The Balance of Power

Today's job market is bonkers. Remote work opportunities, businesses shuttering their doors, quarantines, split office time, wearing masks at work, and millions of people being let go due to no fault of their own. This influx of talent on the outside looking in and employers figuring out how to keep the lights on for the next 3-9 months while also needing good talent to help them keep said lights on has turned this world of work on its head.

I've spent most of my career in the staffing & recruiting industry and around the HR community. The below commentary touches on a lot of the questions and realities that have existed for far too long yet change has been slow.

Something has to give and a paradigm shift is in the works with so many talented professionals looking for new ways to stay/get employed, learning new skills, and pivoting careers. The tale of two sides in the job market story.

The Candidate: Many of the 800K+ unemployed (and the 200-300k underemployed seekers also looking) are not in a position to be as selective as they might have been in May/June when things started reopening; and at this point if they've been unemployed or looking for better work for 6+ months they may just be looking for a job to pay the bills and keep the lights on...this problem is compounded by the fact that in today's job market many employer Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) reject or pass on applications and resumes that don't hit the mark in the keyword scoring programs, along with the recruiting team (actual humans) scanning a resume in less than 10 seconds (how much can you actually read in that time?!), and add to that many job seekers aren't the best at articulating and showcasing their wealth of skills or experience.

With this misalignment and realities for candidates they are left without an opportunity to speak and relate with an actual person. For those who consider themselves "people" people or better in conversation than on paper, often getting that first interview or conversation with a hiring manager is what eventually opens up the eyes and insights into what a company is looking for and if it's in alignment with what the candidate can provide...

The Employer: Often employers hold most (if not all) of the cards in the poker game of employment, which leaves candidates left to guess or interpret what a company wants in it's next hire based on a job description and company website. Some companies are trying to make that experience a bit better and insightful by sharing culture videos and video job descriptions, which is a step in the right direction for balancing the deck but they are still in the minority across the job market.

With many employers having the "luxury" of being selective, it begs the question to look at the other side and for employers/recruiters to decide if they are going to let people fend for themselves or do the hard work of helping lift up those that are qualified yet still struggling to find work.

I remember during the years following the '08 recession many employers were desperate for talent and falling over themselves to do whatever it took to get the best talent. Why did that have to stop?

Like any good sales person or recruiter will tell you there are seasons of feast and seasons of famine yet regardless of which season the successful ones are always tending to their pipelines. Perhaps employers are taking their eyes off the talent attraction ball and shifting focus to the overwhelming flood of applicants and candidates hitting them up and fighting to sift thru everything in a quick and orderly fashion. There's a great article and additional perspective from Harvard Business Review (here) that sheds light on some of the aspects employers may miss if they think its their time in the sun in an "employers market" during this COVID era.

In a recent poll I asked job seekers a question about what issues they believed were getting in the way of landing their next job.

Here are the results:

Most of the takeaways and insights related to the reality that employers hiring process and timelines (along with the tech they use) are major obstacles. Why is that? In an era where technology should be the ally not the antagonist. Outdated platforms, old ways of doing things, and poor collaboration between HR/Recruiting and hiring managers which leads to missing out on fantastic talent or not even seeing the viable candidates that can't seem to fit the right terms or keywords in their resume to get past the screeners and bots.

The pandemic has certainly changed the game for everyone. Remote work and virtual offices are allowing employers and job seekers alike to have more choices than ever before...some could see that redistribution of talent as a good thing, especially if geography has been a deterrent (anyone ready to move to Fargo?) and opening up new job opportunities with exciting new companies or new industries (working for Google HQ without living in San Fran sounds pretty sweet right!).

"Be so good they can't ignore you."

But don't fret! Candidates have an opportunity to shift the balance of power in today's market. Why stand on the sidelines while application after application gets crickets or auto-rejected?? Finding a full-time job is in itself a full-time job nowadays. Speed matters (for both employers and candidates) so why not go on the offensive and attack!

With video becoming the norm with many interviews and (some) inventive job applications there is a great opportunity for candidates to side-step the current norms and get front and center with employers by marketing themselves and using video to their advantage (pants optional). How to initiate that on your own without becoming a tech guru is the question?

Know any good platforms or services out there that can help top talent marketing themselves and get around the typical obstacles? Comment below if any come to mind!