How does a tight labor market impact professional services BD & marketing roles?

You will have likely seen the recent news that the unemployment rate in the US is at record lows. The current unemployment rate is 3.9%. To give you some quick context, five years ago at this time, it was 7.3%. Post-financial crisis it was almost at 10%.

Regardless of your view on whether these low unemployment rates are a positive or a negative on the economy, this tight market certainly affects our pocket of the world. It is much harder for firms to find enough quality BD and marketing professionals.

Below I share some insights for both firms and candidates on how to deal with recruiting good quality BD and marketing professionals in this tight market. Both perspectives are equally important, and different insights apply whether you’re recruiting or being recruited.

For firms:

• Waiting for people to notice your role? Some market conditions allow firms the luxury of being passive when they are adding to their BD and marketing teams. If there are more great candidates than open roles, typically a passive approach still means you can miss a large percentage of candidates but still be successful. That is not true now. My best advice to you given the current tight market is to find a way to proactively and purposefully go out into the market and recruit the right person for you.
• Move quickly and purposefully. Executing efficiently is even more necessary in a tight market as other firms typically have the same hiring needs as you. Waiting too long to secure the best candidates will likely see you missing out on good people. Consider these tips: plan out the interview meeting process and don’t let it run over 2-3 weeks from start to finish, don’t involve people who are too busy to quickly and meaningfully participate, and, know which of your interviewers have upcoming time away from the office (and plan accordingly).
• Manage your candidate. Frequent and purposeful communication with your best candidates will keep you constantly tapped into their timeline and what else they are dealing with (read: other pursuits or offers they have). You want to be fully informed and ready to move quickly when you need to. Ideally, you want a relationship with your best candidates. Frequent check-ins and updates are a great way to achieve this status with them. Remember that other firms have these practices and candidates are influenced by this.
• Be good to those who already work for you. Are you at risk of losing your top BD and marketing professionals? Think about which BD and marketing professionals in your current team are likely to be approached in this tight market. Do you have a good read on who is fulfilled, challenged and, ultimately, happy? Are you looking after your top performers? If its been a while since you talked about these issues, now is the time to address these questions with your team. They are likely being approached by other firms and you should be nurturing them and letting them know their value in your team and your firm.

For candidates:

• Know how to handle a recruiter call. You’ll likely have to deal with recruiters calling you. And it helps to know a few quick, effective and professional ways to handle these calls. Like any professional reach out, a quick response goes a long way. Whether that response is to express your interest, or to let the person know you are happy and not looking for a career move at that time, people appreciate your engagement. And, if you feel you’re being unnecessarily bugged, simply say “Thank you, I appreciate the call, I’m not looking to consider a move for at least two years, so please note that going forward”. You can control the level and amount of interaction if you wish to.
• Leverage the situation, but beware. As a BD and marketing candidate, you know your immense value in this market, and you know you are currently highly sought after. Most savvy people leverage this situation, particularly when it comes to salary negotiations. But be careful here. Firms have competitive ranges they work with, and they know when someone is over-priced. Firms do get turned off (and remember) when you set the salary bar too high.
• Ask the right questions in interview meetings. In these market conditions, it’s easy to be flattered. If you are entertaining a role that a recruiter or firm has reached out to you about, ask the right questions. You need to know if the opportunity is right for you and the right next career move; versus entertaining the role because it is easier to be flattered in this market. Consider these questions: find out more about the senior leadership at the top of the marketing and BD team, find out about the cultural aspects of the team, the likelihood (and prior history of) internal promotions, people management responsibilities, and a thorough breakdown of the technical components to ensure you are both on the same page.
• Don’t move just because its easy to. One of the first things I ask a candidate when they’re looking to move is: why? Keep in mind that you have invested so much in your current role and firm, and the first thing you should be looking to do is to seek out internal promotion opportunities if they exist. Now, if those internal opportunities don’t exist, it’s a different conversation. But, moving just because the market might be friendlier to you, in my experience, doesn’t get you where you’re going any faster.

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Summing up     
 
Whether you are recruiting, or being recruited, there are different factors to take into account in this tight market. Deploying a few easy and quick methods to adapt to this market is key. And, importantly, if you as a firm or a candidate need help with these factors in this market, your search professional knows how to handle these issues on your behalf to still generate a successful search or career discussion.