Winter is Near: 3 Tips On How to Be Successful in the Rough Months of RecruitmentPosted over 2 years ago by Nick Boulton

Winter is just around the corner, so there is no room for complacency. Client Server Director Nick Boulton comes in with three tips recruiters need to do during the tough months of recruitment, which your competition might not be doing.

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Winter is near, which means you have to fight through the strenuous months of recruitment. So, what are you waiting for?

The job market changed almost overnight. Millions got vaccinated, restrictions lifted, offices reopened, and people started to creep out from their bunkers. The mood of the nation has dramatically improved by ricocheting from fear to excitement.

Conversations switched to the booming property market and away from Covid-19. After all the redundancies, furloughing and hardships—it's time to talk about finding a new job or changing careers.

The last six months have been a recruitment frenzy.

In 2020, we were one of the few recruitment businesses hiring. We fought hard to keep our best people and risked a lot not furloughing while supporting the few clients we still had that were recruiting. We had a massive pool of candidates applying for every role and not many clients trying to fill in new positions during this time. A year later, we are dealing with the exact opposite: although there are hundreds of roles, there are nowhere near enough candidates to fill them.

The bloody recruitment Gods are so cruel!

We are in the middle of “The Great Resignation”, as developers are quitting their current jobs for new opportunities every day. Initially, the main driver was substantial pay rises. But now, companies are not embracing flexible work properly. Many businesses feel like they have done their bit, and with expensive offices half-full at best, they have sounded the trumpet to call all staff back to the office. Not all full-time, but at least a few days a week, and this is not what the technology community wants or has been used to.

So, what do you do in this market? That is simple—easy come, easy go. With jobs aplenty, move again!

The reality is that most companies that are hiring do not offer the flexibility they are looking for. The ones who are getting this right are the ones who are letting their tech teams be as flexible as they want. Yes, you need core days for the team to come in, bond, meet each other, form comraderies, etc., but let them dictate how this looks. If they meet deadlines, complete projects, and write quality code, what's not to like?

Other departments, teams, or divisions might complain, but that’s life. If you have a unique skill in a niche vertical, it allows more flexibility.

As we enter the traditionally challenging months of recruitment, the biggest obstacle for recruiters is connecting with candidates. They have to fight through the noise of the other thousands of recruiters trying to reach out to the same candidates. In addition, candidates with hard-to-find skills often consider several job offers simultaneously. You need to put extra effort into persuading passive candidates to choose you and your company over your competitors.

So, what do you need to start doing?

1. First and foremost, PICK UP the phone!

It seems that some recruiters think recruitment has transitioned into an email-only process—they think it’s “so clever” to do a whole process over email, they even post about it?!

That’s not your job, and it's not what makes you an excellent recruiter. How can you suggest you understand your candidate, know what they are looking for, and have built empathy through an email?!!!

Seriously, join an admin team if you want to avoid connecting with your candidates with phone calls and meetups. In the long run, to be a successful recruiter, you need to get back on the phone dialing candidates. Yes, you might make the odd deal via email in this market. Heck, my six-month-old puppy can probably do the odd deal by randomly smashing her little paws up and down on the keyboard, but that doesn’t make her a recruiter.

2. Take Advantage of Hiring Managers Improved Flexibility

I have dealt with hundreds of hiring managers whose main issue is managing their diaries. They seem to have so little availability to meet candidates for interviews, it's borderline on disinterest. Pinning them down for a decision after the interview can prove mission impossible. It shouldn’t be like that, but recruitment is simply not their main priority. Come this festive period, and their availability opens up!

There won’t be Christmas lunches and office parties of yesteryear. Because they should be more responsive this year, take advantage, and be proactive.

3. Take Advantage of Less Recruitment Competition

Every recruiter takes their foot off the gas leading up to Christmas. It’s what they do, no matter how much you warn them. So, while most of your competitors decide to slack off, you should be upping your game. As far as I know, recruitment isn’t a 10 or 11-month job, it’s 12 months! And why wouldn’t you make hay while the sun shines?

There is a highly competitive fight between organisations to attract the best talent, so take advantage of less competition this time of year. If the opposition decides not to show up, there is only one winner! The other option is to delay until the January recruitment frenzy with everyone else. Make the right choice.