Job Strategies and Openings in Denver COPeople often ask recruiters about the overall hiring market, usually to validate their own perceptions about it. They’re usually trying to gauge how much effort they should expend in hiring a new person or in looking for a new job.

Some facts:

• Since Jan. 1, the United States has added about 192,000 jobs each month. Most experts expect that to continue for the foreseeable future. It’s a good number, but most agree it’s not enough to drive down unemployment to a level that indicates a healthier job market and economy.

• In a recent poll of 11,000 people on LinkedIn, 95 percent of respondents indicated they’d be “open to exploring a new position if it were better than the one they currently hold.”

So with higher unemployment and this willingness to consider a job change, why are many hiring professionals still complaining that finding top talent is very difficult? Why are many job postings just reposts of positions that remain unfilled? Why, with so many open jobs, do so many people still say there are no good jobs? Is there a job and skills mismatch? The answer is “yes” for many high-tech positions.

But it still doesn’t get to the heart of the issue for most other open positions in sales, operations, accounting, finance, human resources and administration.

The main reason for these seeming contradictions is that the demand for our products and services is flat. Most companies have rebounded from the recession, but there hasn’t been a significant increase in new customer demand.

Business growth is flat, thus hiring is done with more caution and reservation. So top talent is reluctant to make a change and move from a safe zone into the land of possible opportunity. This drags the hiring process into the mud, and results in jobs not getting filled and top talent being difficult to recruit.

Hiring managers: Top talent will be more attracted to your open position and company if they’re satisfied that the new position will be a better opportunity.

Most companies have difficulty articulating their future, so it becomes virtually impossible to promote a company or an open position. Therefore, most companies begin the hiring process in a deficit position.

They attract candidates who consider a job based solely on pay or location, not considering more deeply the position, its challenges, impact and opportunities. Instead of thinking big, and thinking about how the role will affect the candidate, hiring managers keep the focus myopic, resulting in poorly conceived recruiting strategies, interviews that don’t ask any of the tough questions or get revealing answers.

The hiring process is stymied, the right candidate doesn’t present, and the wait-and-see game continues. If company leaders still believe the company is special, that A players will gravitate to it or that it still can underpay because the brand is so strong, then the openings will remain open.

If a company has failed to find that one special candidate — you know, the one with the “degree, flexible personality, solid technical skills, a track record of success, industry contacts and an ability to significantly impact your company for $32k” — then this hiring market is going to seem awfully difficult.

The market is tough and your company will grow only if it can hire people with the experience that shows they’re likely to make a difference, rather than meet an unrealistic list of expectations.

Candidates: Take control and investigate what the right next step would be. Know the type of work you love to do, what type of projects make you feel most engaged, the types of people and environments where you thrive, and what roles would result in a positive career move.

Do your research. Most job markets shrink down to a manageable size when you know this information. Don’t send your résumé to any position because you hate your current job, or because the pay looks better or you’ve admired the company from the outside.

Slow down, make connections inside the company, verify your assumptions and find someone on the inside who can validate your opinions about yourself and the company. Really think about how your skills and expertise can have a true impact so you can more easily articulate your values.

This hiring inertia weighs heavily on our economy. Many economists predict we’ve got a few years to go before demand picks up for our goods and services. Those companies that have managed their fears about the future, hired effectively and focused on employee engagement will have the talent and solutions necessary to capitalize on this growth.

By Stephanie Klein, President and CEO of Experience Factor
This blog was posted in the “Denver Business Journal” website on Aug. 26, 2013.