Trends Already in 2010

Holy cow! We're two months down already in 2010. When did this happen?


When I'm making marketing or recruiting calls, I'll jot down things that are noteworthy or interesting. (I gotta do something when I'm on hold!)

With 1/6 of the year in the books, there are some common trends in recruiting that I've recognized:

1) Passive Candidates are Definitely Looking to Move

As the most attractive candidates to employers, passive candidates (typically defined as people working and not actively looking) are usually the hardest to source. However, just in the first two months they are returning recruiting calls and updating their resume much faster than in the past. While it's possible that I'm a better recruiter, (ahem) more likely is that workers have experienced wage or benefit cuts, hunkered down through the worst of the recession, and are now ready to improve their situation.

2) Sales Candidates want Specifics on Compensation Plans

Sales have been one of the hottest areas as far as new orders, and in the past candidates were typically comfortable moving to a new opportunity if offered a set base and the opportunity to make 20%-30% through commissions. With the downturn however, overall incomes have taken a hit as less revenue has been coming in. Reps that for several years made a great income through base pay plus commission were now trying to make ends meet through just their base or with much smaller commission checks.

To protect themselves, these candidates are asking for higher base salaries with new opportunities, and specifics as far as what number of existing customer accounts are assigned to them, what the average sales rep made last year, and commissions paid out based on when the sales are made-not when money is collected.

3) Inaccurate Dates on Resumes

With several million jobs lost last year, I've seen a lot of resumes of people who lost their job in 2009. A trend however is that many of these people indicate on their resume that they worked at their last employer from the year they started-"present," even though they no longer work there. While most people are understanding that someone may have lost their job in 2009 in one of the worst recessions in our history, indicating "present" on a resume is technically lying and a rocky start to the applications process.

4) No Training Available

Lastly, employers have been very adamant that candidates under consideration for an opening need to be able to "hit the ground running" and that there is "no time for training" with this position. This makes sense, as companies are squeezed to do more with less, they need people that can make an impact right away, with little or no ramp up time.