My Experience of…… The ‘WEIRD’ 2023 Jobs Market

  At the time of writing this blog, employment is running at 76%

And no matter what market you’re in, as an employer, you’ll feel & very much sense that tangibly when you recruit. It makes recruiting tough, competitive, very fast paced & caution does not favour a hesitant employer. So this short blog aims to give you a taster of what’s going on in my everyday recruiting job.

And I believe I’m experienced enough to admit I’m finding it all just so weird. Even after 30yrs recruiting. It’s daily happenings. It’s fact. And if it’s happening to me – its likely happening to you.

There’s some comfort in that, I guess!

At this juncture, if I can pause & throw in a quick defence of Recruiters. Recruiters who, like me, daily recruit, daily reply to applicants, daily hunt, daily work within this weird framework of the changing jobs market. Yes, Recruiters can be criticised & percieved as pushy; they ‘only’ want to sell this quick fix to you & they’ll corner you so that your freedom of choice is minimized & diminished. And some Recruiters may work that way. I don’t. I don’t think I’d have survived 16yrs alone in my little business that’s been created all by word of mouth recommendations if I did. But if you find a Recruiter you trust, you won’t see it as that. You should then ask yourself is it a perception or does it come from a place where employers must remember (please allow the phrase) ‘You Snooze You Lose?’

So. Yes. its all WEIRD.

The WEIRD way of recruiting in 2023……..

• I may advertise & get nothing for the most attractive of jobs & yet advertise a role not as juicy or interesting & good have choices & the next month (or week) that will be different again. A total reversal. Or you may find you’ve both settled on a candidate as though not 100% perfect you & you & clients are realists. They fit the bill as much as you can say at that point, there’s no one else around & they’re offered. Great. And…..out of the blue 5 days later an unsolicited CV for a closer matched candidate appears. That genuinely rarely used to happen. And there’s no rhyme / reason / lesson as to why it does now – but it does!
• Recognize the difference between Active & Passive candidates. They need approaching & handling differently & your communications will tend to be slightly angled to knowing that they’re free now or need tempting out of their roles.
• I am VERY lucky if I get more than 5 relevant applicants for an advertised job. I used to be inundated. Not now. And those days may never return. But now it’s small, sometimes good, sometimes no good CVS. So I spend my day hunting candidates & I approach them. That’s really what I do now as less applicants = less stock on my shelves & that’s how I fill most (indeed I’d say over 80%) of the jobs I get.
• Be (or try to be) an ‘EMPLOYER OF CHOICE’. Remember there’s only one pool of candidates to fish in: I’m in this tricky market, so are your competitors & so are you. To get visibility on your job, to attract candidates who are tempted to apply you need to accurately define why you’d be sought after as an employer. You need a sharp, interesting & attractive advert, you must be timely in your responses, organised for interviews & have a well-structured process. Again hesitancy is a sure sign way of the candidate losing interest & likely, will drop out.
• And to hark back to that statement I mentioned earlier ‘You Snooze You Lose.’ Absolutely at your peril hang around. If you come across only one outstanding candidate, don’t doubt that there’ll organisations in your locale also thinking the same. Move on them or if you have to pause – keep the lines of communication open as then if a disaster occurs, you’re perhaps in with a chance of saving it. Rightly / wrongly – if a candidate senses great hesitation it usually crashes the relationship & they move on. Again, remember – they know it’s a busy market & they know they’re in demand.
• Compromise is crucial – on both sides but mostly (& maybe surprisingly), in this market it’ll be you that compromises. You, as the employer, need to be understanding of that. Throughout the process remember it’s all about people. It’s not & cannot ever be a precise art & it’s rare to find THE perfect person.

And remember…you only need one candidate.

I’m Roseanne & I successfully run Nu-Recruit – I place permanent candidates of the very best quality into great local employers & jobs in Liverpool, Chester & Wirral. In a no-fuss, no nonsense way. And I love what I do.

Call me if you think my experience will help you get the best candidate for your job!