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Employers, give yourself the competitive advantage in this candidate short market. Are you paying your job candidates enough attention?
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock you will have noticed that the landscape, we have all been familiar with, is changing. Since March 2019 it feels as though every single day there is a new change and progressively over the last 18 months, we are now doing things completely different in all aspects of our lives. Exercising in the garage instead of the gym, getting a la carte meals takeaway instead of fine dining, home-schooling kids and working from our kitchen table.
Day to day changes that we are all too aware of, have led to a new familiar for many of us. Another new familiar that we have found in the recruitment world is that people are not moving around as much with their career journey. It is the safe bet for candidates to stay in their current roles and wait for these “changing times” to pass. People want certainty, they want stability and most of all they want to feel secure and safe.
Whilst there are many businesses that have had to close and some that will not make it through this time, some businesses continue to operate and continue to grow. They are looking for people to join their growth and bring new skills and ideas to the table. The issue is that new talent or open candidates, are few and far between. They are not willing to take the chance of the unknown and unfortunately will stay with an employer even if they are unhappy. When candidates are ready to move, they want to go where they feel wanted, needed and secure.
What we are noticing now is if an employer is looking for new talent and they hesitate for any reason throughout the recruitment process, a star candidate will disappear. If they are getting more immediate attention from another potential employer, the candidate will choose them. It is not about who is making the best offer, it’s about who is paying the most attention to the candidate.
Our advice is, if you identify a candidate who ticks all the boxes for your opportunity, move quick. Don’t wait a week to make a decision, the candidate will be gone. Keep clear lines of communication. Call them, tell them where you are at in your thinking, have a forward plan of your recruitment schedule and provide a definite timeline from your first interview to the date of offer. Give yourself the competitive advantage in this candidate short market. Because, like it or not, you are in competition with other employers and if you don’t play the game right, you will lose!
