How has the market changed for an employer over the past 5 years?

Let me give a real practical example. I recently had to re-write a series of job descriptions for one of my clients; they are recruiting both consultants and managers in Chicago and New York.

They provide a great service to their clients but their job descriptions told me nothing about that.

They made the mistake of telling me and any potential candidates what they do and list the tasks they do within their roles.

What they failed to do was bring out the ‘why’ of what they do, ‘why’ they do it and what job satisfaction their roles give them.

Why bother?

Because the work they do;

• saves clients – time, money and effort
• ultimately makes the work life of their clients more fulfilling and effective

Another example my client wanted to ask candidates to prepare a case study to demonstrate how they would typically approach / attempt to solve a tricky client problem.

This in itself is a great idea but we had to explain to them that there was an error in this approach they had forgotten the major factor – it’s not about them as an employer it’s about the candidate.

Why would a candidate want to work for them?

By giving them a case study to complete before they have even engaged / bought into the idea of working at the firm, they had effectively lost the best candidates already!

If they had a great potential candidate for a position in management consultancy, they had put in an obstacle before even getting through the door, but for all the right reasons!

Until that person had bought into a role at the company, why would they bother?

If you ask someone to complete the case study scenario from the outset, that’s what they are going to perceive their job to be about.

I agree some of the roles have an element of report writing but before you have properly sold yourself / engaged a candidate in a recruitment opportunity, let alone got them involved in a process then you have it all backwards.

Clients need to sell themselves

They need to present themselves as the place someone would want or need to work to further their careers. You need to be offering them an IRRESISTIBLE opportunity to work at your firm! You are giving them a career springboard!

I explained to clients that they need to meet candidates.

It is once they’ve met – both client and candidate can decide whether they want to progress, once they have finished their first dance!

The candidate is then committed to the process and then they may be interested in you as a firm.
Too many of my clients suffer from what I call the ‘ME-Mindset’.

It is not about you as an employer anymore.

Times have changed.

Despite more challenging recruitment conditions in recent years, it is still about the employee not the employer.

Candidates vote with their feet, and if they don’t enjoy the work environment they leave.

As an employer, if you don’t have an irresistible opportunity, then high potential candidates won’t apply.

Don’t get confused; you will receive applications, but not from the kind of candidate YOU want!

They won’t be the ones you want, the time wasters; they may be lovely people but they are not what I would call ‘career-enhancers’ – the candidates who want a career furthering move onwards and upwards within your organisation.

Give me a call I can explain exactly what you need to do to attract the right candidates to work for your firm!