The last 18 months have been tough for any business recruiting for new employees and today’s job market is no different. As Legal, HR, Finance and Accountancy recruitment specialists we are seeing job seekers receiving multiple job offers as well as a counteroffer from their current employer in many cases. As a result, when it comes to recruitment, it feels as if the ball is very much in the court of the candidates rather than the employers. So, with candidates having multiple options, what do you need to do to make sure you are the company that the candidate chooses to work for?
Hiring in a candidate driven market
Review your offer
Review what you offer in terms of salary and benefit packages to ensure your offering is still competitive. Whilst salary is still very important, presenting a good benefits package can often be the winning edge over competitors. Offer hybrid working and / or a flexible working pattern if you can.
Remote / hybrid working is still sought after by professionals job searching today. Our recent survey found that salary, holiday allowance, and flexibility over working locations and hours are the most important benefits.
To read more about employee benefits, click here.
Job adverts
It’s important that job adverts are clearly structured, and written to sell your firm and the job to potential candidates.
Make sure the salary and all benefits are clearly communicated on job adverts. Job adverts are often where first impressions are formed by prospective employees. Clearly communicating the salary, benefits, roles and responsibilities will all attract potential talent. Therefore, it is vital that your job adverts are clearly structured, and sell your firm and the job to potential candidates.
To read more about creating the perfect job advert to attract top talent, click here.
Advert Response
Once you have candidates’ CVs, it’s crucial to be responsive. Regardless of whether or not you want to take the candidate to the next stage it’s important to give feedback.
If you are looking to take the candidate to the next stage, we recommend to get back to them within 24 hours. In a job saturated market, the professional could start looking at what else is out there and you don’t want to lose the candidate to another firm due to a slow response. Professionals actively job searching are likely to be continuously looking at job boards and networking with recruiters to see what job opportunities are available.
Flexibility and responsiveness
Be flexible with interviews dates / times – if you can’t, be upfront with your availability to make it as easy as possible to schedule interviews with candidates.
Answer the candidates’ questions as honestly and quickly as you can. Being responsive and keeping the process moving is key to recruiting in a candidate short market.
The Interview
It’s important to remember this is a two-way process.
- Prepare conversation starters and questions that will make the interview feel like a conversation.
- Consider what you want to know about the candidate. What about their experience and aspirations? Use this as a basis for your conversation.
- Ask them what they know about the firm. Add to this with anything else you feel is important for them to understand, or that will make your firm stand out.
- Talk about the team and the culture, why do people like working there?
- Once you have gone through your questions and conversation starters, don’t forget to ask the candidate if they have any questions.
Feedback
Feedback straight away or as soon as you can. Prior to the interview set a deadline with the candidate / recruitment agency to issue interview feedback. We recommend giving some initial feedback to the candidate / agency within 24 hours of the interview, even if the process is ongoing with other candidates. Giving feedback will “keep them warm” and engaged with your company. If you hang around for too long you could lose the candidate. In today’s candidate led market, it is likely that your candidates will be interviewing elsewhere too.
Even if it’s a no, give thorough feedback. Candidates who don’t get any feedback will likely disengage and could be inclined to tell others about a perceived bad experience. Additionally, giving clear feedback will help them to understand your decision and they can use your feedback to improve.
Timing
Explain why you are making the offer and don’t just base it around their hard skills and experience. Include why you think they will be a fantastic addition to the firm.
Get the offer letter out the same day as you make a verbal offer. Not just a standard template, include some personalised touches as to how they performed. Make them feel wanted.
If you are using a recruitment agency, keep in regular contact with your recruiter. Respond to their messages as soon as possible. Even if you don’t have an update provide a deadline as to when you will be able to provide one.
Keep them engaged
Don’t forget that the candidate is likely to be made a counter offer. So, make sure your offer stands out and show the candidate how much you value them.
Once they have accepted your offer, keep in regular contact with them whilst they are working their notice. Send them a congratulations card/gift. Why not consider inviting them to any company events or taking them out for a team meal or drink? All of which will make their first day a little less daunting.
About The Eventus Recruitment Group
The Eventus Recruitment Group are award-winning recruitment specialists in the Finance, Accountancy, Legal and HR sectors. We have an experienced and knowledgeable team of industry experts, who are passionate about finding the best candidates to help businesses thrive across the UK. To submit a job to us please click here, or get in touch to discuss your recruitment needs. We offer bespoke recruitment solutions, which we will tailor to meet your recruitment needs and business goals.
Candidates
Here at the Eventus Recruitment Group we believe that happiness at work is a must have for everyone. We offer realistic, honest and straight forward advice to enhance your career. Using our expertise, we can help you to find your next opportunity at no cost to you as a candidate. We recruit for all roles within the Legal, HR, Finance and Accountancy sectors. To view our latest jobs, please click here.
We also support you in applying for jobs, through finding suitable roles that fit your requirements and skills, CV writing and preparing you for interviews. Get in touch for a confidential discussion.
Words from clients and candidates
““Eventus Recruitment is our default provider because they understand our business. Time has been taken over the long term to really understand the various elements of the services that we provide, which means that the candidates they provide are capable of delivering what we need when we need it. In addition, we feel that we can pick up the phone at anytime to discuss potential developments and we know that Eventus Recruitment will always take a long term view of our requirements and put our business needs first.” – Ormrods Solicitors
“I’ve worked with Nikki and Siobhan at Eventus Recruitment and found them both to be, not just professional and helpful, but that they genuinely care about each individual circumstance. They listen and are empathetic and constantly made me feel like I had a good friend on my side during the recruitment process, always with my best interests at heart.
“I would recommend Eventus Recruitment in a heartbeat. Thank you for all you’ve done to help me!” – Sophie, successful legal candidate placed in the North West.