Interview with Ian Girling - CEO of Dorset Chamber of Commerce

Ian asked me what my take on the current employment market is.

I see there are two noticeably clear strands – those that are incredibly busy such as the NHS, social care, delivery companies, and then…everyone else.

I have had new jobs coming in, but they have been few and far between with interviews being held successfully via Zoom. It will be interesting to see how these newly hired employees are integrated into the business after lockdown, employers need to give this some consideration to make sure their onboarding is not lost in the franticness of ‘getting back to work’.

We went onto to discuss how prior to going into lockdown, we were experiencing a ‘candidate driven market’ or in other words, a market where there were more jobs available than people to do them. This has been the status quo for the last 2-3 years and has presented many businesses (and recruiters) with a headache. 

Post lockdown, this will have changed. We’ve heard of many companies, sadly closing their doors and redundancies being made, meaning that we will return to an employment market of more candidates than jobs available. It won’t last forever, but certainly for the short to medium term.  This will mean that there will be some great candidates on the market through no fault of their own.

My advice to employers is to use this time wisely and really get to the nitty gritty of what you want out of a job role/candidate.  Often this is honed through the recruitment process, but I think to speed up the process and ensure you get the best candidate you can for the job, invest time now in creating a comprehensive job description and an attractive job advert.

Most importantly, be honest about your offering. Be honest about the salary, honest about the responsibilities involved. Yes, I know this is basic stuff, but it means so much to people. Remember what we’ve all been through. You have the opportunity to make the transition back to work easier and more seamless for someone, all the while creating a great employee/employer bond and sealing in loyalty.

Your brand values, positive company image, community work are all laudable aspects of your business, that you should share with future employees.

The video goes on to discuss:

✅Interview techniques for employers - @5:18 mins
✅Psychometric testing - @6:55 mins
✅How many interviews is the right number? - @8:00 mins
✅Employees perspective - @9:19 mins
✅Interview tips for employees- @11:57 mins
✅Asking for interview feedback - @15:12 mins
✅Looking forward - @16:29 mins

You can find the video in this link, it’s just a little over 17 minutes long. I hope you find it useful.

Helen.