In "The Game of Thrones", The King is now............ The "Candidate"

This will only be a short post however I'll cut to the chase on this. In my 25 years of working in Recruitment I can honestly say its the most candidate driven market I have ever known it to be.

Pre Covid i.e. at the very beginning of 2020 the market was buoyant from both a client and a candidate perspective. We found that there was a steady stream of businesses hiring plus we were also seeing a healthy balance of candidates that were happy to make a move (Happy Days!), then of course Covid hit and we've spent the the last 18 months on a roller coaster business ride where many people threw up along the way.

I'm very happy to say that business levels are now back with a very large Boom (we are actually experiencing a higher level of vacancies than what we had pre Covid which is something we are excited and grateful for), most clients (across a variety of different verticals) are now growing and hiring again and its great to get back to some sense of business normality.

Now here's the bad news I'm afraid and those that don't take heed, be warned!! Whilst business is great and growing at a very rapid rate the caveat is that many candidates (on all levels) aren't wanting a move (this is based on a vast number of reasons, security, stability, loyalty to their employer to name but a few - a whole blog can be written on this alone but that's for another time). This means that activity levels with regards to candidates applications/volumes/willingness to at least speak about opportunity are the driest I have ever known it to be (In fact its drier than "Ghandi's Flip Flop")

If you are hiring and you think that there is an abundance of candidates queuing up to work for your company then think again as this just isn't true.

My advice on this is that if you are hiring a position right now then:

1) Work Quickly and Efficiently as if you sit and deliberate on a candidate for a week then its extremely likely they will be hired by someone else who is on it more than you, or at the very least you will be behind processes of others so you will definitely be playing catch up.

2) Its imperative (whether you be the agent, hiring manager, in house recruiter) that you engage with your candidate the absolute best way you know how (BTW a 10 minute call just won't cut it, I tend to now spend at least 40 minutes with a candidate before putting their profile foward to a client). You REALLY NEED to connect, build rapport, get under their skin to know where their drivers are and stay in touch to ensure interest and consistency

3) Don't think you can compare them to others as trust me there isn't people out their to compare to, my advice, if you like them and they are demonstrating a commitment and can add value, hire them immediately (DO NOT WAIT as you will lose out)

4) Prepare the candidate for Counter Offers (Its happening more and more so manage this as best you can)

5) Lastly just because you have a great brand, company, team, benefits, salary etc its not a given that the candidate will want to work with you, you have to work really and I mean REALLY HARD to get them to come aboard and if an offer is accepted then you still need to work hard to ensure there's no hiccups along the way.

So in the Game of Thrones, The Candidate is firmly the King and I cant see that changing for some while.