Recently, Top Echelon published our first annual State of the Recruiting Industry report detailing our findings from a survey of our recruiter customers. It is comprehensive and contains a lot of great images, data, and analysis, so we highly recommend downloading the full 20-page report.
However, if you only have a few minutes to spare, we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ve detailed 11 must-know key takeaways from the report (along with their accompanying graphs).
Key Takeaway #1: Firm Size
Survey respondents were largely small to mid-sized recruiting firms. Very few survey participants’ firms number more than nine recruiters.
Key Takeaway #2: Top Industries
The market overall seems to be getting tighter and more competitive, but quality candidates can still be found and placed successfully within certain niches (such as IT, Engineering, Accounting/Finance, Manufacturing/Industrial, and Sales/Marketing).
Key Takeaway #3: Most Challenging Industries
While recruiters generally benefit in a market where skilled candidates are difficult to find, it can be stressful in high-skill, high-education industries such as Engineering and IT. These industries may have job orders, but recruiters will have to work hard to source enough high-quality candidates to go around.
Key Takeaway #4: Sources of Stress
2015 was an optimal recruiting market, with job orders aplenty. However, high-quality candidates were more difficult to find, a consequence that comes with the territory of having an optimal market.
Key Takeaway #5: Client Complaints
Recruiters faced three major challenges in 2015 when attempting to fill their clients’ open positions:
- Difficulty sourcing qualified candidates
- Not enough quality candidates at the presentation stage
- Candidates declining offer of employment
Key Takeaway #6: Candidate Turn-downs
There was a significant disconnect in 2015 between candidate and client expectations, and recruiters were the ones who suffered from that disconnect.
Key Takeaway #7: Sourcing Candidates
Recruiters who are having a difficult time finding quality candidates to fill their job orders need to place more focus on working their existing network from past placements and applicants.
Key Takeaway #8: Advertising Jobs
In addition to referrals, recruiters will need to embrace job postings on social media and their own websites in 2016 in order to provide clients with the volume of quality candidates they’re seeking.
Want to know what recruiters listed under the popular “Other” category? Click to request the full report!
Key Takeaway #9: Client Marketing
Recruiters can “touch all the bases” when marketing to clients by using a three-pronged approach:
- Traditional outbound calling
- Marketing emails and integrated website and social media posting
- Encouraging satisfied clients to refer new clients
Key Takeaway #10: Top Business Priorities
Recruiters overwhelmingly want to find additional clientele, but they also want to source higher quality candidates, get more job orders from existing clients, and diversify their income streams in 2016.
Key Takeaway #11: Road to Recession?
Diversifying income streams (i.e. through the use of split placements or contract staffing) is a prudent choice at any time, but it is especially important when a downturn may be on the horizon.
Final Analysis
The majority of challenges (and subsequent stress) that recruiters are experiencing can be tied directly to the consequences of a thriving recruiting environment. In other words, those challenges have nothing to do with a lack of job orders, a lack of willingness on the part of employers to hire, or a lack of desire on the part of candidates to make a career move.
Want the full details of what we uncovered? Need to know what other recruiters had to say? Download the 2016 State of the Recruiting Industry report today!