How to find candidates in southcentral PA’s tight recruitment market
Author: Scott Fiore
The low unemployment rates in Lancaster, York, Dauphin and Berks counties (from 4.0 to 4.4 percent) may be good for job applicants but present a challenge for employers who have open positions to fill.
Some searches are requiring excessive time and patience, particularly for positions that entail specific technical skills.
While new college and trade school graduates continue to enter the workforce, the supply of experienced, specialized workers in some fields can’t keep up with the demand. That’s why companies now need to be especially smart when recruiting and rewarding employees.
A strategic recruitment plan helps to ensure that you’re doing all you can to find the professionals that you need. Here is a list of several actions to include in your recruitment plan:
- Find opportunities to network with your peers from other companies, who may have leads for you from time to time.
- Post open positions on online sources—not just print. Use your website, social media job-posting sites and job boards of professional organizations.
- Use recruitment outsourcing. Work with a recruiting specialist (headhunter) with experience finding talent in your areas of need. Recruiting firms will have contacts, resources and inside information that you don’t have.
- Review your salaries, compare them to the local market and adjust upward as needed. In addition to salary and benefits, look at improving other incentives, such as future opportunities for growth in your company, as well as offering training and education.
Make sure to hold on to what you’ve got
When the market is tight, your competitors are experiencing the same challenges, so don’t let your best existing employees get lured away by your competition. You might have to go the extra mile to retain them. In addition to providing generous compensation, offer promising, new employees professional develop and mentoring as well.
What recruiters can do for you
The key to discovering exemplary candidates in competitive fields is often inside knowledge. Recruiters like TriStarr begin developing relationships with top professionals in a field well before recruitment even begins. Our sophisticated online search capabilities help us identify and contact these top candidates. We keep in touch with those interested in new positions and then, when a client needs them, we reach out to have a detailed conversation about the opening.
We also get to know the high performers by being part of the conversation—in person, by phone or online. We develop relationships with leaders of professional associations, talk with people at trade shows and monitor online professional forums, discussion groups and networking sites. Even prospects who aren’t interested in changing jobs when we first contact them often change their minds when the right positions open.
Here at TriStarr, we find the candidates who are a great fit almost every time. And our recruiting agency stands by our Good People Guarantee. If a client isn’t pleased with a new recruit, we will replace the person with another candidate at no cost or provide a refund.
If you would like help with finding the right candidates in a tough recruitment market, contact us online or call us at (717) 560-2111. TriStarr is a recruitment agency and HR consulting firm in Lancaster, Pa., also serving York, Harrisburg, Hershey and Reading.
The low unemployment rates in Lancaster, York, Dauphin and Berks counties (from 4.0 to 4.4 percent) may be good for job applicants but present a challenge for employers who have open positions to fill.
Some searches are requiring excessive time and patience, particularly for positions that entail specific technical skills.
While new college and trade school graduates continue to enter the workforce, the supply of experienced, specialized workers in some fields can’t keep up with the demand. That’s why companies now need to be especially smart when recruiting and rewarding employees.
A strategic recruitment plan helps to ensure that you’re doing all you can to find the professionals that you need. Here is a list of several actions to include in your recruitment plan:
- Find opportunities to network with your peers from other companies, who may have leads for you from time to time.
- Post open positions on online sources—not just print. Use your website, social media job-posting sites and job boards of professional organizations.
- Use recruitment outsourcing. Work with a recruiting specialist (headhunter) with experience finding talent in your areas of need. Recruiting firms will have contacts, resources and inside information that you don’t have.
- Review your salaries, compare them to the local market and adjust upward as needed. In addition to salary and benefits, look at improving other incentives, such as future opportunities for growth in your company, as well as offering training and education.
Make sure to hold on to what you’ve got
When the market is tight, your competitors are experiencing the same challenges, so don’t let your best existing employees get lured away by your competition. You might have to go the extra mile to retain them. In addition to providing generous compensation, offer promising, new employees professional develop and mentoring as well.
What recruiters can do for you
The key to discovering exemplary candidates in competitive fields is often inside knowledge. Recruiters like TriStarr begin developing relationships with top professionals in a field well before recruitment even begins. Our sophisticated online search capabilities help us identify and contact these top candidates. We keep in touch with those interested in new positions and then, when a client needs them, we reach out to have a detailed conversation about the opening.
We also get to know the high performers by being part of the conversation—in person, by phone or online. We develop relationships with leaders of professional associations, talk with people at trade shows and monitor online professional forums, discussion groups and networking sites. Even prospects who aren’t interested in changing jobs when we first contact them often change their minds when the right positions open.
Here at TriStarr, we find the candidates who are a great fit almost every time. And our recruiting agency stands by our Good People Guarantee. If a client isn’t pleased with a new recruit, we will replace the person with another candidate at no cost or provide a refund.
If you would like help with finding the right candidates in a tough recruitment market, contact us online or call us at (717) 560-2111. TriStarr is a recruitment agency and HR consulting firm in Lancaster, Pa., also serving York, Harrisburg, Hershey and Reading.
Share This Post