A candidate-driven market affects hiring trends. Fall behind, and you won’t be able to attract top talent.

Trends in a candidate-driven market indicate that hiring is a two-step process.

Just as you have the perfect consumer or client in mind for your company, you must also have an idea of your ideal candidate. You also must simplify the application process and establish an agile and enjoyable interview process.

Identification Trends in a Candidate-Driven Market  

Are you trying to figure out who exactly is your target candidate? You could interview several dozen candidates in the hopes that you’ll begin to see similar characteristics among your favorites.

However, there’s a quicker way to discover your ideal candidate for any role and attract and hire them:

• Get to know the people you work with. Hold discussions with other employees performing similar work. Ask them why they chose to work with your organization and what motivates them to stay. Offer bonuses for employee referrals.
• Stay ahead of the competition. Use your network to discover how other companies attract and retain new hires.
• Know what the market trends are. If you cannot offer competitive pay, unique benefits, flexible working conditions, and a compelling reason to work for your organization, the top talent you’re hoping to hire will turn to someone else.

One Step Closer to Hiring 

Once you know your ideal candidate, it’s time to begin the interview process. You may need to update your application procedures because today’s savvy candidates expect a streamlined and positive approach.

• Review the job description and make sure the tasks are well-explained — and current. Hires don’t like learning that “and other duties as assigned” means “and everything else we say because we forgot to update the job description.”
• Present your employer brand. Candidates look for brand philosophies they respect and can align with.
• Streamline the application process. Candidates fill out dozens of applications, so if yours is overly complex — or redundant — they’ll skip it and move on to the next one.
• Make the interview enjoyable. When you go into an interview, you already have the candidate’s background information and work history. While you may need clarification regarding a few points, the gola of the interview is to develop rapport and get to know the candidate as a person. Can you see this person working for your organization? Can they see themselves becoming part of the team?
• Follow up quickly. Let weeks go by without an update on the hiring process, and you risk losing your candidate to a competitor.

Hiring talent requires having a strategy. With the trends in a candidate-driven market, recruiter collaboration is more essential than ever.

If you’d like to explore opportunities within the manufacturing workplace, partnering with NLG brings you not only access to incredible opportunities, but the inside track on the ones you’re a great match for. Learn more about our services for jobseekers here, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re on the market for new career opportunities within manufacturing.