Being on the hunt for a new job in an employer-driven market is beyond frustrating. There are fewer jobs being opened, and for those fewer openings, competition abounds and it's hard to get noticed as a candidate. But our clients share that an employer-driven job market is not all rainbows and sunshine for them either. Many hiring managers have had their talent acquisition and HR partners laid-off through “organizational restructuring,” leaving them overwhelmed with candidate profiles to review, little training on how to best assess a candidate, and trying to do their full time job (or multiple jobs) while trying to hire. All of this manifests in a less-than-awesome candidate experience for job seekers and stress for hiring managers.
We can’t solve the economic pressures a company might be feeling or how they respond, but we do know that the job market will flip again at some point, giving candidates the advantage. If you are hiring right now, we have some ideas that might help ensure you’re not at a disadvantage when that flip happens.
- Understand WHO you need to hire: In product design, there is always a lot of talk about user personas - who will use your product? The same concept can be applied to hiring - what is your ideal candidate persona? What are the technical skills that your team lacks or are absolutely required to be successful (hint: it’s rarely one specific piece of software)? What other experience or skills will allow someone to be successful in your team and company? Don’t forget to consider transferable skills and experiences that might allow someone to bring a unique perspective to your team.
- Streamline the hiring process: Once you know who you need to hire, you can design an interview process that involves only key decision-makers over the course of 3-4 conversations. The best interview processes are not drawn out - even in an employer-driven job market, lengthy processes can cause top candidates to lose interest or accept offers from competitors.
- Use AI to learn and to generate better interview questions: Once you’ve identified who you need to hire, generative AI can help you learn how to drive your interview process. Use it to research how to best assess the candidates you’re interviewing, and using your persona, job descriptions, and performance expectations for the candidate, AI can build interview guides for you and your key decision-makers.
- Stay focused on Candidate Experience:?Do what you can to create transparency with every candidate you engage with - it shows you value their time and skills. Let them know how many steps are in the process, when they can expect to hear from you, and what kind of background checks are required. Also share the expectations you’d have for them once they’re hired - it’s more likely a candidate will self-select out of a process if they are uncomfortable with your expectations, saving everyone time.?
- Understand the competitive compensation landscape: In an employer-driven market, it’s common for compensation ranges to compress or for benefit offerings (especially flexible work schedules) to change. Do your own research - use AI if you can! - to understand what your competitors are offering, and compare that to what you’re able to offer. If you’re not able to offer everything your competitors can, really think about your differentiated value proposition - think about what’s in it for the candidate (another hint: it’s never a ping-pong table).?
We know that most hiring managers want to treat their candidates with respect and hire great talent. If you’re feeling overwhelmed as a hiring leader, reach out - SymphonicHCM can help with process evaluation, compensation analysis, and hiring!
