Having trouble finding good candidates for your job openings?

Have you posted your job openings on Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter etc., and found that almost none of the replies match your job requirements?

And when you try to contact a halfway-decent candidate, they ghost you?
Or they schedule an interview but don’t show up?

What’s going on? What can you do?

This is happening primarily because it’s a full employment economy, and the stronger candidates are not looking at job ads.

It’s also happening because it’s extremely easy to apply with just a click, and job boards like Indeed, Monster and LinkedIn send links to candidates for jobs that they may not be qualified for because these job boards get paid by the click.

Here are some strategies on finding and hiring the best talent in this environment:

When a strong candidate becomes available, it requires a quick hiring decision. In this environment, companies don’t have the luxury to wait another 2-3 weeks to see more candidates because that strong candidate will be gone by then.
Be willing to develop a promising candidate from a different industry, providing their skills are transferrable. For example, a strong candidate from the pharma industry, after some industry-specific training, will likely also excel in the biomedical industry.
Hire older / more senior employees. They will bring many valuable skills and perspectives, a great deal of experience, and a strong work ethic to your company. Also, older employees are less likely to “job-hop” than younger employees.

Fact: Over 40% of our contract employees are over the age of 55, and 10% are over the age of 65! They are some of our most productive employees and often have more energy than younger employees.

How do you attract candidates who are already employed?

The shortage of scientific personnel started some 7-10 years ago, but it accelerated after the pandemic.

A gainfully employed candidate will not leave their current company unless there are solid reasons to do so. To entice a candidate to leave their current job for yours, your company will have to offer one or more of the following, in order of priority:

More career growth and/or a more financially stable company.
Better compensation. It used to be that a candidate could be enticed to leave their current company for a lateral move to another company with a 10-15% salary increase. In this environment, that has increased to a 15-20% increase. If a candidate is demanding more than that, they are taking advantage of the labor shortage. They are probably job hoppers and won’t stay with your company for long anyway.
Better health insurance with a higher employer contribution. Given today’s enormous cost of health insurance, this is a very important benefit to candidates, especially those with families to insure.
A more family friendly environment (flexible hours, employees are encouraged to attend their children’s sports events, etc.) If possible, offer a choice of hybrid work weeks which has continued to be popular since the pandemic.
Better 401(k) plan with higher company matches.
A shorter commute.

How can we help?

Candidates who are gainfully employed are not searching the job boards, and they will never see your job posting. To recruit candidates who are already employed, you need the services of a recruiting agency.
When we receive a recruiting assignment, the first tool we use is our own database of over 23,000 local candidates. Most are not actively looking at any one time, but we have worked and communicated with many of our candidates for years and sometimes decades. We note in our database their career objectives (target salary, reason seeking a change, ideal jobs) so we can contact them with matching positions when they open up.
We also contact candidates who know us well and ask then to refer colleagues who may be interested.

Why would they do that for us?
- - Because of our long-term relationships with them;
- - We may have placed them in the past and may do so again in the future;
- - They trust our integrity and professionalism;
- - They are more than happy to help a colleague who may be interested in a better or higher paying opportunity.
We of course also advertise on major job boards and search the major resume databanks (Indeed, Monster, LinkedIn), but we cannot rely on these to recruit strong candidates who are already employed.

To discuss your scientific staffing needs in detail with one our recruiters, give us a call 973-605-8500 or, if you prefer, use our staffing request form.