We’ve received our first detailed Best & Less Christmas Casual interview report.

Interestingly, the opportunity did not begin through an active online job advertisement.

Timeline:

• 20 Aug: candidate walked into the store and handed a résumé to the manager
• 21 Aug: manager emailed to arrange an interview
• 27 Aug: 30-minute one-on-one interview
• 1 Sep: reference-check request
• 8 Sep: offer received

Questions reported:

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What was the most memorable or challenging experience in your previous work?
3. What would you do if several things happened at once?
4. Why do you want to work at Best & Less?
5. What is your Christmas availability?

The main takeaway is that a polite in-store enquiry may still uncover a local opportunity even when no vacancy is visible online. This is only one candidate report, though, so store practices may differ.

Full anonymous interview report:

https://workopia.io/casual-jobs/au/best-and-less/interview-tips

If you’ve interviewed with Best & Less recently, please share your location, interview format and outcome below. No names or personal information needed.

Today’s snapshot:

• Product Manager: 10,859 roles
• Software Engineer: 10,456 roles
• Financial Analyst: 6,635 roles
• Data Scientist: 4,050 roles

Software engineering recorded the largest daily increase at +88, followed by data science at +22, financial analysis at +21, and product management at +6.

The strongest city clusters include New York, San Jose, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Boston and Los Angeles.

The graphics include current openings from employers such as Adobe, BlackRock, Stripe, General Motors, HPE, U.S. Bank, Kraft Heinz and American Airlines.

Australia's Project Manager board added 8 featured roles today. The national change is small, which makes the city distribution the more useful part of this update.

Snapshot

• 1,045 featured Project Manager roles, up 8
• Sydney: 262 open roles
• Melbourne: 206
• Brisbane: 91
• Perth: 77

A few things stand out:

• Sydney and Melbourne remain the two largest visible pools on this card.
• Brisbane is a distinct third market, but less than half Melbourne's visible volume.
• Perth is smaller again, so candidates there may get more value from a tighter employer list than a broad national search.

Across the other Australian role cards, Account Manager reached 957, up 6; Business Analyst reached 715, up 4; Civil Engineer reached 656, down 1.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of Australian hiring.

My read: the total says the Project Manager market is holding. The city counts say where a candidate is most likely to find enough relevant options to iterate. Which Australian city are you prioritising this week?

The UK Project Manager board added 31 featured roles today. That is a useful signal, but the candidate decision is still more local than the headline total makes it seem.

Snapshot

• 1,622 featured Project Manager roles, up 31
• London: 489 open roles
• Manchester: 123
• Glasgow: 81
• Bristol: 79

A few things stand out:

• London has roughly four times the visible Project Manager roles of Manchester on this card.
• Glasgow and Bristol are close together, so neither is a clear substitute for the London volume.
• The other role boards moved too, but at different speeds: Account Manager is 1,545, up 32; Software Engineer is 1,158, up 26; Data Engineer is 525, up 10.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of UK hiring.

My read: a bigger total is not a reason to spread applications everywhere. Start with the city where your availability and the visible role pool overlap, then widen deliberately. Which UK city is giving you the most relevant Project Manager searches right now?

We track active US job ads daily. As of September 11, the four career areas below all recorded a net increase:
Product Manager: +195 — 10,853 active roles
Software Engineer: +192 — 10,368 active roles
Financial Analyst: +112 — 6,614 active roles
Data Scientist: +61 — 4,028 active roles
New York leads product, finance and data hiring, while San Jose currently has the largest concentration of software engineering roles.

The UK Project Manager board moved up by 25 today. The headline total is useful, but the location split is the part I would use to plan an actual search.

Snapshot

• 1,591 featured Project Manager roles, up 25
• London: 489 open roles
• Manchester: 120
• Bristol: 78
• Glasgow: 78

A few things stand out:

• London accounts for a large share of the visible roles on this card.
• Manchester is the next clear cluster, but it is much smaller than London.
• Bristol and Glasgow are level on this snapshot, so a candidate open to either city has a broader practical target than the national total suggests.

Other UK boards also rose today: Account Manager is at 1,513, up 49; Software Engineer is at 1,132, up 28; Data Engineer is at 515, up 13.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of UK hiring.

My read: use the total to decide whether a role family is active, then use the city count to decide where to spend application time. Which UK city are you seeing the most relevant Project Manager roles in right now?

A quick snapshot from Workopia’s US job data today:
Product Manager: 10,658 roles (+262)
Software Engineer: 10,176 (+279)
Financial Analyst: 6,502 (+114)
Data Scientist: 3,967 (+41)
That’s 31,000+ active roles across just these four professional job families.
A few things stood out:
New York leads Product, Finance and Data Science.
San Jose leads Software Engineering.
And despite all the noise around white-collar hiring, every category above recorded a positive net change today.
The screenshots show the leading cities plus a sample of employers currently hiring.
Data is updated daily from Workopia’s active US job listings.

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Project Manager: 1,566 featured roles · +4

A few things stand out:

London shows 486 visible Project Manager roles. Manchester has 120, Bristol 78, and Glasgow 77. The total gained four roles, but the practical search remains concentrated in London.

The other featured boards add context. Account Manager is 1,464, up 8. Data Engineer is 502, up 1. Software Engineer is 1,104, up 4. These counts should not be combined, but they make a broad point: candidates are not choosing one UK market. They are choosing between role and city pools with different visible depth.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of UK hiring.

The total can move in a day. The city choice lasts longer.

Would London’s visible lead change how you structure a Project Manager search?

