Client Tips

If you offer someone a job, they are going to talk it over with friends and family; some of the people are going to tell them to not take it. "Hard times, the economy, and so on."

So it makes sense that candidates understand the financial and business situation of their new employer in terms of:

• Financials / profitability / cash in the bank
• Orders / pipeline / project workload
• Long term employment prospects on offer
• Your company’s track record of redundancies

If you give them a solid picture of the finances and prospects it removes the doubt, so they can defend their decision to the naysayers.

Well, it really is a candidate led market right now.

In the ERP, CRM and Accounting Software arena our clients are trying to recruit in droves and their client companies are continuing to buy new software – so there are jobs galore. But the barrage of “End of the World News” constantly thrust at us by the media is stopping people looking for new jobs. Candidates are frightened of changing jobs, and then suddenly being made redundant. Those candidates that are actively in the market looking for a new role have the pick of the jobs and access to some very interesting opportunities – and salaries are very competitive.

So during the interview process with a candidate you need to cover more than just the history of your company and your job role. You need to be talking about your company’s financial stability, how many years you have been in profit and how much money you have in the bank, and then talk about how much work is in your order book and your sales pipeline.

Try not to spend too long making decisions about second interviews or job offers as good candidates are often on multiple interviews and will take another offer before you have made up your mind.

Be prepared to look at older candidates.

Whilst there is legislation to stop age discrimination, it seems hard to ignore the reality that the IT industry has traditionally preferred younger candidates.

It may seem strange, but more experienced candidates often have lower salary expectations and are easier to manage that those climbing the career ladder for the first time.

There are many occasions when someone with 20 years software experience is on the same salary as someone with 2 years software experience, so they can represent very good value and they bring maturity, reliability and loyalty.

Be decisive in your recruitment process. As the economy continues to grow it is getting harder to recruit good people. Part of the process is how smoothly the dating / courting / interviewing process goes.

• Quick feedback makes the employer look organised
• Booking interviews quickly makes the employer look efficient
• Starting interviews on time, with the right people present, is impressive
• Having a 2 interview process makes the employer look suitably selective without being desperate
• Producing offer letters swiftly makes the company look like a great place to work
• Whilst all these things are minor, the impression they make on the candidate is dramatic.

Recently a client told a candidate during the interview:

"You are too laid back" and "You should stop moaning about your current employer".

Later on the candidate was offered the job and accepted it. He appreciated the honesty and openness; he felt it was a great start to working together. The client said it showed how well he handled criticism and pressure.

Generally interviewers shy away from giving feedback in the interview as it tends to lead to confrontation; however this honesty added another dimension to the interview.