28/05/2026
Everyone wants their junior hires to have experience.
But no one wants to give junior hires experience.
Classic.
The BBC just reported today: "The number of young people not working, in training or education has passed the one million mark for the first time in more than a decade."
In 2015 when I first entered the job market, my CV was my weapon. Employers could tell the difference between a high a low potential candidate in two seconds.
The formatting, the crisp layout, the deliberate choice of words - all of this signals fierce attention to detail and that fierce attention often (not always) translated to a good junior employee.
Today? The filter is completely broken.
With a free AI subscription anyone willing to spend 5 minutes with a chatbot can generate a flawless CV and a perfect cover letter that makes their minimal experience appear more profound than it really was. On paper, every single applicant look insanely professional.
When everyone looks perfect on paper, the paper stops mattering. The entire hiring decision now hinges on the live interview.
Real-time human connection, communication, language and executive presence (under pressure!) are the new filters and that's great.
If navigating this shift is stressful for a native English speaker, it is 5x harder for the international graduates and immigrants working to build their careers & lives in the UK. They possess all the same intellect and ambition but have the extra hurdle of fitting in with "polished" English language.
This is why we are building Learn Lab - to help brilliant international professionals get their foot in the door by eliminating that extra hurdle.
This levels the playing field which helps everyone (including the hiring companies!).
P.S. To the founders, recruiters, and hiring managers in my network... how are you best differentiating your junior candidates at the moment?
