. When candidates send me direct messages on LinkedIn, it takes me a while to see them because I’m not often on LinkedIn.com, I’m on LinkedIn Recruiter. That’s why some recruiters prefer emails or use InMail’s from LinkedIn Recruiter. If you understand how a recruiter operates, you’re putting yourself in a better position to build a stronger relationship with them.
What about common mistakes in interviews?
Candidates ‘not showing up’, and I’m not talking about not showing up physically for interviews (but yes, that does happen). I’m talking about not ‘showing up’ prepared for that 45-minutes interview. Candidates forgetting which role they’re interviewing for, or why they applied for the role in the first place. Are they perhaps applying for multiple roles too quickly?
As each role has its own specialism, and with the market being so competitive, I would encourage candidates to pause, take a few minutes to review a company’s website before applying, understand what the business does, and align that with what you’re able to bring, then apply.
Keep a spreadsheet of roles you’ve applied for and, if you’ve tweaked your CV, save it with the company name and job title of the role so you remember which is which, and track your interview times and dates.
First impressions matter. It can be as simple as being a few minutes early for your interview, dressing appropriately, having a working video camera and microphone, and also coming across positively. I know the whole process can feel hard!
And if you don’t hear back, it’s fine to follow-up, but not necessarily the next day or too often as there’s a balance. Put yourself in the hiring managers’ or recruiters’ shoes. Recruiters are often chased across different channels whether by phone, WhatsApp, email and LinkedIn. When you do hear back from the recruiter, ask them which channel they prefer for follow-ups or estimate timelines. Whenever they’re able to, they’ll get back to you.
Once candidates cover the basics, how can they also make sure they stand out from hundreds of applicants?
Know your secret sauce. Have an elevator pitch of how you package yourself and the value you bring. Know a company’s pain points to position yourself around. The former CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, described it as your ‘hip-pocket skill’. It’s a specialised skill you should be known for that makes you valuable in your field. For her, it was her ability to simplify complexity and turn problems into clear, actionable solutions. It’s then having examples to bring it to life. Also, network, network and network.
For those currently employed, what could they be doing now to prepare themselves for their next role?
Do a career audit in terms of where you’re at and where you want to be. Look at the roles you want in the future and the skills you might be missing that you can start to build on. Use that as a conversation starter in your performance reviews and for feedback. It’s having a good understanding of where you want to go and how to get there. Keep being open, curious and challenging yourself. If you no longer feel you’re learning or growing in your role, and have lost that fire in your belly, it’s time to plan ahead.
What’s your final message for job seekers reading this?
Know your worth! There are things in your control such as how you show up for interviews, your approach to applying for roles, and your use and understanding of AI. Then, there are things that are out of your control, whether it’s the current market, and the times you’ll need to flex and be patient. But knowing your worth and the value you bring, is what you own and can be clear on.
Powerful words to end on. Thanks Crystle for your insights. You can connect with Crystle on LinkedIn.