State of the Market

[sira]

Had a lot of noise this week. Two interviews set up for next week.

My current observations/experiences:

- I did notice that the number of vacancies did drop off a cliff after mid-week. No real pattern to the job market, just very up and down.
- Getting frustrated at the number of pre-screening tests/exams I'm being made to do.
- Clients seem to want to do several interviews, whereas in the past the for the same job 2-3 interviews would have been sufficient
- And..every time I do an interview the clients say they're still planning to interview a lot of candidates and that they'll revert with feedback in 2-3 weeks. They seem to want to interview half the market for every job. The pace of things at the moment is gut-wrenching.

Tldr; a few green shoots but not much to rave about.

[vwdan]

The pace of things at the moment is gut-wrenching.

I'm struggling a bit with this - in the past I've taken any kind of delay or slowness as a sign that the job probably won't come off. Literally every contract role I've had has been seriously rapid - in fact, the two times I've had face to face interviews the agent has called me on the way home to say I've gotten it.

[sira]

I'm struggling a bit with this - in the past I've taken any kind of delay or slowness as a sign that the job probably won't come off. Literally every contract role I've had has been seriously rapid - in fact, the two times I've had face to face interviews the agent has called me on the way home to say I've gotten it.

Feel your pain buddy. Clients want the best candidate at the lowest possible cost, so they seem to be conducting tons of interviews to find the most willing slave.

There was one job I applied for in mid June. They shortlisted me start of August, gave me a pre-screening test, then gave me 1hr online test (which I passed with a high score), then I interviewed with the two departments Heads (which went really well) and yet they told me that they're interviewing more people over the next few weeks and if successful, there are another 3 rounds of interview. By the time they choose a candidate, do the on-boarding etc. it'll be bloomin' christmas! I wouldnt understand if it was a Tier 1 bank but it's a medium-size not well known financial services company.

[ResistanceFighter]

so they seem to be conducting tons of interviews to find the most willing slave.

This is the best way of wording the current situation I have seen yet

[CheeseSlice]

There was one job I applied for in mid June. They shortlisted me start of August, gave me a pre-screening test, then gave me 1hr online test (which I passed with a high score), then I interviewed with the two departments Heads (which went really well) and yet they told me that they're interviewing more people over the next few weeks and if successful, there are another 3 rounds of interview.

FFS, how did they ever recruit anyone in normal market conditions?

Good candidates aren't exactly flying off the shelf right now, they know this, agents aren't being pushy, so I guess clientco's can take their sweet time

5 weeks is about the norm for me right now.
Annoyingly I waited this long for two gigs that didn't turn into anything. Budget got canned for one, the other I wasn't selected.
I now have another 2 that are both around 3 weeks into 2-3 stage interview processes.

[sira]

FFS, how did they ever recruit anyone in normal market conditions?

Good candidates aren't exactly flying off the shelf right now, they know this, agents aren't being pushy, so I guess clientco's can take their sweet time

Clients know they have the power at the moment. Another thing I forgot to mention - about 80% of the jobs I'm getting enquiries/interviews from are direct from companies themselves, with the remainder coming from agencies. Pre-covid it was 100% from agencies.

Internal HR departments love taking their sweet time.

[elsergiovolador]

I got bizarre email from an agent about the project I applied for in June and forgot. He said their client is still thinking who to pick...

What is the point writing that?

[sira]

I got bizarre email from an agent about the project I applied for in June and forgot. He said their client is still thinking who to pick...

What is the point writing that?

Either the client isnt serious about hiring anymore, or the agent is just lying to you for any number of infinite reasons.

[BlackCountryContractor]

Been very lucky to pick a contract which lasts until the end of september with some minor noise that it could be extended into October;

Had a very humorous call last week for a contract offer which I had not applied for, with rates been slashed by agencies; it appears some recruitment consultants will resort to some frankly bad excuses

(Edited out the convo about the agency & end client for obvious reasons also job specs)

Recruitment consultant: "So Blackcountrycontractor everything looks good on your CV but end client really wants someone who lives in London area and doesn't want to pay more for someone outside of London, we could push for you to be on the contract but it would mean lower rates for you because you are based in is it watford area?? and end client will pay less"

Me feigning innocence: "Oh that's a shame then but let's say I moved to Chipping Barnet hypothetically speaking; they would be prepared to pay more right?"

Recruitment consultant not realising their stupidity: "Yes, that's correct"

Me: "You do realise that both are on the near exact elevation together and both are within the M25, google maps does not lie"

Recruitment consultant: "Um, err"

Recruitment consultant immediately cancels the call

Someone in wiltshire had a sad face after that phone call

[jainnode]

People who live in chipping Barnet are obviously worth more.
even agents know this.