Category: Talent Acquisition Strategy

PeopleScout Canada Jobs Report Analysis — June 2018

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Canada Jobs Report Analysis — June 2018

Statistics Canada released its June 2018 Labour Force Survey which shows 32,000 jobs added to the Canadian economy. While unemployment rose by 0.2 percentage points to 6.0 percent, this was due to an increase in job seekers.

The Numbers

32,000: The economy added 32,000 jobs in June.
6.0%: The unemployment rate rose to 6.0 percent.
3.6%: Wages increased 3.6 percent over the last year.

The Good

The 32,000 jobs added in June beat analyst expectations. Many of the gains were in important sectors like construction, manufacturing and natural resources. The rise in the unemployment rate is due to the addition of nearly 76,000 job seekers to the labour force which suggests that more Canadians are optimistic that they can find work due to the strong economy. Year-over-year wage growth is relatively strong at 3.6 percent.

The Bad

The aggregate job gain figures in June do not tell the whole story. Canada added only 9,100 full-time jobs in June and 22,700 part-time positions. The services sectors lost 14,700 jobs mostly because of big decreases in accommodation and food services positions. The wholesale and retail trade also had a significant decrease in jobs last month.
Additionally, the job gains only came from three provinces: Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Everywhere else the market either shed jobs or remained flat.

The Unknown

Trade uncertainties with the U.S. cast the biggest shadow over economic forecasts for the coming months. NAFTA renegotiations dominate and undermine the outlook for the export sector. This is particularly important for the non-energy sector, which has already had several industries being subjected to tariffs this year.
Additionally, these numbers were released just days before the Bank of Canada’s decision on interest rates. Analysts expect that despite the trade concerns, employment and wage growth numbers are strong enough to prompt an increase in the benchmark.

PeopleScout U.S. Jobs Report Analysis — June 2018

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The Labor Department released its June jobs report which shows 213,000 jobs added to the U.S. economy – continuing the longest stretch of job growth in the nation’s history. Increased participation in the labor market brought the unemployment rate up to 4.0 percent.

The Numbers

213,000: The economy added 213,000 jobs in June.
4.0%: The unemployment rate rose to 4.0 percent.
2.7%: Wages increased 2.7 percent over the last year.

The Good

The 213,000 jobs added in June beat analyst expectations. The rise in the unemployment rate by 0.2 percentage points is not bad news because it was caused by the increase in the workforce. Americans who have been sitting on the sidelines of the job market are being drawn in by the strong hiring environment.
Year over year job growth for many major sectors is impressive. In the last year, manufacturing has added 285,000 jobs; business and professional services increased by 521,000 jobs and employment in healthcare rose by 309,000.

The Bad

The tight labor market is having a negative impact on seasonal hires. The shortage of summer seasonal workers such as lifeguards is causing curtailing of services and higher wages, the cost of which may be passed onto consumers.
The U6, which is the unemployment measure that includes those too discouraged to look for work and workers in part-time jobs who want to work full-time, rose to 7.8 percent from 7.6 percent in May. The U-6 remains somewhat elevated compared to the last time unemployment was similarly low.

The Unknown

It is unclear how much the labor force can expand due to an aging population. With job openings continuing to increase, there is no clear path for how to attract those who have stayed outside the workforce in recent years.
While some hiring has been scaled back due to recently imposed tariffs and fears of a full-scale trade war, uncertainty remains regarding future commodity prices and inventory shortfalls which can have a profound effect on the nation’s economic health.

Talking Talent: Navigating the Talent Acquisition Challenges of a Major Hospital Expansion

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In this episode of Talking Talent, we talk to Dr. Ekta Vyas, the Director of Human Resources at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford I Stanford Children’s Health, about the challenges she faced during the major hospital expansion of the new Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.


The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford is nationally ranked and recognized in 10 specialties and has been for 13 consecutive years. The new expanded facility opened in December 2017, a more than half-a-million square foot building that doubled the size of the existing pediatric and obstetric hospital campus. It added 149 patient beds, bringing the total on the Palo Alto campus to 361. This new facility is America’s most technologically advanced, family-friendly and environmentally sustainable hospital for children and expectant mothers and has proudly earned the LEED Platinum distinction.


Dr. Ekta Vyas led the employer branding strategy and recruitment infrastructure development work. As a trained industrial/organizational psychology practitioner with 20 years of experience, Ekta is a regular conference and panel speaker and has been published in academic and practitioner journals. She is a regular contributor to Forbes.com, and also currently serves as adjunct faculty at San Jose State University School of Management (within Lucas College of Business).


Among the challenges facing the Human Resources group was the need to hire more than 500 new employees for a high acuity environment; the complexity of hiring in Silicon Valley along with the high cost of living and commuting barriers it brings; and synchronizing strategic timelines between Corporate Marketing, Hospital Expansion, and the Talent Acquisition teams. This hiring need was in addition to their regular average recruitment – based on standard turnover for normal business operations.


The success of this project is being widely recognized across healthcare and other industries and has been published as a case study in the Fall 2017 issue of Journal of HR People + Strategy. Ekta recently presented this work at the People in Healthcare (Talent Management Alliance) conference and as a keynote at NCHRA’s Talent Acquisition conference.


