“If it’s too easy to get, it’s not worth getting.”

The context in which I utter this phrase has changed over the years.  Five plus years ago, it was typically in the context of counseling a candidate not to buckle under pressure of an offer that came out fast and furious, before my client had the chance to fully qualify and get to know them.

As a recruiter, I am supposed to like firms which offer jobs to candidates at the speed of light (such as at the end of an interview – it happened!).  However, this modus operandi always made me feel uncomfortable and distrusting.   There are so many angles to making the right hire, it’s impossible for each party to evaluate each other in a single interaction.   “A careful employer should understand that thoughtful candidates know this intrinsically,” I would say to myself.  With a tag line such as “candidate + culture” I consider evaluating the “fit” to be an art form.  I therefore counseled employers to be swift, yet prudent, in their pursuit of talent.

Today, I really don’t have to worry about shotgun offers so much.  (Those of you who know what a supreme understatement this is are chuckling at this moment.)  I do, however, continue to counsel EMPLOYERS that nothing worth getting is had easily.

It is easy to blow off the nuances and niceties of the recruiting process when our perception is that we are offering a “primo” job in a soft market.  The flip side of this scenario is that “primo” candidates aren’t going to leave their comfy employment situations to accept just any offer.  They are raising the bar on New Opportunity because it now means having to leave the security of established relationships, selling a home, or some other circle of hell as defined by the Great Recession.

In response to healthy candidate skepticism, the right thing to do is to continue to roll out the red carpet because getting the best talent is still hard work (“If it’s too easy to get, it’s not worth getting”), BUT this is not a one-way street.  This adage still very much applies to the CANDIDATES as well.

The meaning this phrase conveys in today’s context is to empower your candidates in the interview process.  Give them the basic tools they might need to prepare, and see what they do with them.  Advise them in advance of the agenda, who they will meet, and a line or two about each person, and generally what to expect in the meeting.  Throw in a thoughtful topic if you dare.  Do you have some talking points you want them to prepare on a certain topic?  Perhaps you’d like to see a short presentation on their crowning achievements, technically or professionally?

Some of you might think this is prepping the candidate too much, but you’re not telling them what you’re looking for from them; you’re just allowing them to put more thought into how they’ll use the basic information you’ve shared.

Give slightly worried or reticent candidates enough information so that they can “own” the meeting, and see what they do with it.  It is my observation that the more a candidate has invested in preparation for a meeting, the more likely it is that s/he will accept an offer should it be forthcoming.  This is because they actually did something to earn it.

Which reminds me of another adage….The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Today’s headline about the drop in the newly unemployed is good, I guess.  I tend to look at this cynically….after all, we’re boasting about how few jobs were lost, yet the number is not small at all.  I guess it’s all relative.

But herein gives me a chance to point you in the direction of one of my favorite statistics:   Unemployment By Educational Attainment.

You’re smart, so I won’t interpret this data for you, but I will highlight what is most interesting to me:  Unemployment among those with a Bachelor’s Degree or higher is at a mere 4.9% (Nov. ’09).  Show this stuff to any aimless students in your household; Perhaps it will provide some motivation.

I have been doing a lot of reading lately – some of which, admittedly, is several years old – on the fact that there is a pending significant skilled worker shortage here in the U.S.  No one dares write about this topic now, amidst high unemployment, but the current circumstances are merely distracting us from the truth:  We in the U.S. are not producing the highly skilled workforce, in labor or the professional sciences, which can meet the demands of a normally functioning economy.

At this very moment, several industries are facing a dire skilled workforce shortage.  These industries include healthcare, skilled manufacturing, and engineering.  Yes, I said engineering.  You and I both know that this is a very broad brush stroke, but that’s beside the point.  I can tell you that, in my own experience and from speaking with many collaborators, there is a supply void for engineers in all facets of mass transit, water resources, and energy/renewables/sustainability (According to Manpower’s 2009 Talent Shortage Report , only 19% of companies indicated that they had trouble filling positions in 2009. The #1 recruiting trouble spot? Engineers).  When it comes to infrastructure, there may be a good supply of engineers who know how things have been done, but there is a shortage of those who can meaningfully contribute to the way we will move, drink, power up and live in the 21^st century.  To paraphrase a now defunct automaker, this is not your father’s infrastructure.

Not everyone agrees with the panicky warnings of the skilled worker gap, but all agree that the skills needed to meet the challenges of a modern market are different from those of the past, therefore creating great challenges in certain niches – even amidst “The Great Recession.”

Here are some of the trends which are said to predicate a massive skilled worker shortage within the next five to ten years:

1. Demographics. Baby Boomers are making up a large number of the senior ranks right now, and although they don’t seem to be going anywhere at this moment, when they do decide to stop working, there are fewer workers in the generation succeeding them to fill their shoes.   Apparently, the boomers were so busy working and enjoying their relative wealth, they didn’t see fit to make a lot of babies (also an issue in funding social security).  So, in summary, you have people leaving the workforce in greater number than the U.S. has replacements for them.  This part of the crisis doesn’t even require job growth, since it is all about maintenance of productivity.
2. And speaking of productivity, I have something to share which will be mildly scandalous to my Gen-X peers: When baby boomers do need to be replaced, it is suggested that they will need to be replaced by more than a single worker. Why?  Baby Boomers are renowned “workaholics,” yet their succeeding generation is more likely to hold sacred a “work-life balance” by placing a greater emphasis on home and family.  As such, they are less likely to give up leisure and personal time to the organization on a day-in, day-out basis.  Some scholars (such as those referenced) think this means we of the Gen-X crowd are less productive.
3. Lack of Emphasis in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects in education systems throughout the nation. I, personally, think this is a cultural issue and the problem in offering courses of study is a result of the laws of supply and demand.  I believe if communities work collaboratively to place greater emphasis and value upon the sciences, then bright young minds will gravitate in that direction. My hypothesis is based on empirical evidence only, including the fact that I know way too many chemists from Boston (what did Boston do to make this happen?) and the observation that many STEM students are foreign nationals.  (As a solution, my husband recommends mandatory class field trips to the wastewater treatment plant or the county landfill.  I think it’s a good idea, and a great eye-opener. )
4. Limitations on Immigration and Work Authorization will drain the U.S. of much of its STEM talent: Security issues leading to more stringent immigration policies may choke off the supply of foreign nationals who come to the US to study in the STEM disciplines;  Or these students who attend U.S. universities, will unsuccessfully seek work visa status, and have no choice but to return to their home countries to apply their newly-minted knowledge.

I would like to hear from everyone on this topic, but especially corporate recruitment departments and managers everywhere.  Do you subscribe to prognostications of a dire worker shortage on the horizon?  What are you doing to get ready for the crunch?