Recruiting engineers, scientists, information technology (IT), research and development (R&D) as well as manufacturing technology talent is getting harder by the day. We literally are in a ‘War For Talent’. The demand for engineers and technical candidates far outstrips the supply of talent. As a result, companies need to recruit more aggressively formulating novel recruitment strategies.
This is why I created the 12 Commandments of Recruiting to help our clients. The first of these commandments is included below.
Recruitment Tough In Tight Engineering, Technical Job Market
Over the last 18 months Strategic Search Corporation recruiters have increasingly found that although the candidate demand is increasing, the supply of skilled engineers, scientists, IT, R&D, technical and manufacturing technology talent is very limited.
The Labor Department reported Tuesday the number of available jobs in the U.S. rose by about 117,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.94 million in July. Thus the overall number of available jobs in the U.S. exceeded the number of job seekers by more than 650,000 in this most recent reporting month.This is the highest level on record going back to 2000. It exceeded the prior peak set in April. The figure also exceeds the 6.28 million Americans who were unemployed during the month, meaning they were without work but actively seeking a job.
An unemployment rate holding near a 17-year low in a tight labor market is shifting more power to workers. Increasingly workers are willing to quit their jobs knowing they can find higher paying positions elsewhere. In July, 3.58 million workers voluntarily left their jobs, the highest level on record according to the Labor Department.
This problem is magnified for employers seeking high demand, skilled candidates for open positions.
1st Recruiting Commandment Streamlines Job Interview Process
Over the past 30 years as a technical and engineering recruiter I have learned many recruitment tips to help you more quickly fill your engineer job requirements. I consolidated them into my 12 Commandments of Recruiting. The first of my 12 commandments of technical recruiting tips is called the “Pie Chart Interview Question”. You simply ask a candidate to break down what they did on their jobs on a regular basis and describe the tasks as in a pie chart rendering.
For example, an electrical engineer may have spent 60% of his/her time on C++ programming, 30% on hardware redesign and 10% on documentation. Repeat this question for any technical criteria that is important to you.
The benefit of the pie chart question is it will force your recruited candidates to more precisely identify what they actually did on a regular basis. As a result, you will greatly streamline your employment process and reduce your errors in staffing.