Ekta has been in the healthcare industry for 12 years and before this undertaking was a Director of HR at Stanford University Medical Center.
You can listen to our first Talking Talent podcast, How HR Technology Can Combat Staffing Shortages in Healthcare, here.

Strategies for Building an Effective Talent Community

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Competition for talent is increasing across the globe, and employers are looking for innovative strategies to stay ahead of the competition. To gain a competitive advantage, employers are deploying a variety of methods. Wages are on the rise after years of slow growth. New graduates face strong prospects for employment. Even retirement is starting to look different for older workers with important skills. Finding new ways to source and attract workers with the skills of the future is a growing need.

In the U.S., years of job growth have led to the lowest unemployment rate in decades. Around the world, favorable job conditions are making it more difficult for employers to hire the talent they need. Adding to the challenge, employers are facing a skills shortage as they look to hire candidates who have the training, education and experience to bring their workforce into the future. This pressure is even greater in industries that are currently adapting to disruptive technology, like the auto industry. While reskilling and future degree programs can help increase the size of the talent pipeline in the future, employers still need to find and hire talent today. Building a talent community is a promising solution.

What is a Talent Community?

A talent community is a sourcing strategy that is an ongoing, multifaceted approach to candidate engagement that creates employment brand ambassadors and a talent pool that begins to feed itself. It is a process rather than an event and takes continual effort to maintain.

Traditional sourcing starts with a job opening. From there, a job description is written and disseminated. A sourcing specialist may search their contacts and social media to find a candidate with skills that match, but the process largely involves posting a job and waiting for the right candidate to find you.

In a talent community, the process is cyclical. It starts before a job requisition is created, and it doesn’t stop when a candidate is hired. Employers consistently build profiles of the types of candidates they would like for roles they may need to fill in the future. Then, employers need to build pipelines through technology, partnerships and employer branding initiatives to connect with those people, whether the employer currently has a job opening for that candidate or not. Finally, when a candidate gets to the point of applying, the experience throughout that process needs to be so strong that even candidates who do not make it through the process will become ambassadors for that brand and continue to apply for open positions in the future.

Building a talent community sourcing strategy has a host of benefits for employers. A community is sustainable. It can feed itself. This means decreased time-to-fill and cost-of-vacancy because candidates who are interested in working for an organization are waiting for a job to be posted rather than a recruiter posting a job and waiting for the right candidate to apply. It also leads to increased quality of hire because the employer has already determined the ideal candidate persona and has built a pipeline to find those people. When more qualified candidates are in that pipeline, the likelihood of making a strong hire goes up.

Why Talent Communities Alone Aren’t Enough

  • They have to be combined with great employer branding.
  • Your content has to be engaging and of value to the audience.
  • You have to have the right mix of viable candidates with the skills and experience that your company values, and ambassadors for your employer brand.
  • It is what you put into it, not what you take out–you have to cultivate the community or it will stagnate.

Using Employer Branding to Build a Talent Community

As employers work to create a talent community they need to build an employer brand that stands out from other organizations they compete with for talent. Organizations with a strong employer brand can stand out in a crowded landscape and draw in more candidates. There are several strategies employers can use to build their brands.

Online Talent Communities

An online talent community is a way to continue to communicate with candidates who may be interested in working for you in the future but can’t find a job opening that meets their skills and needs right now. It is also a way to engage with candidates who apply to jobs they aren’t qualified for yet but still have potential. An online community allows candidates to provide their contact information, resume and job interests. Then, the organization can search those resumes when a position opens, and it can send matching job openings to the candidate. This keeps the employer at the front of a candidate’s mind and provides recruiters with a slate of candidates every time a requisition opens.

Recruitment Email Marketing

Many organizations use email marketing as a part of their traditional marketing strategy, but it is also important in employment branding. Email marketing can be used in partnership with an online talent community. Organizations can send recruitment marketing emails to share job openings, as well as information about their culture. One caveat to using email marketing as a part of an employer branding strategy is that the emails should be as personalized as possible. A candidate who has provided their resume should only receive job openings that correspond with their skillsets. Data about candidates can also be used to personalize how often candidate receive emails or at what time of the day they are sent. Regulations like CAN-SPAM in the U.S. and GDPR in the EU regulate email marketing, and we discuss those later in this post.

Social Media

Every organization should have a strategy for sharing its employment brand on social media, though that strategy may look different for different companies. One option is to create a separate “careers” social media page where the organization can post job openings and information about the workplace, culture and current employees. At PeopleScout, we recommend this strategy to our clients and work with them to optimize their existing pages to showcase their employer brand. This strategy works well for employers with a strong brand presence and large volume of hires. Another option, especially for smaller organizations, is to include some employer branding on their traditional social media accounts. In this approach, employer branding related posts that share information about the workplace and culture should be interspersed between standard social media posts.

