UK hiring, measured
Original datasets built from thousands of real UK job adverts. What employers ask for, what they pay, and how many people are competing for each job.
Anthony Clasper
Founder, Sausage Dog. UK job advert researcher
Most UK hiring commentary recycles the same surveys. We work from primary sources instead: live job adverts, pulled at scale and counted by hand or by script. Every article below states its sample size, its source and its method, and the finding is always something you can check against the adverts yourself.
All statistics are free to cite with attribution to Sausage Dog (sausagedog.io). If you are a journalist or researcher and want the underlying breakdowns for any piece, email hello@sausagedog.io and we will share what we have.
In a hurry? The headline numbers are collected on one page: UK job application statistics.
38 datasets, newest first
98%
never say who you report to
Questions to ask at the end of a UK job interview, ranked by what 1,349 adverts left out
14 August 2026
6.4
adverts per employer
5,681 job adverts, 887 employers. Your search is smaller than it looks.
12 August 2026
8.9%
mention GCSEs
Teaching assistant adverts ask about safeguarding eight times more often than GCSEs
10 August 2026
77.5%
quote a day rate
Most advertised teaching assistant work is a day rate, not a salary
9 August 2026
1 vs 11
applicants, customer service
The most undervalued line on a UK CV is the one about your driving licence
3 August 2026
1.47x
product manager pay gap
Product manager adverts asking for AI advertise £82,500. The ones that do not advertise £56,000.
1 August 2026
86%
of cleaner adverts quote one exact wage
Cleaner adverts quote one exact wage 86% of the time. AI engineer adverts never do.
1 August 2026
31%
ever reach 10 applications
We watched 1,691 UK job adverts from the hour they appeared. Two thirds never reached 10 applications.
1 August 2026
14 of 16
made no difference
We tested 16 things that supposedly make a job advert competitive. Fourteen did nothing.
31 July 2026
15,291
UK job adverts counted
We read 15,291 UK job adverts. Ten findings that change how you should apply.
31 July 2026
61 vs 7
applications per advert
An AI engineer advert gets 61 applications. An operations manager advert gets 7.
29 July 2026
4.6%
say how many years
We read 1,090 UK job adverts. Only 1 in 22 said how much experience you need.
28 July 2026
5.2x
faster growth for perks than requirements
The longer a UK job advert gets, the less of it is about the job
26 July 2026
1 in 5
adverts want 5+ personality traits
1 in 5 UK job adverts asks you to be five different people
26 July 2026
45 vs 2
applications per advert
A receptionist advert gets 45 applications. A nurse advert gets 2.
17 July 2026
0.2%
of adverts say 'self-starter'
The most overused UK job advert phrases: we read 5,975 and the classic cliches have almost vanished
12 July 2026
54%
of retail adverts say fast-paced
'Fast-paced' in UK job adverts: we read 5,982 and the busiest jobs barely use it
7 July 2026
16/30
employers train you from scratch
We read 30 UK bus driver job adverts. Over half will train you from scratch, no bus licence needed.
5 July 2026
2.6%
of UK adverts name an actual ATS
Which UK jobs actually use an ATS? We read 5,012 adverts. Only 2.6% name one.
1 July 2026
85%
of TA adverts are feminine-coded
Gender-coded job adverts: we read 5,000 UK adverts and the language is still split
22 June 2026
6%
of UK adverts ask for a degree
Do you need a degree to get a UK job? We read 5,012 adverts. Only 6% ask for one.
22 June 2026
87%
state the hourly rate
We read 481 UK warehouse operative job adverts. Here's what employers actually want.
12 June 2026
75%
of roles are part-time
We read 426 UK retail assistant job adverts. Here's what stores actually want.
12 June 2026
81%
name greeting & welcome
We read 278 UK receptionist job adverts. Here's what employers actually want.
12 June 2026
418
real UK adverts read
We read 418 UK support worker job adverts. Here's what employers actually ask for.
12 June 2026
188
real UK adverts read
We read 188 UK doctor job adverts. Here's what NHS Trusts actually want.
5 June 2026
79%
mention safeguarding
We read 500 UK teaching assistant job adverts. Here's what schools actually want.
5 June 2026
47%
promise training
How to Write Your First CV in the UK (We Read 301 No-Experience Adverts)
30 May 2026
92%
state OTE openly
We read 200 UK recruiter job adverts. Here's what agencies and in-house teams actually want.
29 May 2026
76%
want maintenance
We read 131 UK plumber job adverts. Here's what employers actually want.
29 May 2026
240
real UK adverts read
We read 240 UK HGV driver job adverts. Here's what transport managers actually want.
29 May 2026
125
real UK adverts read
We read 125 UK electrician job adverts. Here's what employers actually want.
28 May 2026
80%
mention assessment
We read 64 UK social worker job adverts. Here's what councils and NHS Trusts actually want.
28 May 2026
9%
mention 999 work
We read 148 UK paramedic job adverts. Here's what ambulance services actually want.
28 May 2026
69%
ask for communication
We read 102 UK office admin job adverts. Here's what employers actually want.
28 May 2026
55%
want leadership
We read 113 UK teacher job adverts. Here's what schools actually want.
27 May 2026
69%
want flexibility
We read 105 UK care worker job adverts. Here's what employers actually want.
26 May 2026
65%
want NMC PIN visible
We read 119 UK nurse job adverts. Here's what NHS Trusts actually want.
25 May 2026
How the data is collected
Smaller studies (100 to 300 adverts) are read and counted by hand. Larger ones (1,000+) come from live pulls of job board APIs, counted with phrase matching we publish in the method notes. We report medians rather than averages where adverts vary widely, we never mix numbers between different job boards, and we never reproduce advert text, only aggregate statistics.
The reason we collect it: Sausage Dog tailors CVs against real job adverts, so knowing what UK adverts actually say is the product. Publishing the numbers is the useful by-product.