Changing Market Conditions Means Best Clients Get The Best Candidates

It’s no secret: market conditions have changed, and they will probably continue to do so.  No matter how big or small, no company is immune - yet not all companies recognize it and are poised for change.  

Finance and Technology industries are reporting similar challenges: wide spread talent shortage.  This is a common topic confirmed by industry reports and the financial reports of publicly traded staffing firms. With the effective unemployment level for many in-demand skill sets below 3.5%, the best candidates are becoming harder to find. What does this mean for your company?  When you have a top candidate, you need to act fast.  Or, you could risk losing them to another opportunity.

As a result, at conferences all across the industry, the discussion has begun about staffing firms score-carding their clients. Difficult clients, whether intentional or not, can be costly to a staffing firm and cause the client to miss out on great candidates.  This means the best clients will naturally begin receiving the best service and the best candidates.

Understanding how to most effectively work with your staffing partner can bring you a competitive advantage by enabling you to fill positions faster and with the best talent.  Here are the top tips for working most effectively with your staffing partner:

Provide a thorough job order
Clear and thorough communication is the most important way to insure you receive the best service and top candidates for your position. Before meeting with an account manager, identify as much as possible about the work that needs to be done, and the required skills as well as those skills that would be nice to have.  Details such as how long the assignment is and how urgent the need is are important to know up front.

Just as importantly, the right candidate needs to fit in your team and company culture. Let your account manager know the environment the candidate will be working in, the hours that are expected, the management style and anything that will help identify a candidate that will be comfortable in your culture and become a contributor right away.

Be responsive
Once the account manager communicates your needs to the recruiting team, and they begin identifying and engaging candidates, it is critical to be responsive as the hiring manager.  When questions arise or resumes begin to be submitted, be sure to give feedback as quickly as possible.  Juggling in-demand candidates and other high priority job orders is a difficult job, and losing momentum on a candidate search because of slow responses from the client can often force the recruiting team to switch to working on other job orders.  This can cost the project time and possibly the loss of top candidates.

Set Interview Times Up Front
Set aside time up front that is dedicated to interview candidates. This sets a deadline for the recruiting team, moves your job order to the top of the priority list and makes the process of scheduling top candidates easier.  It motivates everyone working on your open position.

One option we offer is scheduling a “Day at Partner,” where you set aside time to come to our office and interview candidates back-to-back over a block of time.  This allows you to minimize the distractions of the office that can leave candidates with the wrong impression, and it allows you to immediately compare the candidates and select your top picks to move forward.

Understand The Market Rate For the Position And Staffing Services
In an environment where there are more job orders than top level candidates to fill them, such as for a Financial Analyst or Java Developer, it’s important to understand the real market rate. This applies to both the pay for the position you are hiring for and the cost of using a staffing service. The best candidates are going to know what their value is so in order to motivate them to take the risk of a new opportunity, it’s imperative that you understand what that is as well.

You also want to motivate the team recruiting on your positions to make your job order a top priority. A client that is paying below market rate might be faced with a longer search process, end up working with a less experienced recruiter or firm, or both.