Video

Many employers are familiar with video interviewing, but video can enhance employer branding in several additional ways and doesn’t always need high production quality. One example is video job descriptions. A job posting could include a short video of a hiring manager talking about the job and what they are looking for. A video like this gives a candidate a better understanding of the job and gives them a glimpse into the culture of the organization. Additionally, organizations can use video to show workplace tours, so job seekers get an idea of what working for an organization might look like. If an organization is hiring for a lot of entry-level roles but frequently promotes within the company, a video that shows an employee’s career path from entry-level to a leadership role can also motivate candidates to apply for hard-to-fill entry-level jobs.

Chatting and Text

Another method of building a strong employer brand is communicating with candidates in the ways candidates want to communicate. Chat and text are growing in popularity. Some employers are deploying chatbots throughout their recruitment process. For others, a chat window with limited hours but access to a live recruiter can be successful. While many employers may be cautious to start a system to text messages candidates, several PeopleScout clients have found success and higher rates of candidate engagement.

Using Innovative Technology to Power a Talent Community

While a compelling employer brand is important for attracting strong candidates, it’s not enough to stay ahead in the current competitive landscape. Innovative technology solutions can help employers source top talent faster than the competition.

Geofencing

Geofencing can be used in a few different ways during the sourcing process. Much like targeted ads for restaurants or stores can be delivered to a person’s cell phone or computer based on where that person is located, job ads can be targeted to candidates in a specific geographical area as well. This can be valuable to employers that have a variety of locations spread across a large geographical area. Geofencing can be used to target job ads at candidates near specific branches. It can also be used for industry events or expos where a large number of potential candidates could be in one location at the same time.

AI Sourcing

Artificial intelligence sourcing can provide recruiters with a solid slate of candidates as soon as a requisition is opened, giving the recruiter a strong head start to fill the role. An AI sourcing solution that uses predictive analytics modeling can also provide the recruiter with information about how well the candidate matches the job opening and how likely the candidate is to leave their current role. With this information, recruiters are able to work more quickly and efficiently, filling the role with the best talent in less time. In the end, it saves companies time and money. At PeopleScout, AI sourcing is built into AffinixTM, PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology solution.

AI Data Tracking

AI data tracking can be used to make other sourcing and employer branding strategies more effective. Artificial intelligence and predictive analytics can understand and predict candidate behaviors. By tracking what time of day candidates apply, open emails or use social media, employers can schedule email marketing and social media posts to maximize the number of candidates who will see and click on job postings. Employers can also use this data to optimize their ad spend on job boards, so the ads appear when the best candidates are most likely to be online. One PeopleScout client had data that showed most of its applicants applied after lunch on Wednesdays. By posting jobs just before that timeframe, the employer saw a 15 percent increase in applications.

Finding a Partner

As employers work to build their own talent communities, an RPO provider can be a valuable partner. The right RPO partner will have a wealth of knowledge gleaned from experience solving a wide variety of problems and successfully sourcing and recruiting in a number of markets and industries. Employers can benefit from that collective knowledge.

Additionally, working with an RPO partner provides compliance benefits. Many of the sourcing strategies addressed in this article are impacted by GDPR, CAN-SPAM and other regulations, as well as regulations by the OFCCP. RPO providers have years of experience with these regulations and strong checks in place to ensure all sourcing strategies are compliant. This can provide peace of mind for employers.

Employers working with RPO partners will also see financial benefits, including reducing or eliminating agency spend. At PeopleScout, some clients have gone from agency usage as high as 25 percent or more to zero. To accomplish that, employers need to be committed from the top down to building the sourcing infrastructure to implement a talent community.

To find an RPO partner who is a good fit, employers should look for providers who possess customizable offerings that can be adapted to meet every need. A one-size-fits-all approach ignores the specific needs of employers in different industries and the unique challenges that can arise in recruiting in different markets. To build a strong talent community, employers should look for an RPO partner who can successfully deploy and manage these innovative sourcing strategies.

2018 Q2 Economic Snapshot

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Very strong job growth and low unemployment were the headlines in many of the world’s leading economies in the second quarter of 2018.

However, employers were faced with the increasingly difficult tasks of attracting and retaining talent in a historically tight labor market and responding to impending wage pressures. Uncertainties in the labor supply created by Brexit and immigration restrictions were exacerbated by the introduction of tariffs by the U.S. and the threat of trade wars in the coming months.

Strong Job Markets


Robust job markets and low unemployment were the major headlines in many of the world’s largest economies in the second quarter of 2018. In the United States, the number of job openings reached a record high. In the UK, the unemployment rate was at its lowest point in over 40 years. Canada continued to experience record low unemployment and Australia had consecutive months of job gains.


Faced with the tightest job markets in recent years, employers are focused on effective strategies to attract and retain talent. The difficult hiring environment is leading companies to rethink established norms in their recruitment processes. The strong demand for talent is showing no signs of easing. Companies seeking to compete successfully should consider developing strategic partnerships with organizations that can provide intelligence and expertise in recruitment and retaining talent.

Wages – The End of Stagnation


Wage pressures have intensified in response to the robust labor market. In the U.S., the period of relative stagnation in wage growth is perceived to be ending. In the UK, salaries for new positions rose at their fastest rate in three years. Canadian workers experienced their biggest wage increase in nearly a decade. And even without significant inflation, the national minimum wage in Australia is slated to increase 3.5 percent on July 1, potentially impacting salaries nationwide.


