If you don’t stand out, you don’t exist.

I sat with a client earlier this week who asked me a very straight question as we discussed a very challenging recruitment process;

‘OK Simon, what is the one bit of advice you would give my business, as we are not succeeding in filling our current vacancies and no-one can tell me why?’

Those of you who know me know one thing, I am straight talking and to the point. I therefore responded with;

Me - ‘Easy. Stand out from the crowd’

Client – ‘Any chance you can be more specific?’

Me - ‘Yes. Accept if you don’t stand out as a business, you won’t exist to potential candidates. Accept you need to have the view that someone is choosing you and to be chosen you have to clearly stand out. Embrace standing out, but really do it, don’t just talk about the fact you get fruit once a week for the team. Really genuinely question yourself as to how you currently stand out and then work towards telling that story relentlessly’.

Why is that my main advice?

Currently in the professional permanent recruitment market (certainly across the East of England) the volume and range of opportunities is plentiful. Like it or not, candidates have choice, you might think too much choice, but they have choice. Don’t believe me? Right now Cooper Lomaz Recruitment has over 400 live permanent jobs on our system. I am neither boasting nor giving away the keys to the kingdom in saying that. Any Recruitment Agency that does not have lots of jobs on at the moment who who across professional recruitment must be that way through choice. There is no shortage of opportunity. 

Don’t take my word for it. Take a look at the below stats which came from the British Chamber of Commerce and Totaljobs quarterly report issued this morning:

·        Only 7% of employers expect their workforce to shrink heading into Q3.

·        64% of businesses report a skills shortage within their business right now.

·        60% of businesses have attempted to recruit staff in the past 3 months.

·        64% of these businesses experienced difficulties in recruiting.

·        I’m not skewing these figures by covering all levels of roles as 49% of those that had difficulties recruiting were trying to recruit at the professional/managerial level.

This is a great time to be in recruitment, but we have to work harder than ever before to make clients jump out to candidates and match the right candidates to the right role. It can be hard to be really honest sometimes as you risk losing an opportunity, but we will not fix the current challenges our clients face if we are not direct, to the point and honest.

The challenge is for us as recruiters is to solve this problem, but that won’t happen without partner clients realising they play a massive part in this process too.

Seriously stand out or you don’t exist.