Media candidates require flexibility, but even that is no guarantee of securing a job as employers are spoilt for choice, according to recruiters.

Last week, the Daily Telegraph reported that 60% of the BBC’s middle managers turned down the move from London to its new Media City development, planned by 2011.

Sarah Cooper, director at Clever Recruitment, told Recruiter: “It depends on how far and how much money is involved, but I think people are a lot more flexible than they were a year ago because lots of them have been out of work for six months and are looking further afield and are looking to relocate. The trend is towards making yourself more flexible, in salary and location.

“There is so much competition. Employers are being much more fussy about what they want. I think at the beginning of the year, they were not realising that.”

Rachel Gladdis, head of media recruitment at Career Moves, adds: “The sort of the roles that we have got at the executive assistant level, clients are being very specific about the skills they are looking for. Some candidates have got great skills and backgrounds but they are not getting interviews because clients are holding out for the right skills.”