Minto Roy - Career - Recruitment Blog

Language.

The current labor market in Canada is so frantic that both sides of the hiring table are developing a new language to explain their situation. Understanding what each side is saying with this new language will give employers and jobseekers a huge advantage.

Recently, I spent the day at a Massive trade show featuring several hundred companies showcasing their products and services. Every manager I spoke confirmed their struggles to find talent . At the same show, I met hundreds of professionals looking for a new career. Each group answered questions in a new language created by their experiences in this labor market. A language filled with excitement, frustration, confusion and contradictions.
Here are a sampling of questions and answers by employers and job-seekers

My Q@A with Employers and Hiring Managers.

Q: What is the greatest challenge facing your company.
“We just can’t find the enough talent. We have a staff of 10 and we need 400 by next month. But we’re so busy, it’s crazy. We are trying so many different ways to find talent”
Q: Really, what are you doing?
“We put ads in papers, work with recruiters, attend career fairs and give our employees a bonus if we hire their friends or family. And we bought this neon yellow sign that spins on our front lawn hoping that the right talent drives by is enticed by a spinning sign saying ‘We are Hiring’”
Q: What budget have you allocated for your hiring needs?
“Oooh, we don’t really have much of a budget. The yellow sign kinda was a unexpected expense.
Q: But I thought hiring talent was your number one problem facing your company?
“No kidding, …“We’re tearing our hair out trying to find good talent…But we are just so busy and it’s so time consuming.

Here’s what jobseekers can learn from this madness and contradiction

Figure out who you want to work for. Do some research and create a top ten list of companies you want to work for. Don’t worry if the company doesn’t have a job posted or a sign on their lawn. In this labor market assume they’re hiring. Send a letter to management expressing your interest and how you intend to bring value. Assume that they have been too busy to find you. Go find them!

My Q@A with Job-Seekers.

Q: It’s a vibrant job market, what kind of exciting career are you looking for?
A: “I’d like a challenge. I’d like something that will utilize my skills and experiences”.
Q: Really, but what would you love to do? It’s a great market for jobseekers. What’s going to get you excited about getting up in the morning and going to work.
A: (With a little more excitement) “ I’d love to find a challenging position, I would love a career that utilizes my skills and experiences. Oh, I’m also great people person, and a team player”
Q: What are your salary expectations?
A: We’ll, I’m making 50K now, If I would need at least 50K , but I’d like move up to 55K
Q: But, it’s a red hot, tight labor market! Every employment market advantage is tilted to the advantage of the job seeker.
A: You’re right! At least 55K and parking, yeah parking. I’ve always wanted parking!
Translation for employers.

Job seekers are seeking fit and respect and not necessarily more income. They want a company that not only says that people are their greatest asset but acts like it.

There is still a massive pool of talent looking for the right place, but this talent can’t find your company because you have not drastically changed your strategy to find them. With the right recruitment strategy, there is no labor market shortage.

Oh, and take the spinning neon sign off your lawn.

Minto Roy

Posted by minto at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Newcomers to Canada often find themselves at the mercy of conflicting job-search information and opinions on how to best secure a career.

One of the greatest mis-conceptions that job-seekers face is the stero-type that the summer season is a terrible time to look for a new career. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Here are the top five myths about the summer hiring season and reality of what jobseeker need to know.

Myth #1
Companies slow down during the summer months and are not hiring.

Reality:
Fact is most businesses do not count on less business during the summer. Therefore, the need for quality staff remains crucial. In-fact many industries face hiring urgencies during the summer: tourism, hospitality, entertainment, construction, retail, government to name a few. These industries rely on other companies to support their businesses; supplier companies, partner companies and the businesses that their customers work for. All these companies remain active during the summer to support each other and take advantage of the increased in customers.

Myth #2
Hiring managers are all on vacations

Reality:
Most mangers take one week off during the summer,the rest take two weeks off. Last time I checked the summer season lasts 12 to 16 weeks. Furthermore, when a manager goes on vacation, they usually designate someone to handle business matters, including screening, interviewing and hiring.

Myth #3
It’s tough to get in-touch with decision makers during the summer months.

Reality:
Approximately 80% of hiring in Canada is done by SME’s (small to medium size companies.) These companies are run by entrepreneurs. Most entrepreneurs and business owners are not hard to get a hold of, THEY ARE JUST BUSY ALL THE TIME. They are running a company: operations, payroll, selling, marketing, bookkeeping, etc. Change your strategy if your having trouble reaching decision makers. Don’t blame it on the summer.

