In a hiring crisis what makes a young person stand out? This is what a hundred companies told me

The 2026-2030 job market looks extremely challenging for many people, but the picture looks even more gloomy for young adults, who are being hit hardest. The UK unemployment rate has now hit 5.1 per cent, the highest since January 2021, and the number of graduate jobs is lower with 8 per cent fewer than last year with a forecast by the Institute of Student Employers predicting a similar decline next year.

However, in all the justified panic among young people and their parents, I’ve seen a curious paradox emerge. During the last two years, I’ve spoken to hundreds of companies, big and small, across many industries and sectors, including KPMG, Deloitte, Superdrug, Burges Salmon, Disney, the BBC, The Retail Trust and Saffery, and a very clear picture has emerged.

They are certainly having a hiring and retention crisis, with the biggest complaints being a difficulty finding talent and then not knowing how to train, retain and promote the new generation, who are arriving in the workplace with a different set of needs and challenges to those who came before them. While the notion that Generation Z are all lazy snowflakes who all want to work in their pyjamas for six-figure salaries is both unfair and untrue, they have been shaped by some unique events. Modern parenting and schooling, the decline of the Saturday/after-school job, and the social and psychological cost of lockdown have had some profound consequences for this generation, some of which we are only seeing now.

However, curiously, having talked to those in the business of hiring, I also can see that this has presented an opportunity. Because a young person who exhibits qualities and has a CV that shouts “I’m a solid hire” rather than “I have well-connected parents” is suddenly looking very attractive in a market where even the most aspirational companies are tearing their hair out on finding a candidate who looked great on paper didn’t work out so well in practice.

I started asking companies what young people can do to stand out in the modern, highly competitive workplace, and these were the best tips that emerged from every industry and are things all young people can do (well-connected parent not required!)

The two biggest concerns in every industry, from investment banking to retail, are resilience and retention, and this is understandable. Investing a huge amount of time and money into a graduate pool, who all leave six months later, is the stuff of HR nightmares. Showing you’ve worked at Tesco or a coffee shop or in a bar for a substantial period signals that not only have you had customer-facing experience of the workplace, but you can also stick at things, which in 2026 is more useful to employers than being a good skier. Riley, 23, who graduated from Warwick with a 2:1 in Modern Languages, got a coveted job at an investment bank and was told her solid background in work from the age of 17 was a big factor that secured her the job.

Too many young people have generic skills and don’t get enough guidance on what skills to acquire and how to become a real asset to the industry they are trying to crack. James, 25, graduated from Sussex University with a 2:1 in history and twice got knocked back from an elite teaching programme based in Japan. So, he decided to get serious. He took a year and taught himself conversational Japanese and became knowledgeable about the country, its culture and education system. He got into the programme the third time and is now teaching at an excellent school in Tokyo.

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In an era where CVs are (let’s be honest) being written and screened by AI, many candidates and companies are begging for a new system including video applications, and skills-testing, which might help graduates feel like they aren’t disappearing in the “what are your biggest strengths?” CV fog. However, that does mean a lot more effort going into even less of a reward when companies make you jump through what were previously second and third interview hoops and don’t even get back to you. A little work is required here on both sides.

Most industries will look at the digital trail of potential candidates, and although endless videos of your cute kitten might not turn the heads of potential employers, doing something impressive and innovative might. Will, 26, walked into a job at M&C Saatchi because they spotted that he had written a popular blog on affordable men’s fashion. Considering how much time young people spend on social media, becoming a voice in the field that interests you professionally is an extremely smart professional move. It doesn’t have to be Insta or TikTok either – platforms like Substack reward intelligence and expertise, so if you are interested in an area, be really interested in it on there and make your mark.

So many talks, lectures and industry events are free. Look on LinkedIn for online and offline events and attend them. Make connections, get involved in discussions at the end and make your face known. People are deeply interested in young people, and they want to help. Become one of the interesting ones and get your seat at the table. Abi, 22, did a BA in Fine Art at St. Martins, but she also started attending the free gallery opening and art shows she’d hear of via the college. She explains, “I went to every gallery opening and show I could and started meeting people in the industry. I got offered a job at a gallery in London from one of those events with a woman I just clicked with. And there was free wine.”

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Lots of young people wait for jobs to come to them. Harry, 24, wanted to work in politics and wrote directly to a huge number of MPs asking for work experience. He explains, “I got loads of knockbacks and silence, but two came back to me. I did six months of very badly paid, but invaluable work experience. When a job came up in the press office of a senior MP, I jumped at the chance and got it. Being tenacious and willing to start at the bottom is essential.”

Quite often, the lesser-known industries and companies that don’t have global reputations (not to mention a zillion applications) give young people better grounding, a better experience and are more solid than the ones everyone knows about. There is a lot of job demand in healthcare, social care logistics, construction, renewable energy, teaching and logistics – look at those industries and not just the ones with the famous logos.

Every single CEO I’ve spoken to said the candidates that shine and the ones that got hired were those who exhibited interests and passions, because these were a good indicator they’d also care about the job they were applying for. I recently spoke at KPMG’s C-Suite programme and interviewed three students from London Interdisciplinary School. Watching them express passionate, knowledgeable views was clearly refreshing for management in attendance, and Hannah McMullan’s assertion that “my generation would rather be trained and paid well than stand in a circle doing affirmations” was probably the most useful bit of cross-mentoring they’d received to date.

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At root, any candidate’s real potential is whether they can be useful, profitable and benefit the company’s bottom line and growth. It’s shocking how many young people have lost sight of that – a job isn’t for their convenience or fun. Candidates who come in with an idea of what they are going to bring, not what they expect, are the candidates who are getting hired. It’s a harsh but necessary lesson as young people embark on their professional lives.

This last point is a plea to industry, because if you want to build the next generation of successful professionals, the onus is also on you to adapt. AI screening and interviewing is horrible and alienating for young candidates; be transparent about what the job entails, advertise the salary, and start being more open-minded about transferable skills. Understand that babysitting siblings is people management, working every weekend in a shop or behind a bar is going to prepare someone for the workplace much more than a flashy two-week internship.

Remember that Friday afternoon free pizza is not a substitute for a decent, liveable starting salary and that every entry-level job doesn’t need a degree. If you want a work-ready, modern workforce, it’s time to start looking beyond old-fashioned school ties, flashy badges of privilege and believing £25K is still an attractive starting salary in (nearly) 2026.

There are millions of talented, hard-working young people who would be a credit to any company or industry. The question is, are the old systems of finding and measuring Britain’s young talent still working?