bizMe

Believe it or not, in the worse recession our generation has seen, many recruiters have remained very busy and putting in 50-60 hour work weeks. A lot of candidates assume that recruiters are not busy with few employers actually hiring. It has been a big misconception that has resulted in candidates getting quite frustrated with recruiters. It is taking more time than usual to get back to job seekers, and unfortunately it has been almost impossible to get back to a large percentage of job applicants. So what have we been spending so much time on? The biggest time consumption has been in reviewing resumes from applicants, sourcing candidates for extremely targeted searches, outplacement services and taking calls from unemployed job seekers looking for our help and getting involved in different aspects of business.

Although all that has been reported is significant lay-offs, companies are always looking for talent. In these times, organizations are focused on hiring top talent that is directly related to bringing in revenue for business or highly strategic roles. These types of searches are usually lengthy searches as it is imperative for organizations to not make a hiring mistake. Their requirements are tight as they do not have time to train someone without the accurate skills.

Talent match-up must be exact
Job seekers tend to look at job descriptions and are confident they can do the role. They know they do not have the exact experience but their background would lend very well into the objectives of the role they are applying for. For many, it seems like the perfect “next step” in their career. In a strong economy, these candidates would certainly get a look. In the current economy, they unfortunately will be passed on. This has resulted in recruiters taking calls from numerous candidates who have applied and are not understanding why they are not being considered. Along with the time it takes to explain this to candidates, recruiters are seeking the candidates with the exact experience which is very time consuming. Recruiters must set a strategy, find the right people in the right industry and get them to take time to listen to the opportunity. It takes more time than one may assume. This has also resulted in many applicants not receiving a call back and becoming frustrated with recruiters.

Resumes by the hundreds . . . or more!
Third party recruiters have been getting a lot of new business from small companies who may have one or two open positions. These companies have typically been able to have an internal resource go through resumes and initiate the interview process. With so many unemployed applicants, companies are getting hundreds, and sometimes over one thousand resumes for a single open position with their organization. These companies have turned to third party agencies to screen through the resumes and interview the top 10 candidates before turning the best candidates to the hiring company. It takes hours to get through such a high volume of resumes.

Large organizations that were forced to lay off their internal recruiters have outsourced their recruiting efforts for open positions to third party agencies as well. These organizations usually have at least 10 positions open and they use outside recruiters to find the right candidate for these roles. It may seem inefficient and more costly to lay off internal recruiters and then spend cash on engaging with a third party. It is actually a huge cost savings to them and third parties typically have more resources to quickly find them the right candidate. If they do not have capacity to place their internal recruiters in a different department and “share” them until recruiting needs come up, it is a good business decision to outsource. The third party recruiters will then spend their time screening the large volume of resumes received for these open positions.

Outplacement services for the unexpected job seeker
Making decisions for a large lay off is a very hard event for many organizations. They are forced to lay off employees who have had good performance and often employees who have served a long tenure with their respective organization. For good measure and to help these employees land a new opportunity, they turn to recruiters for outplacement programs. Outplacement services help the unexpected job seeker polish their resume, learn how to find the right opportunities, brush up their interview skills and get them connected to the right network in their industry. Each outplacement candidate needs one-on-one attention as each has specific needs to help successfully land in a new role. A lot of these candidates have not been in a job search for several years and it take a lot of time with them to get them up to speed on new ways to look for an opportunity.

Corporate recruiters have seen a lot of their normal workload dwindle. With significant cuts in hiring, how have they been keeping busy? We have seen a lot of companies retaining their top recruiters and shifting their work responsibilities from recruiting, to getting involved in various aspects of the business. Smart organizations have kept their recruiters and have placed them in different departments until it is time to start hiring again. It takes a lot of time for corporate recruiters to understand the business, different business units within the company, their culture and how to attract the right talent. Companies who have retained their recruiters and have trained them in different areas will have a strong advantage when the economy turns. They will not need to train new recruiters and they will be able to pick up right where they left off.

Are resumes kept?
Recruiters have a lot of clients and candidates to maintain relationships with. We work long hours to make sure we tie up loose ends and do not miss out on good candidates in the sea of resumes we receive. We expect 2010 to be a better hiring year, but do not expect a hockey stick growth. It will be slow, but anticipate a steady pace this year. Recruiters will hopefully have more opportunities for the candidates looking for new positions. Do not be surprised if you sent your resume to a recruiter six months ago and you finally hear from them this year. Recruiters keep just about every resume they receive in hopes they can help them out in the future if they cannot at the time you initially made contact.