Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marina Hartung on May 9, 2008 at 11:32am

Hi! Thank you for making this group!

I recruit for MEP firms across the country, and right now I'm trying to find Senior HVAC Mechanical Engineers for several offices...it's definitely a challenge!

Do you deal with relocation issues, and if so, how do you work with the candidates to convince them that it is a smart choice to relocate for the offer? We recently had an offer turned down due to relocation pieces (after the candidate swore he was interested in relocating to that area since he grew up there).

Permalink Reply by Mike Avillion on May 9, 2008 at 11:46am

I have dealt with Relo a lot, primarily when I was on the Corporate Recruiting side of the desk. Relo was a requirment for every person I hired into our Leadership Development Program, and they didn't even know for sure where they would be relo'd to!!!!
I made sure to get regional commitments on where they wanted to go and why. I also found out where they would not like to live.

Many times the candidate is 100% for the relocation, but the problem is the spouse!!!! One approach I used was to ask the candidate if there would be anyone else involved in making sure this would be a good fit. If they indicated to me that they had to speak with their spouse I would request to talk openly to both parties about the position, the professional benefits of the career change, and to serve as a resource to answer any questions. I'd arrange the phone call and speak openly to address any concerns.

You will always have people backout at the last minute, it's just a matter of almost over-communicating the relocation portion, making sure they know what is involved, and giving them the piece of mind that they painstaking process is worth it.

Just my .02