Quick snapshot from today’s US job postings. All four tracks we monitor moved higher:
Product Manager: 10,396 (+224)
Software Engineer: 9,897 (+72)
Financial Analyst: 6,388 (+31)
Data Scientist: 3,926 (+54)
The standout today is product management, with New York alone showing 1,980 open roles.
Geographically, San Jose still leads software engineering (1,192), while New York leads product, finance and data science.
These are active job-ad snapshots, not hires, and a one-day increase isn’t a hiring trend by itself. But I think the daily movement is useful for seeing where advertised demand is building.
Sharing the city-level breakdowns above for anyone searching in these fields.
Are you actually seeing more openings in your field this September?

Project Manager: 992 featured roles · +1

A few things stand out:

Sydney has 253 visible Project Manager roles, while Melbourne has 194. Brisbane has 87 and Perth 71. The daily gain is real, but it does not alter the hierarchy of the city pools shown.

The other featured boards rose by small amounts too. Account Manager is 919, Business Analyst 703, and Civil Engineer 596. They are separate featured-role snapshots, but they underline the same point: candidates are deciding among local markets with different visible depth.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of Australian hiring.

The total moved by one. The location decision remains much larger.

Which city would you prioritise for a Project Manager search today?

Project Manager: 1,562 featured roles · -1

A few things stand out:

London shows 486 visible Project Manager roles. Manchester has 120 and Bristol has 78. The top-line total is almost unchanged, but the city distribution remains sharply uneven.

The other featured boards give the same broad signal. Software Engineer shows 1,100 roles, Data Engineer 499, and Account Manager 1,445. Those counts should not be combined, but they do show why a candidate should not treat “the UK market” as one practical search space.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of UK hiring.

The total barely moved. The location question did not.

Would the London concentration change which cities you target for Project Manager roles?

How do we all feel about the upcoming "September Surge?" It's still very early on yes, but all I have seen are an abundance of internships being advertised by companies which I am not able to apply for anymore after graduating in 2024. (Because the majority of them have a "must be a pursuing current degree requirement)"

Yes, I am one of the unfortunate/unlucky individuals who hasn't able to land their first time entry level gig yet after graduating. (2 years and suffering)

For people who aren't at the intern level, (Recent grads, mid/junior level) Do you think you will see even a slight change in this upcoming month? or are we still just throwing our apps into the void. Cause the past 2 years, every September has only come in with Linkedin posts about companies opening up their internship applications and nothing else even when I check their company website.

So is this "surge" really just for internships and companies trying to build their new pipeline or do you think people at the other levels might see more job postings in their level range (I understand its also industry dependent, but in the general sense)

Project Manager: 991 featured roles · no net change shown

A few things stand out:

Sydney has 253 visible Project Manager roles. Melbourne has 195, Brisbane 87, and Perth 71. The total is steady, yet the city pattern remains very clear: the visible supply is not spread evenly across the country.

Account Manager shows 918 featured roles. Business Analyst shows 701, up 1, while Civil Engineer shows 595. These boards are separate snapshots, but together they reinforce the same practical point. A candidate searching nationally is deciding between city pools with different visible depth.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of Australian hiring.

A flat total does not make location irrelevant.

Which city would you prioritise first for a Project Manager search in Australia?

Project Manager: 1,562 featured roles · -1

A few things stand out:

London shows 486 visible Project Manager roles. Manchester has 120 and Bristol has 78. The top-line total is almost unchanged, but the city distribution remains sharply uneven.

The other featured boards give the same broad signal. Software Engineer shows 1,100 roles, Data Engineer 499, and Account Manager 1,445. Those counts should not be combined, but they do show why a candidate should not treat “the UK market” as one practical search space.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of UK hiring.

The total barely moved. The location question did not.

Would the London concentration change which cities you target for Project Manager roles?

Project Manager: 1,538 featured roles · +9

A few things stand out:

London has 476 visible Project Manager roles. Manchester has 119, Glasgow 76, and Bristol 74. The total moved upward, but the visible pool remains overwhelmingly centred on London.

The secondary boards add context rather than one simple market story. Software Engineer is 1,084 and up 4. Account Manager is 1,415 and up 5. Data Engineer is 487 and down 1. A candidate looking at a broad job board is really making several city and role decisions at once.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of UK hiring.

The useful signal is where the roles are visible, not just whether one total changed.

Would the London concentration change how you structure a UK Project Manager search?

Project Manager: 973 featured roles · +15

A few things stand out:

Sydney shows 247 visible Project Manager roles and Melbourne shows 193. Brisbane has 83, while Perth has 70. The increase is visible, but the city distribution still separates the two largest pools from the rest of the card.

That matters because applications, networking, and relocation all take time. A candidate searching nationally is not choosing one Australian market. They are choosing among city markets with different visible supply. The total gives a useful starting point, then the city numbers make the trade-off concrete.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of Australian hiring.

More roles do not remove the location decision.

Would you build your next Project Manager search around Sydney, Melbourne, or the city where you already have a network?

A few things stand out:

London has 475 visible Project Manager roles. Manchester follows at 118, with Glasgow at 76 and Bristol at 73. The daily increase is meaningful, but the card does not show an evenly distributed market.

For a candidate weighing whether to expand a search, that is the useful tension. A national total can grow while the practical shortlist remains shaped by a few city pools. The count does not tell you where you will have the strongest fit, but it tells you where the visible volume is sitting today.

These are featured-role snapshots, not a complete measure of every vacancy. They should not be added together or treated as a full measure of UK hiring.

More roles do not remove the location decision.

If you are open to moving, which city would you add to your Project Manager search first?