With record job openings available in many markets, employees are increasingly confident that they can easily find a new job. Since the top reason for workers to find a new job is to increase their salary, employers face the dual challenge of adjusting their wages as needed to retain their current workers and set starting salaries for new jobs at levels that will attract talent. Arriving at wage levels that will not unnecessarily strain profit margins is becoming an increasingly important task for human resource professionals.

Barriers to the Free Movement of Talent


Uncertainty over the availability of talent comprised of foreign nationals due to Brexit and immigration restrictions in the U.S. continued to raise concern. In the UK, sectors such as social care, technology and hospitality could be impacted especially hard. A recent survey found that one in ten hospitality workers are considering leaving the UK due to Brexit. The same survey found that 18 percent of hospitality managers are finding that recruiting new staff is more difficult due to Britain’s status change with the EU. In the U.S., restrictive immigration policies are blamed for the stall in IT job growth. Adding to the uncertainty of the U.S. workforce, the future status of the more than 600,000 U.S. residents granted permission to live and work under the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) act was left unsettled by the U.S. Congress.


The policy-driven talent shortages in some countries are contrasted by others such as Japan and Canada that are making efforts to attract talent from abroad. The ambiguities in possible policy decisions regarding immigration and the free movement of labor drive the need for employers to craft flexible recruitment programs. Companies that find it difficult to find full-time talent may want to consider Managed Service Providers (MSPs) that provide scalability through contingent labor.

Social Media, Privacy and Sourcing


There are important developments affecting the way employers utilize social media for recruitment and employer branding. New regulations in Europe under GDPR went into effect on May 25. GDPR requires businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens for transactions that occur within EU member states. GDPR applies to any collection of data for those living or working in the EU, regardless of the location of the organization accessing this data. The new rules include notification requirements, up-front security measures and other privacy safeguards.


The data breach at Facebook, the world’s largest social media platform, impacted 87 million users whose personal data may have been unknowingly shared with Cambridge Analytica. A study released in April showed that confidence in Facebook dropped by 66 percent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal emerged. In addition to implementing new compliance requirements necessitated by GDPR, businesses may need to review and adjust their recruitment and marketing practices in order to be effective in the evolving social media landscape.

Addressing the Skills Gap Part I: Apprenticeships


Employers that are struggling to find talent with the right skills can turn to a solution that pre-dates the industrial revolution: apprenticeships. Apprenticeships enable workers to gain valuable skills and experience so that they can be fully productive employees at a future date. In the United States, the Department of Labor announced resources for apprenticeships as part of a public/private partnership. For example, employers can apply for registered apprenticeships and create “on-the-job training contracts” and have costs reimbursed for up to 50 percent of wage rates paid to participants for up to six months.


In June, it was announced that the Skilling Australians Fund will be providing AUD 1.5 Billion to create as many as 300,000 apprenticeships. Public resources for apprenticeships are available throughout the EU, the UK, Canada and many other countries. To successfully incorporate apprentice programs as part of an overall talent attraction and training strategy, and learn the steps to take to access public funds, organizations can utilize the expertise of a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) company to ensure that its workforce has the right skills to succeed for many years to come.

Key Takeaways for Employers


Historically strong job markets combined with the uncertainties brought about by restrictions in immigration and trade requires employers to be both intelligent and agile in attracting and retaining talent. Organizations can expect to reap the benefits of a strong economy only if they have the talent to support the growth that can be generated by a prosperous environment.

How to Effectively Recruit Recent Graduates

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How to recruit college graduates is a question many talent leaders are wondering. According to UCLA’s Trends in Executive Development report, “experienced leaders of the Baby Boomer generation continue to retire at a pace of 10,000 per day.” The mass exodus of Baby Boomers from the labor market leaves a sizable workforce gap void of seasoned and experienced talent.

When Generation Xers and Millennials ascend into leadership positions to replace Baby Boomers, mid and entry-level positions are left vacant. To fill these positions, organizations are increasingly turning to recent college graduates. In fact, according to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder, 74 percent of employers say they plan to hire recent college graduates.

For organizations looking to fill the gap left by retiring Baby Boomers, recruiting and hiring talent from universities is a significant first step. In this post, we examine some of the best practices and strategies for attracting, recruiting and hiring recent graduates.

The Benefits of Recruiting Recent Graduates

how to recruit college graduates

Most recent graduates do not have years of experience. However, what recent graduates lack in professional experience can be made up elsewhere. Many students participated in volunteer activities, performed leadership roles in student government or clubs and completed internships, all of which can help develop critical workplace skills. From technical aptitude to adaptability, recent grads have characteristics that can be additions to an organization. Below, we list some of the main benefits of hiring recent graduates.

Recent Graduates are Ambitious and Enthusiastic

After graduation, many students are eager to begin their professional careers; they want to make a good impression, and they want to succeed. A sense of gratitude may also accompany a new hire’s desire to do well in their role. This can lead to a strong commitment to the job from the beginning, not to mention enthusiasm to learn, succeed and make leadership proud.

