Finding candidates: Have you adjusted your expectations?

unexpected changes

You know the story: Your experienced, wonderful employee who has helped grow the company for the last 15 years – has decided to retire at the end of the quarter. You have ample time to prepare the job description to match the new direction that the company is taking and you have plenty of time to think about what qualities you want in your new hire. You put everything together and run the ad in the usual spots, but while an impressive number of resumes come rolling in, very few of them actually resemble the vision you have for this new hire. What’s going on? Finding candidates is getting harder and harder. Have you adjusted your expectations?

Demographic Shifts Are Affecting Staffing

You want a candidate with hard skills who checks all the boxes. You need them hired yesterday.  You don’t have time to train someone.

At Artemis Consultants, we get it.  But in today’s global labor shortage, we also know that you may be waiting quite a while to fulfill your job description.  In the length of time it takes find that ideal candidate, you may want to consider if you could have trained someone just the way you want.

Having positions go unfilled for long periods of time can be avoided in some cases. It pays off to take a more serious look at candidates who CAN be trained do the job.

The actual number of candidates is declining due to a soup of complexities involving generational shifts, economics, and education. As baby boomers start to retire and leave the workforce, the next generation with the most experience, Generation X, is the smallest generation currently being represented in the labor force. Add to that many mid-level managers who got frozen in place during the recession of 2008, and declining enrollment at business colleges and graduate schools around the country due to the soaring cost of higher education, and there’s a shortage of qualified candidates who have both experience and education.

Questions to help you align expectations

Is your job description aligned with a new hire in a competitive environment? Where are the flexible attributes? Rather than hire in an executive who is a mediocre fit for your culture and the role, why not separate your list into must-haves, some skills, and places for growth? This approach will help you think through who is your idealized candidate and who is a really great candidate. It will also help you have a lens to evaluate prospective hires through.

A specialized recruiting partner can be a true asset in this marketplace. They can help you evaluate an entire new landscape of candidates that aren’t openly advertising they’re available, yet could be a great fit for your hiring needs. The recruiters at Artemis Consultants speak with hundreds of valuable candidates each month that are passively open to making a career change.

It’s a tough find great people these days. You don’t need to do it alone. The recruiters at Artemis Consultants can help. Send us an email or give us a call to discuss your current or pending recruiting challenges.

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