Here’s What Today’s Candidate-Driven Market Means Whether You’re Hiring for a Job or Looking for One

If you’re looking for a job, good news.

Today’s talent-driven market means you don’t just have more choices, you have leverage. Even a candidate who has held multiple jobs in a short period is employable.

“Companies right now are at the mercy of a candidate-driven market,” said Eric Kean, Principal at The Lee Group.

That means employers must work harder to not only get but retain top talent. Wages must be competitive but other considerations have become increasingly important as we move into a post-pandemic economy. Candidates feel freed up to negotiate about what’s important to them. Questions that seemed off limits no longer are.

How’s your company culture and work-life balance? What perks does your company offer and are there opportunities for advancement? Are the benefits attractive? Candidates are more fully interviewing prospective employers and depending on the answers they receive, may sign on or look elsewhere.

That’s why partnering with an executive search firm makes sense even during a labor shortage. A search firm – headhunters, by another name – can strengthen your company’s position in its respective industry. It can examine processes with an outside lens. The efficiency of a company’s hiring process has become increasingly important; recruiting experts can assess your process and improve it.  

Ultimately, an executive search firm cannot just help you find people, it can help weed out the best people, the best fit for your company.

“You want to get an attractive candidate to consider employment with your organization,” Kean said. “Our value is to get those people who probably don’t even know you exist or never really thought about your business before, become interested in working for you.”

Lee Group Search’s thorough vetting process considers fit from all sides rather than a cursory placement that does not evaluate long term success.

Job hoppers can also be choosey, but candidates who keep “hopping,” persuaded by bumps in wages each time, aren’t setting themselves up for a stable future.

“A candidate’s whose wages are artificially inflated based on supply and demand instead of on skill level will be the first one out the door,” Kean said. “Do what you can to better yourself but be mindful. Do unto others as you would want done to you. You wouldn’t like it, either if it’s all about the paycheck and nothing else.”