How to Fill More Vacancies in a Competitive Job Market

Recruiters must be making active efforts today to increase their placement rates in the tight candidate market that currently exists in most of the Western world. The most important steps to take are:

1. Understand your job market
2. Be open to a variety of applicants and genuinely question “must-haves”
3. Be upfront about salaries and benefits packages
4. Streamline the hiring procedure since time is of the essence
5. Have ongoing conversations with candidates
6. Focus on the candidate experience
7. Don't be intimidated to say no

In this article, I’m going to explore each of these 7 steps one-by-one so that you can understand what you need to do as a recruiter if you want to make more hires this year.

Understand your job market

With so few people entering certain industries and fields, it is important to understand your market. Who currently recruits in that industry? What are some companies offering salary range for potential candidates (and what is the average)? How often do these employers make counteroffers when they find out one of their employees will be leaving? What specific skills and experience are in high demand?

The more you know about the market, the better you can advise your clients. As a recruiter, it is important to have all the information available to you. This will also help you do right by your candidates and help them make career moves that will be a good fit for them.

So be truthful with yourself. If you feel like your skills are not up-to par in certain areas compared to other recruiters in your market, then it's time to dedicate some time to learning more. You can do this by having exploratory calls and asking questions; listening to podcasts for inspiration may also be helpful.

Be open to a variety of applicants and genuinely question “must-haves”

As a recruiter, it's essential to challenge an employer's "must-have" recruiting criteria, as this can help to expand the pool of potential talent.

To challenge them and broaden your search beyond what they want, it’s important that you understand the job requirements inside-out before talking to employers about what qualities are necessary or unnecessary in a candidate. Could there be another way to measure whether someone would succeed? Are there any unconscious preconceptions influencing how decisions are made?

Employers often want to fill positions with candidates who meet specific requirements. But if you can identify any areas where the "must haves" might be open or challenged, more options become available. This also increases your chances of making a placement as well as improving diversity hiring, since a more diverse set of candidates will then be included in the recruitment process.

So, don’t be scared to question your client. It could end up being what they need to find the perfect person for their role.

Be transparent about salaries and benefits packages

If you are upfront about salaries and benefits packages, it can speed up the hiring process by reducing the number of candidates who abandon the recruitment process when they find out that the salary or benefits aren’t what they expected. This transparency also sends a message that the employer is open and willing to be honest with potential candidates. For many candidates, this can be appealing on its own.

It is also often helpful to persuade your client to disclose the remuneration on offer. This way, there will be no hidden issues later down the line. It is better to encounter any problems early rather than learn about them during the offer stage.

Streamline the hiring procedure since time is of the essence

Making a job offer as quickly and thoroughly as possible is the best way to get your client's hiring done. To secure top talent, your client’s competitors will be aggressive, moving in quickly to secure an offer of acceptance. To keep up with the competition means that your client also needs to be aggressive.

Streamlining the hiring process is one way to do this and can be vital for avoiding delays. Streamlined processes ensure that all necessary approvals go through, contact information has been updated early on to get potential candidates lined up right away and there are no hiccups in getting candidates in for interviews.

Of course, sometimes the best laid plans don’t always work out as you had imagined. But that doesn’t mean that you should let your client's widespread procrastination become an excuse for losing out on placements!

Have ongoing conversations with candidates

You should be asking your candidates questions at every stage of the hiring process. Not just about whether they are interested in your role, but also questions on broader career move issues like what their long-term career goals may be. This can help you decide if the opportunity your client is offering is a good fit for them.

As a recruiter, it is important that you can have a conversation with your candidates. This will help them figure out if this job, or any other job in the future, is right for them. You also need to be able to have an open dialogue with them. This means knowing where they are in their decision-making process so that no one is surprised by anything later down the road.

Focus on the candidate experience

Put yourself in your candidate’s shoes. What do you want from the recruitment process? Ideally, you want it to be fast and organized. You also want the recruiter to be professional and make sure that your expectations are met throughout.

That's what you need to strive for when working with clients. It may not always be easy, but it’s worth putting your candidates first and building up your reputation as a recruiter who puts them before anything else.

Don't be intimidated to say no

Finally, it is important to be realistic about the opportunities you take on as a recruiter. If it is not likely that the opportunity will be a good fit, or it’s unlikely that it will result in a placement, then it is not worth proceeding with it. Not only will you be disappointed if you do not get the outcome you want, but your client will also be disappointed.

Honesty is the best policy when it comes to explaining why you can't help with a client's needs. If you tell them the truth about why something might not work, they might change their mind about things like their salary package, what they need in a candidate, and how long they expect the hiring process to take. Even if they don't always like hearing it, they will respect your honesty and integrity.

This is an important point because it impacts how much money you could potentially make each year. You can't realistically work on every placement that comes through your door, so don't waste time or money trying - instead focus your effort on opportunities that are more likely to result in placements.

Conclusion

We all know how competitive this candidate market is. However, if you take some proactive steps today, you can dramatically improve your results. Use this list as a starting point. It’s not exhaustive, but it will give you some good areas to focus on that can help you improve your results.

Which of the points above do you think you should prioritize? As always, if talking through this topic in more detail would be helpful for you or your team, then happy to jump on a call. You can book in for one here.