The Candidate Led Market
The Candidate Led Market
by George Mallett – Senior Recruitment Consultant
If you have been perusing any of the job boards you will be well aware that there is a record number of job vacancies in the UK. The economy has bounced back from COVID. This paired with the lowest rate of unemployment for nearly fifty years has resulted in a huge demand for skilled workers, especially within the engineering market, leaving candidates in a very strong position.
What does this mean for candidates?
It’s a great time to push for that career move you’ve always dreamt of! Businesses are booming as they bounce back from the pandemic. This means there is a huge surge in recruitment across the service engineering market. Simply put, there is a huge shortage of skilled engineers. Engineers with direct industry experience are extremely hard to come by. Employers will often put the A* match on their job adverts. These days the ‘motivational match’ is proving to be the more successful hire for service engineering positions.
When applying for jobs, highlight your transferrable skills and what you can bring to the table and don’t be afraid to sell yourself! Skillset, attitude, flexibility to travel, your experience with customers, your personality, different environments you’ve worked in are all key points that can add value to a business, after all, the company are employing the person, not the CV.
What does this mean for employers?
Staff retention is more important than ever. With the market being as competitive as it is, it is vital to be open and approachable with your employees. Open communication, flexibility and approachability are key to retaining staff. This allows any potential issues to be overcome before you lose key staff members. Aside from offering a good salary, perks and benefits it’s important for your employees to be rewarded, feel valued, to be given responsibility, feel trusted and be contributing to a successful team!
And what about new hires?
Gone are the days of sticking an advert out and sitting on CV’s for a week. There is minimal chance of reviewing a long list of suitable candidates and picking the most suitable. Decent engineers are likely already in a job and also in very high demand. It’s time to broaden your horizons and look at the person behind the CV. Do they have the right attributes, attitude and drive. Can they develop into a key member of the team? Hiring a ‘market match’ can be counterproductive as you battle against counter offers and pay over the odds for a candidate that is only really moving for the money.
I specialise in field service engineering recruitment. And I have experience of developing recruitment strategies and assisting and managing multiple hires UK wide. If you are a service engineer looking to get your foot in the door in a new sector or if you’re a hiring manager looking for quality engineering staff, I can help! Remember, this is a candidate led market.