Over 630 job seekers have applied for one Kitchen Attendant vacancy within the first two weeks of advertising, Employment Office reports.

The surge of applications coincides with revised government figures revealing that Australia's unemployment rate increased by 0.4 pts to 5.2 per cent in February.

The Kitchen Attendant position, which offers the successful candidate the opportunity to work in the prestigious Royal Sydney Golf Club, has resulted in tough competition among candidates.

Employment Office Managing Director, Tudor Marsden-Huggins, says the campaign is not alone in generating a staggering response.
“We are finding an increasing number of applicants for each recruitment drive we create,” he said.

“Last month we ran a campaign for a Walking Internal Courier to transport pathology specimens across a laboratory campus; we received almost 400 applications within a few days”.

The sharp rise in applications was also clearly evident during Employment Office’s successful recruitment campaign for Correctional Security Officers in January.

Over 860 candidates volunteered to work behind bars at the Arthur Gorrie Centre in Brisbane.

This was an increase of 150 per cent when compared to the number of applicants vying for same position in July last year.

However, Mr Marsden-Huggins says it is not just the ‘no-experience-necessary’ positions that were experiencing a surge of applications.
“We’ve also received an excellent response for a number of niche campaigns throughout Australia, from anthropologists in the remote west to regional counsellors in the far north.

“There are many highly qualified job seekers out there searching for opportunities to flex their skills in an over crowded job market,” he said.

The sheer volume of applications has placed Employment Office’s candidate management services to the fore, as clients employ new tactics to cope with the job seeker surplus.

Clients can now take advantage of candidate screening services, group assessment days and an innovative candidate management system, which allows employers to rate, contact and shortlist jobs seekers online.
“We have always been confident in our ability to provide our clients with a skilled pool of applicants,” Mr Marsden-Huggins said.

“However, the current job market has changed our emphasis from finding this talent pool, to honing in on the best possible applicants within an ocean of impressive candidates.”

The overwhelming response to Employment Office’s campaigns has also stirred the recruitment marketing specialists to do their own hiring, with plans to recruit an additional team member to assist with the growing number of calls from job seekers.