Are we living in a candidate or client-driven market?
To look at the world today with job losses and businesses closing you would think there would be an abundance of candidates out there. This is not entirely the case though.
Unemployment is on the up, that is true, but does that mean there are good, reliable candidates? Not necessarily.
The volume of unfilled open vacancies is considerable, and the market of available candidates seems small. Candidates are very good at being unreliable and we are finding there is a lot of “ghosting” going on whereby candidates just disappear after expressing great interest in a position. We are really having to work quickly with good candidates to keep them.
As a Consultancy, we are speaking to as many people as possible through many different avenues. It isn’t just a case of putting an advert out there and hoping the right person will apply because that very rarely happens. The majority of our successful candidates are candidates that we have physically found through searches.
Searching
It was always the case of how can we attract the best candidates. Well, it’s no longer really about attracting them, it’s more how do we find them? We are active on Linked In, job boards, etc to enable us to reach out to as many people as possible. We can no longer rely on people to apply for the roles any longer. We are experts in using Boolean search and knowing how to find the right candidates through our searches. Our statistics prove that 90% of our placements are made this way.
Focussing on Candidates’ needs
In 2009 there were 10 candidates for every job, in today’s market, it is the opposite. Your next perfect recruit will possibly be working for the competition and not actively looking for a new role. However, they have put their CV on job boards “just in case” and through our networking and searches we will communicate with them and they will be open to looking at new opportunities.
Using your network
We use our refer a friend scheme to find candidates who are not actively looking. It’s not what you know it’s who you know. Referrals are on the up and word of mouth is a wonderful thing. We pride ourselves on our reputation and candidates wanting to work with us to find them their next opportunity.
Salary, Benefits and Security
We are finding that although prior to the pandemic, candidates were happy to change their job for the same salary or even 10-15% increase, they are now looking for at least 20-25% increase to consider leaving their current role. However, don’t always rely on using higher salaries alone on attracting candidates. Candidates are also looking for security and benefits.
Also, a massive selling point is flexible working. People have gotten used to working at home and want to continue with this to a certain extent. Think about what your company can offer a candidate, look at it from their point of view. Would you want to apply for your job?
Screening Candidates
With the current world of “ghosting” and “catfishing” on social media, candidates find it quite easy to lie about their experience, they may see it as bending the truth a little bit and making themselves a bit more appealing. As a Consultancy, we speak to our candidates and are very good at finding out if what they say is the truth. You’d be surprised at what people say about themselves which isn’t always the case.
Simplifying the Process
Simplifying and speeding up the recruitment process for candidates is a must in this current climate. Candidates will not stick around. We have lost many candidates due to the client taking a long time to arrange interviews or make a decision. Even though we don’t think so, it really is a candidate-driven market and you need to move quickly so as not to lose the good candidates.
Use us!
If you are working with us to find your next candidate, remember that we interview every candidate sent over to you. Use that interview as a first interview. If we are doing our jobs properly (and I promise you that we do) we will be only sending candidates who tick the boxes for your business and vacancy. If you look at the interview you are carrying out as a 2nd interview and make a decision off the back of that, it really will make the process run so much smoother. Trust that we have already grilled them.
We hope this helps a little in understanding the market at the moment. If you have any questions please call us on 01789 532220. Remember we are experts in our field, let us take the pressure off your shoulders and find you the best candidates for your business.
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