When employers turn down job applicants, they throw money away!
If you’re an employer, the next time you get a call from a job applicant or are approached by someone without an appointment, don’t be too quick to say you’re not hiring and turn them down. Before you hang up the phone or refer someone else, consider this: you could be wasting your money!
How is that? Well, it’s quite simple. Despite the state of the economy in general, when employers have a need to hire specialized and highly qualified talent, it is always a challenge to find the right fit. As an experienced manufacturing recruiter, I know how difficult it is to find a qualified maintenance mechanic who is strong in electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic, can program PLCs, and is willing to work a rotating night shift. I also know how difficult it is to recruit qualified Swiss CNC machinists, a CNC machinist strong in CNC mills/lathes who can write programs, a production supervisor, an engineer or technician in the food, cosmetic, aerospace or medical industry, to name a few.
When your company needs highly-skilled talent, you have two options: find it yourself or pay money to get outside help. This may be the same money you probably threw out the window a few months ago when you turned down all those job applicants. Now do I have your attention?
The time to recruit highly-skilled manufacturing talent is NOT when production lines are down, your team is overworked, customers are upset about late shipments or shoddy products, or business is doing so well that it’s not can keep up… the time to recruit top talent is RIGHT NOW. Yes, even in a slow economy, or when times are so tough you can barely keep your doors open, the time to recruit is now.
Most of us would agree that these are difficult times for many manufacturing companies, especially small and medium-sized manufacturers; however, tough times can also be great opportunities to secure the best talent and build a database of highly-skilled manufacturing talent for future staffing needs.
Up to you. You can make smart decisions now and build a fantastic database of highly qualified people, or set your sights on your current circumstances and bark at everyone who comes to your door, and then…pay later.
As an alternative to saying you’re not hiring, try the following:
1. I am always very interested in retaining top talent and would like to contact you when the need arises. I will keep this copy of your resume on file and will contact you as soon as the need arises.
2. Post an ad for your highly-qualified positions and indicate that it is a future need. I once saw an ad that said the estimated hire date was 3-6 months. To be considered, please register.
Always accept resumes from walk-ins and treat them with dignity and respect. Let them fill out the job application and do short interviews if you have time. This will prove to be a very valuable resource later when you are ready to hire.
Paying recruitment fees is often a necessary factor in hiring highly-skilled manufacturing help; however, you may find yourself throwing money out the window by letting that great talent go and having to pay for it later by running expensive ads or hiring a staffing company.
Unless you were born in the ’90s, most employers know the grind. We’ve been here before, and as long as people keep walking and chewing gum, the American economy will get through these times. And when we do, you might be wondering, ‘Now where did I put that phone number or that resume that guy sent me last year?