There was a time (not that long ago!) when recruiting someone in IT or Finance felt relatively manageable. You’d advertise a role, get a few decent CVs, speak to some sensible people, and offer the job to the best one.

Done. Dusted. Welcome aboard, new employee!

Now, things are different. Everyone’s moving too fast, nobody’s fully available, and just when you think you’ve found “the one”, they disappear off the face of the earth (or take a counter-offer from their manager, who has suddenly realised that they are indispensable after all).

So what’s changed?

Quite a few things. Here are some:

Skills shortages. Especially in areas like cybersecurity, cloud, AI, and anything involving data. These are now core business functions, but there aren’t enough people working in them who really know what they’re doing. Or if there are, they’re already working for the competition – or Google.

The pace of tech change. Systems, technology, and the way we interact with them – all are going through massive upheaval at the moment. Only a few people really know how to use the latest technology, and no-one knows it all. Even unicorns are becoming scarcer, in other words.

Candidate numbers. There are plenty of jobseekers around – but not enough who are right for the job you need them to do. If you advertise without thinking about this, you will get millions of CVs from people who are definitely not qualified to do the job. Finding the needle in this haystack is no easy task.

Salary expectations have shot up. Along with the cost of living.

Competition’s fiercer than ever. You’re not just up against similar businesses in your area any more. You’re up against any company in the world that offers remote working.

Cultural fit matters more now. And rightly so! People want to work for organisations that align with their values. Plus they’re looking for flexible working, clear progression, meaningful work, decent benefits, and a healthy culture.

Ghosting. This has always been an issue. But it’s worse than ever! Don’t be surprised if you make a job offer to someone and you never hear from them again. You are allowed to be disappointed though.

Let’s not forget counter-offers. Employers (perhaps they have read this article) are fighting hard to keep their best people — and often waiting until the exit interview to realise how much they’ll be missed. Cue a last-minute pay rise and a very awkward message from your candidate saying they’re staying put. Or no message at all (see ‘Ghosting’).

Finally — AI. A large proportion of the CVs we now see have had at least some input from ChatGPT, and candidates can appear a lot more competent / experienced / literate than they actually are, at the start of the process anyway. Next up – robots!

The answers

Yes – there are ways round this! Good candidates still exist but we must all work harder to find them. Here are some ways:

• Recruit on behaviour and potential – not current experience. You can teach skills, but not attitude.
• When advertising, include requirements that applicants MUST have. Use the job board tools available to you. You want to receive just a few applications – from qualified people.
• Make your advert interesting! Most of them are completely uninspiring and just a copy of the most boring bits of the job description.
• Build a ‘talent pipeline’ so that you don’t have to recreate the wheel every time.
• Use your current employees – ask them to refer friends (even relatives) to you.
• Perhaps get them to talk about how great your company is on video. This is a very powerful attraction tool.
• Have an efficient recruitment process. Use video and be flexible on interview times.
• Be careful when checking technical ability remotely. AI can supply technical answers in seconds – and you might not know it.
• Check that your salaries and benefits are competitive.
• Review your hybrid / remote policy. Insisting that IT people come to the office every day makes it ten thousand percent harder to recruit.
• Up your onboarding game. Keep close to your new starters before and after they join you. Involve them in company events from the day they hand in their notice.
• Retain and develop your staff! Talk to Wright People HR for help with this.
• Work with an excellent recruitment partner, e.g. Blues Point for IT and ABPM for Finance.

Summary

You’re not imagining it – recruitment is harder now. But not impossible. It just takes a bit more thought, a lot more speed, and the occasional reality check.

We (and you) can still find great people — we just have to be smarter, quicker, and slightly more caffeinated than we used to be.

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