Kate Ross: Ups, downs, shortages and cowboys

Kate Ross. Photo / Supplied

Looking back at the beginning of the year and for the first three months it started incredibly well with plenty of new positions being created and recruited. Businesses seemed to have come back after a good break, had re-grouped and carefully worked out where they needed staff and went out and got them.

April was a nothing month - nothing moved or happened. For some unknown reason things seemed to flat-line a bit, even slightly dip. May, June and July has been inconsistent and therefore a challenge to plan for growth.

This is what 2011 has been like so far - up, down and unpredictable.

What has noticeably changed has been the vast increase in companies requiring temporary or contract staff for long periods of time. As businesses stabilise and grow each month, they are embarking on more projects so fill that gap with a contract resource.

As the contracting and temp market is strong, this leads into the candidate shortage of well skilled and available people for these positions.

Filling these roles can sometimes take longer due to ensuring we get the commitment from candidates.

Most candidates are looking for permanent employment, therefore ensuring commitment is given at times is hard. So what do we do? We look at possible temp or contract candidates that want that type of work on a full time basis, as right now 43 per cent of our temps and contractors are turning into permanent placements within a five to eight month timeframe.

A few reasons - they know the job, have the skill set and have proven themselves within the role and business. One other major factor is that it is so incredibly tight for good candidates right now; the client is seeing this as a very feasible and proven option.

Will this candidate market loosen up and get better?

No, I personally predict it's going to get worse. What does this mean for us and the clients attracting people? Candidate management is vital, which is what is happening already.

Clients need to really work with recruitment agencies to ensure we are presenting every possible option to the market to attract the right person, look at the package options and most importantly move as quickly as possible.

There is no luxury to wait and re-short list a position due to a slow hiring manager, this just can't happen right now. It's definitely about the partnership between agency, client and candidate.

Unfortunately for the ethical agencies the cowboys are back in town and with a vengeance. We are seeing again sloppy and unprofessional operations by some consultants within some agencies.

Re-occurring examples of this are; sending candidate details to clients for a particular role without even a phone call or interview of that candidate - the candidate doesn't even know they are being presented.

These consultants are making our industry look unethical and after 2008/09 it was good to see most of them disappear. But as business confidence slowly increases, opportunities arise for the "slap consultant" come back. Frustrating for all.

So going forward until the rest of the year? Well, statistically this quarter is always the more productive and it's proving to be again this year. Online job sites are showing a large amount of listed jobs and even though the candidate market is tough, working with the right agency that has a good understanding and tracing system of potential employees, a new worthy hire will happen.

Kate Ross

Kate Ross is director of Kinetic Recruitment