| A: | No matter what the unemployment numbers show, the number of really exceptional candidates remains the same. What actually increases as unemployment rises is the number of people who are available for temporary or contract employment. Depending on the position, you have to realize that the overall number of people who actually have the specific skills you need, is slim. For example, the total work force is comprised of many things (doctors, lawyers, accountants, secretaries, clerks, etc). Let's say for sake of example, there are 1 million people in the total work force. How many of these are actually in the profession you are? Maybe 5%...we are now down to 50,000. Of those 50,000, how many of them are employed in the same discipline you are seeking? Maybe 1%? That brings us to 500. Of that 500, how many have the exact skill set you are looking for? If you're lucky, 5%, but the chances are even slimmer the more stringent your requirements are. In this example, that gives us 25 people from the million we started with. Now, how many of that 25 are actively looking for a job? Well, if unemployment is between 4-5%, that means that of those 25 people, 1 or 2 of them possibly is unemployed and the other 23 or 24 of them are gainfully employed. How many people actually look for a job when they are gainfully employed? Statistics on this vary, but on an average maybe 10- 20%, so that would give you the 1 or 2 that are between jobs and 3-5 people who are currently employed, but actively looking, not just open to new opportunities that land in their laps. Here's where it gets even tougher...of those 7 possible people, the field is further narrowed by a variety of factors including but not limited to: salary requirements (both theirs and your budgeted range), commute, personality fit (on both sides), benefits offered by your company, and just because someone is qualified for your open job, that doesn't mean they are interested in continuing in that kind of work. |
