Recruiters' Biggest Problem with Candidates Right Now is . . .

If you’re a recruiter (and you probably are, if you’re reading this), then you have no end of problems with both candidates and clients.

The only question is this: “Which problem are you experiencing at the moment?”

In our never-ending quest for answers, we decided to pose this question in the form of a poll, specifically a poll for the Preferred Member recruiters in Top Echelon Network.

These are third-party recruiters in the trenches, day in and day out. They have their pulse on everything that’s happening in the recruiting industry, especially the obstacles that recruiters are currently facing.

With that in mind, below is the question that comprised our most recent recruiter poll:

What’s your biggest problem with candidates right now?

The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each one:

Relocation—19.3%
Counter-offers—5.5%
Fall-offs—3.7%
Not enough qualified ones—67.0%
Other problem—4.6%

As you can see, the problem that most recruiters consider to be their biggest is not having enough qualified candidates, with just over two-thirds of respondents choosing that answer.

All other answers were far behind, although “relocation” did garner almost one-fifth of the vote. That underscores the fact that the state of the housing market still has an impact on the world of recruiting.

Behind those two, “counter-offers” and “fall-offs” made up just a small piece of the problem pie. Nearly five percent chose the answer of “other problem.”

What about your situation? What’s your biggest problem when it comes to candidates? Is it finding enough qualified ones? Is it relocation? Or is it something else?

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(Matt Deutsch is the Communications Coordinator at Top Echelon and a regular contributor to the Top Echelon Recruiter Training Blog.)

Comment by Mitch Sullivan on May 23, 2012 at 2:28am: But Sandra, you started it.

Comment by Jasmine Holt on May 23, 2012 at 4:36pm: Hi Matt, my biggest problems that I run into are unqualified candidates and fall-offs. I think the sagging job market plays a real factor in people putting their resume in for positions they are either under or over qualified for.

Comment by Bill Schultz on May 23, 2012 at 4:56pm: Yes, I just love when they go dark on you. There's always an interesting excuse when you finally reach them...

"I was in India" is my most common. (best cell coverage in the world, btw)

Comment by Sandra McCartt on May 23, 2012 at 8:19pm: It makes me crazy when they tell an employer that they need to pray about an offer. While i am all for letting the almighty have a hand in the business of everyday life i always have this picture of somebody going in the closet for two days, suddenly jumping out yelling, "God has spoken to me, i will take the job". Or just never coming out because they haven't gotten a message from upstairs yet. This one however, must have a scheduled pipeline, she allowed as to how the soul searching and praying would be over by Thursday. Could we just not say. "I want to give myself a day to evaluate your generous offer, sleep on it and i will have an answer for you by noon on Thursday." I am all for singin and prayin and dinner on the ground , living a purpose driven life, all the do untos etc. But why make a prospective employer think you can't make a business decision without two days of sack cloth and ashes. Even Tebow prays after a touchdown. Can you just see the pass being thrown but Tebow is on one knee ..thump , game over.