No Longer Available

Companies now have to put on their “selling shoes” to the candidates.  They need to articulate the positive points of the company, culture and the position; create some excitement with the candidate.   Companies are so busy “screening out” that they forget to “screen in” candidates.   We no longer can assume that we have the only position open in a poor economy and candidates should be grateful for this position.

Within the last two to three months candidates are interviewing for one or more positions at the same time.  We no longer have the luxury of “taking our time” to find the right candidate.  The “right candidate” is now coming to the interview while engaged in two to three other opportunities.

In the last six weeks, we had a candidate accept an offer, and in three weeks another company came in and offered the candidate a position that was financially more rewarding with a nice career path.  The candidate took the position.  I had another candidate who had a new opportunity presented to him on January 18th and he had an offer in hand ten days later.  I had to pull him from an opportunity that we presented a month before.  They also did a great job of creating a vision for this candidate.  They truly “recruited him.”

Here are some tips to prevent hearing “The Candidate is no longer available”:

·    Agree on the requirements for the position, and set the interview process up in advance
·    Move quickly (no more then 3-4 weeks) from resume received to offer
·    Make sure to sell the company, opportunity and future
·    Prevent a prolonged or delayed start date

Hope your 2010 is off to a great start!

About the Author:

Brett Stevens is founder and President of The SearchLogix Group.  Brett has enjoyed remarkable success in the executive search business in the fields of Software Sales, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Distribution, Warehousing,  and Transportation. He has achieved the industry’s highest level of professional certification: Certified Senior Account Manager (CSAM). He has received numerous regional, national, and international awards through meeting the needs of his clients. He continues to achieve record breaking performance and has been nationally recognized for those results with The SearchLogix Group.  Brett is a member of The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals  (CSCMP), formerly The Council of Logistics Management (CLM);  The Association for Operations Management (APICS);  The Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC), and The IIE (Institute of Industrial Engineers). He has been recognized in many trade and online magazines and is a notable guest speaker and most recently, Brett was recognized internationally by both the American Stroke Association (ASA) and the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) for his fundraising efforts.  You can email Brett at brett.stevenspr@searchlogixgroup.com or telephone him at 770-517-2660 x20.