How to Recruit College Graduates: Recent Graduates are Tech-Savvy

Recent graduates have more than likely spent time learning and mastering new technologies, making their ability to navigate technology capabilities and functionalities second nature. What’s more, according to an Accenture Strategy Survey, nearly three-quarters of Generation Z graduates have taken digital, coding or computer science-related courses in college. These skills can give newly hired graduates the opportunity to share their knowledge across an organization.

Greater Diversity Outcomes

With graduating classes becoming more and more diverse, organizations have a prime opportunity to recruit talent from all walks of life. Pew Research projects that both colleges and workplaces can expect to see diversity numbers climb, with the class of 2025 expected to be the most diverse in history. Embracing diversity and incorporating it into overall corporate culture has many benefits. According to a survey conducted by McKinsey and Company, businesses with a diverse workforce are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above industry averages.

Long-Term Talent Development

Hiring graduates with a focus on developing their skills affords organizations the opportunity to recruit the leaders of the future. Organizations can groom recent graduates and equip them with the knowledge and skills needed for leadership. By thinking about the long-term needs of the organization, hiring managers can proactively fill forecasted skill, workforce and leadership gaps with fresh, ready-to-learn talent.

Sourcing Strategies for Graduate Recruitment

When recruiting recent graduates, organizations need a strong presence where they work, live and go to school, and on the platforms and technologies they use the most. The majority of today’s job seekers are Millennial and Gen Z graduates. To reach young talent, it’s critical for organizations to connect with them in the ways they can relate to – namely through technology. Below we list digital sourcing strategies for recruiting the best talent among recent graduates.

How to Recruit College Graduates on Social Media

Social media’s ubiquitous nature makes it one of the most effective recruiting tools for Generation Z and Millennials. To reach a large pool of recent college graduates, organizations should establish recruiting-focused Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook pages that highlight entry–level jobs. Social media recruiting tips include:

  • Organizations should utilize Facebook’s Graph Search option to find graduates with the specific skills and educational background they are looking for in candidates.
  • On LinkedIn, organizations should use keywords relevant to open entry-level positions to attract the right candidates as well as posting jobs in alumni groups and university pages.
  • Although Twitter only permits 280 characters in posts, organizations can add videos about their company and photos to gain the attention of recent graduate candidates.

How to Recruit College Graduates with Mobile Recruiting

Mobile recruiting is growing in popularity as more and more applicants initiate their job searches on their mobile devices. What’s more, 86 percent of recent graduates feel positive about text messages being used in the hiring process. Organizations can use SMS messages to alert candidates of new opportunities and coordinate interviews. While sending job opportunities via text can be valuable, organizations should be careful not to overdo it. Mobile-first talent technology like PeopleScout’s Affinixtm can help organizations leverage mobile recruiting tools to attract candidates to entry-level positions.

How to Recruit College Graduates with your Career Page

Members of Generation Z are always online, so investing in a well-designed, content-rich career page for students to learn about job openings is well worth the effort. If possible, organizations should personalize a graduate career page to highlight alumni hires, experiences of recent graduates and employer messaging tailored to engage potential hires. Graduate career pages should be optimized for search engines and contain relevant keywords so job seekers can easily find it. Links to the page should also be included in communications with prospective candidates.

Building and Maintaining Campus Relationships

Establishing strong relationships with universities is a key element to successful campus recruiting.

To start, organizations should reach out to a university’s career center. When communicating with the career center’s team, focus on communicating what your organization can do for the university. Once a relationship is established with the career center, organizations should leverage that connection to start nurturing relationships with faculty.

Organizations should become active in different campus activities, even if those activities are not directly associated with recruiting. For example, organizations can identify student groups related to their industry and offer sponsorship programs for activities and events. This is a great way to create a positive brand image on campus. Below, are other strategies for building relationships with universities and students:

  • Organizations should participate in networking events hosted by the university to get to know potential candidates, faculty members and administrators who can help in campus recruiting efforts.
  • Sponsoring academic conferences and events on campus is a good way to illustrate that an organization is a committed partner in supporting the educational mission of the university.
  • To boost their profile on campus and connect better with faculty, organizations should enlist the help of campus ambassadors, former employees who attended that university.
  • Organizations should offer university staff and students on-site visits to their offices to share their company culture and give students a real-world view of the workplace.

Engaging Students at Campus Career Fairs

College job fairs have been a mainstay of on-campus recruiting for years. To make the most of career fairs, organizations should carefully tailor their approach. In this section, we outline ways organizations can better engage students at campus career fairs.

Bring the A-Team

Companies should bring employees who will best reflect the experiences and values most important to students. Often, these individuals will be recent graduates, members of the leadership team or employees currently holding positions candidates may be particularly interested in.

When selecting a team, identify employees who have a passion for what they do and an interest in building relationships with students. Also, organizations should be sure to have a diverse range of culture, ethnicities, age, and gender reflected in the recruiters at their booth.

Follow Up

After the career fair has wrapped up, organizations need to quickly follow up with interested candidates to refresh their memories and keep the organization “top-of-mind” as a future potential employer.

