If you’re looking for a job or planning to explore a new career path, it’s not enough to simply have the right skills and experience. Successful candidates also stay abreast of the latest trends, review salary guides in the UK, and know the in-demand roles in the job market.
To help you get started, we’ve compiled some of the most in-demand jobs in 2021 and what they’ll pay.
Project manager
Average Base Salary: £43,000
Project managers work across all sectors, from IT and marketing to construction and engineering.
As a project manager, you’ll be responsible for:
- Planning, organising, controlling and delivering a project on time and on budget
- Establishing project goals and objectives
- Coordinating with the entire team to track the progress of the project
- Mitigating risks to avoid delays and overspending
- Reporting regularly to stakeholders and management
- Evaluating wins and challenges to improve next project
- Defining roles, setting deadlines and delegating tasks to the rest of the team
Companies often require applicants to have a business-related degree. Project managers may start on an assistant level and then move up. A postgraduate degree in project management may enhance your skills and knowledge, but is not a prerequisite to employment.
Customer service assistant
Average Base Salary: £16,000
As a customer service assistant, you may be asked to explain to customers how products work and take orders either online, face-to-face, or over the phone.
Your duties may also involve a combination of the following tasks:
- Arranging store displays
- Processing payments and issuing refunds
- Responding to enquiries and complaints or passing them on to the appropriate department
- Providing expert product advice
- Collecting customer information and entering it into a database
- Ensuring that the customer has an overall positive experience
While there are no specific qualifications needed to be a customer service assistant, experience in a similar position may set you apart from other candidates. Customer service assistants are often a client’s first point of contact with a business, so it is crucial for them to make a positive impression.
Customer service assistants must be polite, friendly, and approachable. They should have good communication skills and can remain calm and patient even in stressful situations.
Software engineer
Average Base Salary: £55,000
The role of a software engineer includes producing diagnostic programs, writing and testing code for software and operating systems, and maintaining IT systems by resolving defects.
Other responsibilities include:
- Analysing user requirements and preparing technical specifications
- Enhancing existing programs by evaluating performance and identifying areas for improvement
- Integrating existing software products and modifying incompatible platforms to operate seamlessly
- Working closely with graphic artists, project managers, UX designers, and systems analysts to ensure a successful project
Most employers require candidates to have a degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Mathematics or Software Engineering. Applicants with a degree in an unrelated field may still apply through a graduate trainee scheme.
Delivery driver
Average Base Salary: £20,000
The role of a delivery driver is to load, unload, prepare, and operate a vehicle used to transport goods. Products are often collected from a manufacturer’s warehouse or pick-up point and unloaded to various addresses such as supermarkets, retail outlets, shopping malls, and wholesale centres.
This job usually covers the following tasks:
- Taking note of mileage, amount of fuel purchased, and other costs incurred while on duty
- Updating delivery records
- Collecting and unloading goods at the specified addresses
- Planning appropriate routes to ensure deliveries are fulfilled on time
- Obtaining signatures for goods and providing invoices once the delivery has been made
- Returning undelivered goods to the original source point
- Inspecting vehicle for smooth operation
As well as transporting goods, drivers may also be tasked to perform various administrative duties such as completing invoices, filling in forms, and obtaining signatures from the recipients.
You’ll need a spotless driving record, a Driver Certificate of Professional Competence and the appropriate driving licence. Delivery drivers must also have good eyesight and colour vision, basic math and communication abilities and customer service skills. In addition, you must be efficient, patient and self-sufficient given the endless hours spent on the road.
The required licence for a delivery driver varies according to the type of vehicle to be used. Heavier vehicles such as a 7.5 tonne HGV would require a C1 or C1E licence.
The right job not only pays well but also challenges your skills and offers a satisfying work-life balance. Being armed with the right information can help you better negotiate with employers and get the compensation you deserve.
