May is Ending!?!?

My punctuation in the tile of this entry is not a mistake. On one hand, may has given some signs of encouragement while it also has provided even more reasons to be concerned.

Right now, we seem to have a loose cannon running (ruining?) NJ, a lame duck heading up NY, a question mark at best in PA, and lots of red flags popping up out west. With such instability in key states, and a leadership group in DC that still has not defined itself, I am not surprised that the job market is still in flux.

That being said, May began for me with a flurry of activity. It was followed by a dismal mid-section but ended last week with some longtime clients finally showing signs of staffing needs.

With the market rising and falling rapidly, candidates need to be on their toes at all times. Should you receive a call inquiring about your resume, ANSWER THE MESSAGE IMMEDIATELY!!!!! There is no excuse for taking 36-72 hours to return a simple phone call. Remember that very old saying, if you snooze, you lose!!!!

Simple Logic

Simple logic says that if someone is unemployed, and has been for an extended time, that the prospects of a contract opportunity, no matter what the pay rate, would be worth considering. This past week has given me the chance to have this conversation repeatedly and the results have underwhelmed me. Of course, a few realistic folks have jumped at the chance to be considered but more than half have declined because they are insisting on making the same salary they were laid off at perhaps 3 years ago. Wouldn't we all wish the world had not changed? Sadly, that is not reality and it is time to get real about prospects for the near future.

A potential candidate called me yesterday about a posting I had placed which gave a range of $25-37 hour for a supply chain professional from the manufacturing sector. She was a displaced CPA from the financial world who had some related experience going back over 10 years ago. The first thing she told me was she expected to earn over $100 an hour for the posted job and my rate must have been incorrect! After explaining the current facts of life and ascertaining she had been out of work for well over a year, it became apparent she was inflexible and the conversation stopped.

There is not a professional recruiter out there who likes paying people less than market value but the truth is that there is no market value right now. Whatever the employer feels they could afford has become today's market value.