Recent events in my marketplace, main street employment organization called JMS seem to suggest the economy has taken a pause from its downward spiral. Job seeker landings are on the rise. Could it be that employers are starting to realize the “wait and see” strategy needs to be abandoned? Are the actual market forces making companies return to a focus on generating revenue rather than “keeping their powder dry”?
Regardless the cause, it’s good news for people between jobs.
On another front, we are seeing a significant shift in the methods hiring managers are using to find new talent. Because the supply of job candidates has outpaced demand for open jobs, old procedures for job posting are not working well. What I mean is that every hiring manager I’ve spoken to in the past 12 months has said they shudder to think about posting new jobs. Why? Because the responses are overwhelming. So, I am hearing HR professionals describe new techniques of “fishing” rather than posting. They are using web tools like LinkedIn, QuietAgent and others to browse for talent. The employer can search by keywords, titles, and company names (i.e. the stuff in a resume). Then they pick a short list of likely candidates that spark their interest.
Therefore, job seekers need to be more Internet savvy about building profiles and posting information about experience and qualifications. In the end, people still have to build relationships once a connection is made. Face to face meetings like job interviews still remain as the primary moment of truth.
