It may be a sign companies are wising up when it comes to top talent, or evidence that recruiters are vetting their sendouts better than ever, or maybe both, but a Top Echelon survey says candidates are getting more offers today than they did a year ago.
As the chart shows, nearly a third of the networks recruiters who took the poll reported their candidates were getting “substantially more” offers today than last year. A larger percentage reported getting “a little more” offers.
Together, two-thirds of the recruiters who took the poll say more offers are being received now than a year ago. If those offers are coming from client firms, then that’s good news on the placement front. Chances are though, that since candidates in fields like IT, healthcare, and even some finance specialties work with multiple recruiters, it’s the candidates who benefit the most.
What it means for your employer clients is that any delay in the hiring process may mean the loss of a candidate to a competitor.
Joanna Bradley, IT Sales & Marketing recruitment manager for Redfish Technology, offered hiring managers and corporate recruiters advice on stepping things up to avoid losing good candidates.
At the outset, she said, ask the candidate or prospect if they are interviewing anywhere else, how far along are they, and if they have any offers on the table. No point in wasting time.
If your prospect is accommodating, and you can get in a few more questions, try to find out if they have turned any offers down recently and why. If money’s the reason, you’ll learn more about their price range than simply finding out what they currently earn. If it was the nature of the job, or some other issue, knowing that up front will avoid surprises later on.
Bradley’s other suggestions, aimed at hiring managers and corporate recruiting procedures, are to:
- Be prepared to change your interview process to speed things up.
- Negotiate. “Once the interviewing is complete and you have decided your ideal candidate has finally arrived,” she says, “be prepared to negotiate.”
- Incorporate the team in the offer process, even for a key member or in a smaller firm, having the CEO reach out to the candidate.
- Sell the company and the opportunity, something every good recruiter knows to do.
- Hire a recruiter! And here’s what she says about why:
Recruiters can ask questions that may be tough for a company to ask of candidates, and often provide alternative solutions to impasses. Also, candidates tend to be more open with their recruiter, often times because they do not want to offend or insult their prospective employer either by asking them for more money or telling them they are interviewing elsewhere.