Also ask yourself, what are the ideal months to contact entrepreneurs, when they have plenty of time to return your call”.

Myth #4 University and College students are sending out tons for jobs making it more competitive.

Reality:
There are probably less resumes sent out in the summer. The typical jobseeker is less active in the summer months; family vacations, summer activities and the believing that the summer is a terrible time to look for work.

Also, students look for more transient work and want to return to their studies in September. Employers are not naïve, they realize students will be returning to school in the fall and most won’t hire a seasonal worker over someone they know will stay throughout the year and save their company the burden and expense of re-hiring in fall.

Myth #5
With the heat of the summer it’s ok to dress a more casual for a job interview.

Reality:
First impressions are first impressions, regardless of season. Make it a rule if you are searching for a career to always look professional. Wearing summer attire, such as shorts and tee-shirts, tight or short clothing that accentuates your new summer physic is not acceptable.

Ignore these summer employment myths and you’ll have a huge advantage as your competition is waits for the September. Remain active with your job search and you could heat up your career.

Minto Roy

Posted by minto at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I realize the job market is red-hot and recruiting talent has never been so difficult.

Managers across the country speak openly about their frustration with recruiting hardworking, professionally educated, skilled talent for their company’s growth.

But on the other side of the hiring desks, thousands and thousands of qualified immigrants are under-employed or unemployed and continue to struggle to find professional work in their field. This vast untapped well-educated, hard-working, labor-force is right in-front of your eyes.

However, our eyes can deceive us.

At first glimpse a new immigrant’s resume brings massive confusion; “ never heard of the university,” “never heard of their previous employer,” “ don’t really know much about the country or culture,” “probably has weak English skills,” “no Canadian experience.” I realize that most hiring managers lack the time and resources to properly screen ANY candidate, never mind a candidate that has no common ground and comes from a city that they have never heard of. Your company however, must recognize and validate what is not on the resume and overcome stereotypes of the immigrant labor force. Consider the value of the professional that is right in front of your eyes. What you see can your company a huge advantage in this tight labor market.
Make sure you see these 5 things about the Professional Immigrant Labor force.

First: Canadian Immigrants come prepared to work.

They have no-choice, this is not a vacation. They bought a one-way ticket.

Try this, go to the airport, and buy a ticket to another country. Land with $10,000 and set up a place to live, buy furniture, place your kids in school and then see how quickly you want to find work and create stability and professionally identity.

Second: Professional Immigrants come pre-screened.

Your tax dollars have set up rigid screening criteria for new immigrants to enter Canada. They must possess and credibly prove their education and experience. The government has already acted as a first level HR screen for your business. Furthermore, the education standard and academic competition in many foreign countries result in creating top level international students. These bright minds are ready and hungry to become a part Canada’s international growth.

Third: Cost-Effective Hires, A Huge bargain for your company.

The vast majority of professional immigrants under-market and under value themselves. They just want a chance to prove they can do the job. To prove they have the right qualifications. They are driven by a need to be identified professionally in their new county. Making a salary commensurate with their current market value in a skills labor shortage market is the last thing on their mind. Many small to medium size companies, can add; MBA’s, PHD’s, from internationally recognized institutions to their corporate profile at a fraction of the cost. Tell that to your share-holders!

Fourth: New immigrants work very hard.

Most immigrants do not come from a country where 9-5 is the norm. I have assisted many new immigrants that worked 50-60-70 hours a week as routine. This work effort is further fueled by their pride not to disappoint their new employer, themselves and their family here and in their homeland.

Fifth: New immigrants will increase your business growth.

Internally for your business, adding culture and information from another part of the world can only bring growth and exciting diversity to your current staff.

Externally, your company will have ability to communicate and talk to customers, suppliers and partners in different languages. The company has the capacity to increase its local reach and position your brand and products into new cultural communities, cities, new countries.

Think about your business growth. Is your company selling more and more each year to new immigrants? If not, then you’d better jump on the band wagon. There is no greater consumer group coming to Canada every year that needs EVERYTHING. This means hundreds of thousands of new customers for your business.

I urge Canadian Employers, look beyond the words on the resume. Look beyond your perceptions or stereotypes of professionals immigrants. The major solution to the labor shortage is right in-front of our eyes.

They are just waiting for you to see.

Minto Roy
President
PCMG Canada / Careers Today Canada /PCMG Executive
www.pcmgcanada.com
www.careerstodaycanada.com
www.pcmgexecutive.com

Posted by minto at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)