Getting your player ready...
When you’ve been searching for a job for a while, it can feel like other job applicants must have all the luck, while you keep striking out. Of course, that’s probably not true, but there are a few proven techniques that help candidates get hiring managers and recruiters’ attention.
So, who are the most sought-after job applicants and what can you do to be more like them? In their 2014 PayScale Compensation Best Practices Report, PayScale looked at which positions are hardest to fill for companies of various sizes. According to their survey of 5,000 executives and HR professionals, companies of all sizes have a hard time filling positions in sales, IT and engineering. Larger companies have the most difficult time finding candidates for these roles, meaning they’ll be even more eager to snap you up. For example, 16 percent of small companies said IT was a hard role to fill. This was the second-hardest position for a small company. But, a whopping 31 percent of respondents from large companies put IT at the top of their “hard-to-fill positions” list. If you have sought-after skills, try applying for positions at companies of different sizes. Your skill set may be more in demand at larger or smaller companies. Finding IT pros is difficult partly because of basic supply and demand principles, says Evan Pollock, senior recruiter at Objective Paradigm, a Chicago-based tech recruiting firm. “There is a high demand for software engineers with an emphasis on front end web development. The market is very hot for computer science engineers with proficiency in JavaScript, CSS3, and HTML5. However, the demand is greater than the supply and there aren’t enough computer science engineers in the U.S. to satisfy the demand.” If you have these skill sets and they aren’t on your resume, add them. If you know a little about one, learn more. “We have found a surprising interest in growth hacking and data scientists,” says Stephen Robert Morse, head of marketing for Skillbridge, an online marketplace where businesses can hire independent talent on a short-term basis. He’s seeing that newer companies focus on data roles up front to stay current. “We consistently hear from our employers that quality telecommuting job candidates are hard to find,” says Kristin Thomas, director of employer services at FlexJobs, a service that connects recruiters with willing telecommuters. Telecommuting is growing rapidly, but many people don’t have the skill set required for flexible work schedules. Telecommuting requires “an interesting mix of skills and work ethic, in addition to the regular requirements of the job. Telecommuters need to have a firm grasp on written and verbal communication, and even be able to troubleshoot their own technical issues at home.” “The hardest candidates to find are the best ones. Those who are at the top of their game, killing it for their current employer,” says Kent Burns, recruiter with Sanford Rose Associates, a network of independently-owned executive search firms.