Tips for post-career fair follow up include:

  • Collect as much information from students as possible and use that information to send targeted emails. For example, you could notify them of upcoming hiring events in their area.
  • Provide candidates with specific, tangible options for engaging with your organization after the career fair, such as the contact information of employees they met with at the fair, links to career pages and invitations to in-house meet and greets.

Timely, professional and tailored correspondence to candidates immediately after a career fair can help improve employer branding.

Outsource College Recruiting

When recruiting recent graduates, organizations can leverage the technology of outside resources to maximize their reach and improve recruiting outcomes. From sourcing and screening to interviewing and hiring recent graduates, a Recruitment Process Outsourcing partner can effectively deploy technology to assist organizations with campus talent acquisition.

As the business landscape becomes more complicated and organizations look to adapt to changes, hiring young forward-thinking graduates will continue to be important for remaining competitive. Learning how to recruit college graduates and implementing an RPO solution to help recruit students can imbue an organization with expertise, tools and technologies to create the talent pipeline needed to find tomorrow’s talent today.

Removing Barriers to Employment for the Long-Term Unemployed

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With record low unemployment rates in the U.S., the UK and other leading economies, recruiters seeking to attract talent may assume that everyone who wants a job already has one.

However, this not the case, even in the strongest job markets. In the United States, the long-term unemployed are defined as those who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more and are searching for work. In May 2018, when the jobs report numbers were so good that reporters ran out of words to describe it, nearly 1.2 million individuals had been out of work and seeking employment for more than six months. The long-term unemployed made up 19.6 percent of all unemployed Americans and May was the first month that this percentage fell below 20 percent since the Great Recession.


During an economic downturn, the primary cause of long-term unemployment is simple: there are not enough jobs to employ those who want them. With the robust job growth over the last year, the ranks of the long-term unemployed in the U.S. have fallen by one third. During times of economic growth, causes of extended joblessness can often directly be addressed and remedied by employers.

Minding the Resume Gap


Imagine being a qualified job candidate who has been unemployed for nearly a year. After months of disappointment, a job comes along that looks like a perfect match. The candidate is excited to fill out the online job application, but when they reach the job history section, they see: “Please provide the start and end dates for all of your jobs. If there is a gap of more than six months, please provide an explanation.” These types of questions related to job history can be used (or perceived to be used) as a way to disqualify candidates.


The Deloitte Handbook A Guide to Recruiting and Hiring the Long-Term Unemployed recommends removing filters and screening procedures that ask for dates of last or current employment and automatically eliminate unemployed and long-term unemployed applicants. It also recommends confirming that Applicant Tracking Systems do not screen out resumes based on employment status.

Avoid Date Limits on Valuing Experience


A candidate who has been unemployed for an extended period may possess years of valuable experience and required job skills. It is important for employers to consider whether their recruitment process gives undue weight to recent expertise over cumulative experience gained over the lifespan of a career. Recruitment processes should also be checked for any potential bias against older applicants. An OECD study found that incidence of long-term unemployment increases with age throughout many developed economies.

Addressing the Jobs Skills Gap


A lack of in-demand skills can be a cause of long-term unemployment. There are many resources for those with extended joblessness to receive training in marketable skills. Employers can build relationships with these agencies as part of their recruitment program to target the long-term unemployed. In the UK, skills training can be included as a standard benefit offered to the long-term unemployed. In Australia, the government offers programs which include training for young people and others who either have or risk having long periods of unemployment. Job training services are also provided by Canadian provinces and by state and local governments in the United States.


There are numerous local initiatives in which businesses combine with non-profit agencies to provide skills in an effort to fight all levels of unemployment. Employers can work closely with these agencies to source available talent (often at reduced sourcing costs) and even partner with them as part of their community engagement efforts.

Reaching the Hard to Reach Talent


Individuals without strong job seeking skills can have their period of unemployment unnecessarily extended. For example, the process of finding a job 15 years ago was completely different from today. Reaching candidates whose experience and skills may add tremendous value to your organization requires specialized expertise in sourcing that may not be readily available in many human resources departments. Several leading employers have turned to Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) companies to successfully attract and recruit hard to reach talent.

Worth the Effort


For many companies, the incentive to attract the long-term unemployed may be to meet a need to recruit the last pool of available talent in a tight labor market. However, hiring those with extended unemployment can potentially be a valuable tool in retaining talent, which is critical in today’s economy. The Deloitte handbook cites a White House study that found that companies that hire the long-term unemployed experience higher retention rates and greater workforce loyalty. Given the potential for talent attraction and retention, employers who remove barriers for the long-term unemployed may gain an unexpected competitive edge in an increasingly challenging market.

PeopleScout Australia Jobs Report Analysis – May 2018

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The Australia Bureau of Statistics released its May Labour Force Key Statistics.  Australian employment rose, but the growth was slower than expected. Job gains were led by increases in part-time work while the jobless rate ticked down to its lowest since November at 5.4 per cent.

The Numbers

12,000: The Australian economy added 12,000 jobs in May.
5.4%: The Australian unemployment rate decreased to 5.4 per cent.
65.5%: Labour force participation decreased to 65.5 per cent.
+6: According to the NAB, the business confidence index fell to +6 index points.

