Despite unemployment being at its highest level since 1995, recruiters are still struggling to identify the right people for their organisations, recruitment is not easier despite the increase in candidates:-
- Recruiters wary of ‘stop-gap’ applicants
- More than half of employers lack full understanding of job role requirements.
Almost half (41%) of the recruiters questioned say that the number of applications per job has increased since the start of the recession, yet only 23% have actually found it easier to find suitable candidates.
The survey of more than 350 recruiters found that 36% have been taking longer to recruit because of the recession, with the majority stating that this is because there are more candidates. Almost two thirds (60%) have also become more selective, with a third of these (35%) saying they are looking for the best people to help their organisation survive the tough economic conditions.
Many employers are also wary of candidates looking for a stop-gap until the job market improves, rather than a job that is actually right for them – a fifth say this is the case. Furthermore, their concerns seem to be well-founded with a recent SHL survey of employees showing that 18% had taken a job in the last year that was not in line with their expectations.
Due to the increase in candidates, recruiters are being more selective about experience (69%), competencies (61%), enthusiasm (46%) and fit with company culture (42%). Additional methods of selection have been brought in by two thirds of those questioned including competency interviewing (32%), trial periods (26%), additional interviews (21%) and psychometric testing (13%).
However, despite these measures more than half (53%) of the recruiters questioned said they do not have a clear understanding of what roles within their organisation require in terms of behaviours and skill sets. It is possible that this is compounding the problem and making candidate-to-job fit even harder to attain.
Source SHL, 26 October 2009
