Kate Ross: Right now, it's all about the candidate.

Frustration is high in my office at the moment because we have work and plenty of it, but we often wonder where the genuinely motivated candidates are hiding.

The candidate market is incredibly tight. As always, response to advertising is high in the first few days with a significant drop off after that.

The applicants are a mix of all sorts and the majority are of a standard that, quite frankly, needs to be weeded out. We still find that a considerable percentage of candidates are not showing up at interview stage to meet with consultants which is such an incredible waste of our time; and means we are back to square one again.

It really is a candidate market; candidates are determining what, where and how much. We have found that the time frame from picking a job up to placing that job has increased noticeably. This is due to a number of factors but mainly hinges on employers timeframes for interviewing and candidates waiting for offers to appear.

Good candidates are still getting multiple offers within a week of beginning interviews and many will take the opportunity to re-negotiate packages at offer stage. This naturally prolongs the recruitment process further and can be frustrating for everyone but in a market where the demand heavily outweighs the supply, employers have no option but to play ball.

Will it last?

It will for now. As with everything though, it is cyclical and the tides will turn as they always do. It seems, however, that the only time we have had a surplus of candidates was when the world was in the deepest pit of recession and who would want those times back?

The best way for employers to manage the current candidate market in New Zealand is to know what is needed within the company, do everything you can to find the right person for the job, move like lightning to get them engaged and on board and then of course keep them where you need them.

Salaries in certain sectors are on the rise as would be expected after nearly two years of being static. Sales people are in great demand and are very hard to find. Caution overall is lessening as the year passes by and businesses slowly work their way back towards a comfort zone.

The temp and contract market has sky rocketed; same day, weekly and monthly roles are coming in and are being filled quickly.

This makes us wonder if many candidates, having experienced the freedom of "flexi" work/life balance, are not yet prepared to commit to full time permanent work again. If it is going to be permanent, it has to be perfect. Having a choice whether or not work may be the real perfect option for many.

We are recruiting a huge range of roles across a number of industries currently and no sector stands out as recruiting more than any other. The number of temp and contractors being offered permanent employment has increased and it's due to sustained and increased workloads, increasing permanent head count can now be justified.

Clients are now more often than not coming to us directly rather than trying to recruit themselves first. They know what the market is like and as they need people quickly and don't have time to deal with negotiations and managing candidate expectations.

We have noticed clients are not afraid to ask for a discount on our rates - of course this is always up for negotiation and it is interesting to see that people have not yet forgotten that its not all about what you're making, you have to think about what you're spending as well!

As we come into the middle of the year and statistically for us (last year excluded) we go into the busiest quarter of the year, it will be interesting to see if how it all goes. The jobs are certainly there for the taking.




Kate Ross