I didn’t expect to hear these questions in today’s market, but clients are asking — “Where are all the candidates?  Why are they not applying for jobs like they did in the past?”  In this new economy, the market has drastically changed right before our eyes.   Candidates are becoming more selective than ever while clients are being much more specific in their job descriptions.  Clients do not want to train – they want candidates to hit the ground running.

We’ve noticed a few trends in this evolving workplace.  Just by posting, a position on a website or on a particular job board does not always  attract the right candidate.  Since many candidates have been downsized and have not had the opportunity to find the right position, candidates are rethinking their career goals and exploring many different positions than they would have done in the past. This has created a completely different type of temporary pool of candidates for clients to choose from.

It used to be easy to attract the desired type of job seeker, but today the secret in finding the right candidate is going beyond and digging deep into what would work well at a specific desk.  It is rooted in knowing how to screen and ask the right questions.

While many clients are hesitant to hire someone who has been out of work for a significant timeframe, there is a goldmine of talent in this segment of job seekers.  Many of these candidates have taken the past several months to upgrade their skills, work on their craft, and increase their education.  They want to find a position that they feel will align with their new way of working and they have a renewed energy to launch their next career path.  Some do not need to be earning what they made in the past and would be quite happy with a salary that is less than what they were making.   They just want to be working and contribute to the workforce while the employer benefits in a high value employee.

There is an emerging workforce of “new and improved” talent with intense knowledge and unique experience that can be game changing for your company.   The key is to broaden your horizons and know where to look for them.