Upside

There was a net job gain of 12,000 in May which continues the trend of monthly job growth. Australia’s annual job growth of about 3 percent was nearly double the U.S. rate of job creation of 1.6 percent. Since May 2017, full-time employment has increased by 178,800, and part-time employment has increased by 125,100.


The labour force participation rate decreased in May but is still near historic highs with more women and senior citizens entering the workforce.  In seasonally adjusted terms, the largest increase in employment was in Victoria (up 22,100), followed by Queensland (up 5,000), and New South Wales (up 2,800). The only increase in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was in Tasmania (up 0.5 per cent).

Downside

The job gains in May still fell 6,000 short of the 18,000 expected increase. The net increase was only possible due to a surge in part-time jobs that offset a decrease in full-time employment. The business confidence index fell to +6 – the level of its long-term average. Wages continue to grow at a slow pace which is causing concern about the possible negative impact this will have on the economy as a whole.

The Unknown

The Fair Work Commission raised the minimum wage by 2.4 per cent to $672.70 a week. This will mean an extra $15.80 per week for the 1.8 million workers who are paid the minimum wage in Australia. The increase takes effect on July 1 and equates to a minimum hourly rate of $17.70. It is unclear what the impact of this increase will be on the unemployment rate or the stagnation in wage increases.

Wages and Recruitment: The Pressure is Building

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The scene opens on an office with two people facing each other across a desk. The one behind the desk takes a piece of paper, and with exaggerated strokes, writes an unseen amount on it, folds the paper in half and slides it slowly across the desk. There is tension in the air. The paper is picked up, unfolded and read. The entire plot hinges on whether the amount, still invisible to the viewer, is accepted or rejected.


This performance has played out countless times in films and television. For those attempting to recruit in a tight labor market successfully, the scene may feel uncomfortably familiar. Determining the right wages at a time of record high job openings and low unemployment can seem daunting. Offering wages that are too low can repel the best talent while offering wages that are unnecessarily high can impact a company’s profitability. Understanding the causes of current wage pressures allows employers to make informed decisions that will have a positive effect on their recruitment processes.

Beyond Supply and Demand – Causes of Wage Pressure


It’s Economics 101: the cost of goods and services rises when their availability decreases. When there is low unemployment, available workers are scarce. Companies that are seeking to attract talent need to source from a limited pool of available workers as well as those who are currently working. Since the top reason that workers quit their jobs is for better pay elsewhere, companies face the dual challenge of finding the right salary to offer the workers they are trying to attract while also retaining their current employees. While this supply and demand scenario is critical to understanding wage pressure, there are other important factors at work in today’s recruiting environment.

Cost of Living


Inflation continues to remain at low levels in most major economies, but the cost of living is rising in many places due to high housing costs. This is especially true for cities that are major business and financial centers. Companies recruiting in these metropolitan areas need to factor in the current and potential future cost of living in these locations when determining their wage ranges as part of an effective recruiting strategy.

Competition from the Gig Economy


The gig economy was not a factor in wage pressure just a few years ago, but it is an integral part of today’s talent landscape. Uber, the company that pioneered this sector, surpassed 1.5 million drivers last year. Some people may choose to work in the gig economy to supplement the income from their full-time job. For others, gig work is an attractive alternative to working set hours, going to an office and having a boss. Employers that want to attract talent to fill positions need to know how their pay rate compares with those choosing to work as independent contractors by tapping on an app.

Skills Shortage


Supply and demand also come into play when there is a shortage of workers who possess the skills required by employers. Consider the example of welders in the United States. In 1988, there were about 570,000 welders compared to the 360,000 in 2012. The American Welding Society estimates a 290,000 job deficit for welders by 2020. Due to a skill shortage and increased demand, wages for welders are projected to increase at nearly double the rate of the average U.S. worker. Wage pressure resulting from skills shortages is a global issue. Employers should factor in the availability of workers with the required skills, or those that can be trained to acquire these skills, when determining pay rates.

What Wage Pressure? 


The United States and other leading economies have had sustained job growth and low unemployment for an extended period, without experiencing a corresponding substantial increase in wages. However, there are leading economists that believe that wage inflation is imminent. Employers seeking to find the best talent should take note of the current economic environment in the U.S. A recent article in Bloomberg reported that during the current economic cycle, the rate at which workers are leaving their jobs has accelerated to its highest point in the in the past six months. This is an indication that the strong labor market is giving workers the confidence that if they leave a job, another one can be found without difficulty.


The article goes on to cite The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s wage measure for job switchers, those who leave one employer for another, which has also rebounded to cycle highs in recent months, reaching 4.4 percent in March and 4.0 percent in April. The article goes on to note: “Seems like a good environment for workers facing stagnating real wage growth to start looking for greener pastures, forcing firms to boost compensation more aggressively to attract and retain employees.”

