It seems only in times of crisis you get to really see someone’s true colours.
After all, it’s easy to be generous when times are good. To paint the picture of being a saint. But when times get tough and the veil gets lifted you find out the true mettle of a person or company.
There’s a couple of things I’d highlight to any job seeker to be particularly wary of, should this thing we’re all experiencing persist.
FAKE VACANCY – AKA THE BEAUTY PARADE
Typically positioned as suitably senior enough to draw in people with credibility and track record. The brief will be tight – looking to just a few companies or a specific sector for people to come from. It will, on paper, look amazing and even offer an appealing remuneration and package.
It’s a hook after all, a fake prize in a contest no-one can win.
Sure, businesses claim this kind of thing never happens. But it does, and they’re tricky to spot. Since they usually blend in to the noise of other hiring going on either in market, or in the business itself. Plus, as a recruiter, it’s not unusual to be given a brief looking for specific sector related experience, or even be limited by a client just to people from their own sector.
The give away comes at interview. You may find you’re meeting with some curious people, asking lots of very pointed questions about your current company. About ideas and strategies, pricing and tactics, as well as what plans are in play. Really trying to rinse you for everything they can get.
GIVE US A CLUE
Then there’s the ‘presentation task’. Either asking for very specific ideas, strategies or ‘how would you approach x problem’ type topics. They’re usually directly applicable to the business you’re interviewing with, or even a business challenge they’re facing.
Sure, it’s relevant to the role you’re interviewing for and plays to your experience – but that’s why they’re meeting you after all.
One such firm, I’ve since parted ways with supplying, asked me only to find CRM people from their sector. Then, following a brief screening call, set interviewees a scenario question related to managing churn within their sector. To come up with new ideas and strategies they could talk through at interview.
The emphasis was on ‘new and innovative’ – i.e. show us something we’ve not thought of ourselves, or share your company’s new ideas.
Suffice to say I was clear with the client I wasn’t happy sharing the topic and asked for a switch. Maybe keeping it relevant but change the company it was about. Certainly don’t make it about them!
It all smelt too much like a fishing expedition and happened to be for a firm who had very publicly been called out in recent years for a lack of innovation in CRM vs their market competitors.
When the topic switch was declined, I shared my concerns with the candidates and each agreed to cancel their interviews and retract candidacy.
JOB BOARDS
There can be nothing worse than spending hours and hours trawling the internet trying to find that hidden gem, or amazing looking vacancy only to find out it’s no longer live.
I’ve shared in a previous post about a couple of sites who seem to be doing the right thing and checking every advert is genuinely going to hire. These are:
Otta.com
Stillhiring.io
Also our own, as we’re having those conversations with businesses before taking the briefs on.
However there are those who don’t. Which I will now example.
Having seen the news Dixons Carphone have seen a 166% increase in sales since lockdown, I was curious to see if they were continuing with some of the hires being made prior to the announcement of closing the Carphone business.
Landing on their careers page, you’re greeted with a clear ‘we’re not’ notice. So that’s that, couldn’t be clearer…
But that doesn’t stop ‘Google for Jobs’ aggregating a third party site who says they are. Over 100 jobs in fact…
The rat you smell becomes immediately apparent, as the first response is for Carphone Warehouse – a business they’re closing.
Then the majority of the rest seem to be retail opportunities – in an environment where all their stores are closed.
Some are for adverts dating back to November 2019 – so 5 months old!
So be cautious of aggregators like Indeed and Google for Jobs. They’re populated principally by automated bots trawling websites to do the leg work. So there’s no quality control. The sites they list aren’t necessarily the reputable ones, and include sites which seem to be reposting old content in an effort to maintain search rankings.
OPPORTUNISTIC SQUEEZING…
The balance of power will unfortunately shift from job seeker to employer, should this deepen and we sadly say goodbye to more companies who struggle to keep lights on.
The last time this last happened was following the financial crisis.
Many firms in the months which followed saw the balance of power move, and took the opportunity to deflate salaries and benefits for new hires.
It started with just a handful of firms, testing the waters. But when it proved successful, others followed.
It’s an unfortunate situation to realise we may end up with history repeating itself.
I’ve already experienced clients trying to take advantage of a weakness in the recruitment market by trying to reduce rates – that happened too in the financial crisis. But where it’s not warranted and is just opportunistic, I’ve taken the same stance as before and said ‘sorry’ and walked away.
I’d encourage you, if you’re a job seeker to do the same. Should you find a potential employer looking to take similar advantage. Even if it’s tempting to lower your salary just to get a foot in the door. Doing so just means you don’t value yourself and lack the confidence to stand by your years of experience and track record to know, you’re worth it!
That said, if you’re concerned about how the market is shifting. Reach out for advice and speak to recruiters, principally agency ones. As they have the market exposure and are talking to firms all the time. So can give you some advice which will help with how to position yourself and what to expect as the employment market continues to evolve.
HERE TO HELP
We are still here and we’re keen to help where we can. So don’t discount us from your search process.
Even if there’s fewer live vacancies right now, we can advise, give ideas and knowledge share, much like these blog posts have been designed to do.
But if there’s something you would like further insight on. Or if there’s elements I’ve not delved deeply enough into for you. Please leave a comment below, or email me at colin@bluepelican.com
In the meantime, stay safe and be kind.
