What’s Up With Today’s Job Market?

In today’s modern and busy job market, any employer has direct access to Job Seekers through low-cost, quick hiring websites. Additionally, rushed recruitment processes aim to very quickly sweep job seekers up in this crowded job market to maintain labor needs. As a job seeker, how do you properly know who you are going to work for? It is crucial to take proper precaution as a job seeker to ensure the employer you are going to work for has a great reputation, quality business practices and will provide everything they promise in the interview. This can be challenging with how fast the hiring process can be and the massive efforts employers make to target job seekers and attract them to their company.

You Gotta Be On The Lookout…

Persuasive, internal hiring managers or recruiters can provide a misconstrued or vague view of the company that bares no resemblance to what company culture, management style, and your day-to-day responsibilities will look like. This unfortunate situation often leads to severe disappointment in employees that fosters rapid employee turnover and unstable operations for the company – further proving the importance of having an incredibly transparent, thorough interview process so that job seekers are able to fully understand the role they are taking on, will be more likely to stay and perform at their fullest potential.

It is increasingly difficult for job seekers to ensure they are not falling for promotional gimmicks and flashy incentives that cover the true identity of a company. Employers in recent years –  and in an economy with labor shortage – have stepped up these efforts by offering everything from vague, overly promising insurance and health benefits to what Forbes calls the ‘’Ping Pong Table Approach’’, by creating an exciting looking workplace with ping pong and games tables or snack bars and relaxing areas. While these incentives can be fun, make sure they aren’t swaying your opinion of the company too much as the work you will be doing and the people you will work with are far more important and should be examined closely.

Job Seekers, Can You Keep Up?

While these are mostly extreme cases of deliberate deception on behalf of the employer, similar situations can arise even in great companies striving to provide transparency and honesty in their hiring process if the candidate fails to ask important questions and dive deep into how they could tangibly contribute to the company before the offer and acceptance. Even when the hiring process is fast, it is important to get to know the company by asking the right people the right questions.

Transparency can be difficult to come by these days with heavily job seeker targeted marketing efforts and employers wanting to standout in the crowded job market to attract the best employees. Even employers with the most honest intentions can bring in unfitting employees with how fast-paced the hiring process can be. Increasingly, the responsibility of understanding  just who the employer is falls on to job seekers to become more conscious and selective in evaluating potential employers so they don’t go to work for someone they don’t really know.

Here are some helpful tips before you say ”I Do”:

See if the company values align with its reputation

• A company can promote its values and tell you how they are displayed within day-to-day operations but it’s important to do a bit of research yourself to make sure that the values they convey to you as a candidate are being amplified company wide. This process can entail visiting the company’s website to research their customer or client facing image and values then visit online employer review sites like GlassDoor, Indeed and Vault or speak to those in your network about the company. Not only is this a great way to gather a diverse group of opinions of the company, but a way to see if the company’s values are actually being met and if the company is worthwhile of your employment.

Informational Interviews Are A Must

• This is a great method to get a feel for the culture and see if it’s a great personality fit while getting an inside view of the company. Simply reach out to key employees via LinkedIn or email, invite them to coffee or lunch and prepare a list of questions about the company or things that are important to you. Is leadership style or certain benefits important to you? Ask AWAY!

Know Anyone? 

• It is definitely important to seek external feedback when trying to learn more about a company. While crowdsourced employer opinion sites like GlassDoor can be great, they can be susceptible to severe outliers or biased company produced reviews. A great way to approach this task is to ask trusted people in your network for insights or maybe they will be able to introduce you to people in their network who better know the company or industry who will be able to share their thoughts on the company. LinkedIn is very helpful in this situation because you can see for yourself who has worked where and who knows who, making these key contacts easily discoverable.

Listen to your intuition

• A job or company can look great on paper and be everything that you are looking for but if it doesn’t seem right, it probably isin’t. Your own intuition can be a driving force leading you to that ‘’just right ’’ job and be sure that you know who you really are going to work for.

OR….

Give PACE Staffing a call!

PACE Staffing Network is one of the Puget Sound’s premier staffing /recruiting agencies and has been helping  Northwest job seekers find their “just right” jobs for over 40 years.

A  3 time winner of the coveted “Best in Staffing” designation , PACE is ranked in the top 2% of staffing agencies nationwide based on annual surveys of customer satisfaction.

PACE provides multiple placement options….

• Direct Placement – Full or Part Time
• Temp to Hire Auditions
• Short or Long Term Temporary or Contract Assignments – Full or Part Time

Our Professional Placement Services include…

• Resume reviews and consultations
• Access to the “Hidden Job Market”
• Insider intros to TOP Employers HIRING NOW
• Confidential Job Searches
• Professional Career Guidance

Never a fee to a candidate  using our services.  Paid absence and healthcare benefits are provided to employees assigned to work at client sites thru our services. .

LET’S CONNECT!

To learn more about how one 2 minute application can open doors to a full range of PACE placement services plus introductions to local employers hiring now,  contact PACE’s candidate services team at 425-637-3301 or e mail candidates services at candidateservices@pacestaffing.com