Relieving the Pressure on Recruitment


With so many factors to consider, how can employers determine a wage range that will attract the best talent without causing an unnecessary negative impact on profit? Companies should consider partnering their recruitment efforts with an expert, such as a recruitment process outsourcing company or RPO.  RPOs can provide information on current wage rates, the supply and demand of workers in specific markets and the ability to source and screen candidates. An RPO provides the steps to deliver the best candidates while delivering an employer the insight to offer the right wages to attract the right talent. By partnering with an RPO, an employer can leverage an understanding of wage pressure into an asset in its recruitment efforts.

Prospects for the Class of 2018

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The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that approximately 1.9 million bachelor’s degrees will be awarded in the 2017-2018 academic year in the United States. These graduates will be among the millions worldwide who will be entering the job market with a degree for the first time.

A strong economy with low unemployment and robust growth projections should indicate that the graduates of the Class of 2018 have bright prospects for finding their first job after graduation. And while it is true that many graduates will benefit from the current strong demand for talent, others may face unexpected challenges. NACE, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, reports that employers plan to hire 1.3 percent fewer graduates from the Class of 2018 for U.S. positions than they did from the Class of 2017.

The study notes that volatility in just a few industries will impact the overall hiring outlook. Two industries, in particular, are driving this overall decrease: insurance firms and retail employers. Insurance firms responding to the survey projected a decrease in hires by 42 percent due to the recent natural disasters, including Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which led to high payment amounts for catastrophic losses. Retail employers plan to decrease their hires by almost 33 percent, citing the changing landscape of the industry and a lack of job openings as the key factors. 2018 marks the first decrease in this hiring projection since the Class of 2010.

Despite the obstacles that some new graduates may face, the members of the Class of 2018 in the U.S. will be entering the workforce at a time of record high job openings. Yet a study released earlier this month notes that three-quarters of this year’s graduating class do not have jobs lined up after graduation. In the current extremely competitive job market, employers hoping to attract these first-time job seekers need to understand their concerns and expectations.

Wage Pressures for 2018 Graduates

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, approximately 70 percent of college students borrow money to pay for their tuition. The average debt to a student borrower is $27,975. A significant number of candidates from the Class of 2018 will be entering the job market with student loan debts that they will seek to pay off as soon as possible. This makes compensation a major factor in choosing a job. In addition, many of the most attractive employers are located in large cities with a high cost of living. The Class of 2018 job seekers may find themselves balancing their need for a sizable paycheck with other attributes employers have to offer.

Which Majors Pay the Most?

While many students choose their field of study based on interest and applicability to their future careers, graduates of the Class of 2018 can evaluate their choices based on projections of their future earnings. In the NACE Winter 2018 Salary Report for the Class of 2018, students with engineering, computer science and math and sciences degrees are the top-paid graduates at the bachelor’s degree level.

The average starting salary for a 2018 graduate in engineering is $66,521 followed closely by those majoring in computer science at $66,005. Math and sciences majors will average $61,867. While an undergraduate degree in business was once thought of as a ticket to a high starting salary compared to a degree in social sciences and humanities, the initial average earning for business is only slightly higher for the Class of 2018. A business major can expect an average income of $56,720 while a social sciences major can plan to earn an average of $56,689 and a humanities major will average $56,688.

Global Outlook

For much of the world’s largest economies, the strong demand for talent provides a good environment for first-time job seekers. The notable exception is in much of southern and eastern Europe where youth unemployment remains high. Due to the uncertainties related to Brexit, especially regarding the free movement of labor, the Class of 2018 is potentially facing fewer options of work locations than their predecessors.

In Canada, new college graduates can use data from the recent BMO’s Regional Labour Market Report Card to help determine the best locations in which to search for jobs. Moncton, New Brunswick topped the City Labour Market Performance Rankings, increasing from a six-year low. British Columbia and Ontario are showing the strongest results for overall job market conditions by province. Local unemployment, job growth and business investment are some of the elements that contribute to the ratings provided by the report.

Australian college graduates are increasingly turning to part-time work for employment. The Guardian reported earlier this year that there is a pronounced trend towards part-time employment among graduates. Between 2008 and 2017, the proportion of employed graduates working part time increased by 17 percentage points to 38 percent of all graduates. And part-time employment is growing in Australia. In the March 2018 Australian Employment Report, part-time jobs grew while full-time jobs decreased.

UK Study with Global Implications

A study from Universities UK found that one in three graduates are mismatched to the jobs they find after leaving their university studies. While universities and students themselves can take steps to address this issue, employers need to attract the right people at the right time for the right positions. Given the amount of early attrition in much of the world’s major economies, this problem is not limited to the UK.

Finding the Perfect Match

A key element in solving this “graduate to job mismatch” is in the recruitment process itself.  Take a moment to consider what attributes a new graduate should have to be an ideal candidate for your company. How can you know if these ideal candidates exist? And if they do exist, how can you successfully compete with other companies to attract them?

What steps do you need to take to increase the chances that it will be your job offer that is accepted and not one of your competitors? If the answers to these questions are not addressed in your current recruitment process, it may be time to turn to an expert. Enterprises that have shown success in the delivery of products and services should consider turning to a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) company to provide the needed expertise to attract the millions of new graduates coming into the job market this year. And with many graduates receiving their degrees this month and job markets tighter than they have been in years, the time to act is now.