In addition to my regular job responsibilities I have always loved to collect and analyze various data, trends and facts. Here's one fact that's been driving me crazy for quite a while: with a national unemployment rate stuck above 9% we are still having trouble finding qualified candidates. After hours of research I think I just found a reason for that.


Recently I've been wondering how an average job seeker feels about their job search process, so I posted an online poll asking people what they were hoping to find on an employment-related website ("dream job", "anything that pays", "I've lost hope to find anything", "not looking, just browsing"). Few weeks passed by, I checked the poll results, and my first thought was "Holy cow, this can't be right" - 45% of the respondents said they've lost any hope to find a job. I cleared the results and waited few more weeks, needless to say, the response was the same. Almost half of the people that look at our job postings are not even hoping to get a job!


A good friend of mine would sum up the situation with "It is what it is, deal with it". The problem is that I don't want to deal with it. I'm sure every recruiter has an example of an interview when a candidate was not showing any interest or emotions. Think about how you felt. Not too good, right? Now realize that you are dealing with 6.5 million job seekers of that kind. They come to your website, check out the job posting, maybe even hit the "Apply" button, but they are not genuinely bought into what you have to offer. As a result they don't customize a cover letter, attach an old resume, and forget to mention a relevant work experience or education. You look at their application, wonder why they even thought they would be a good fit for the position, and click "delete". I bet this happens with at least 45% of the applications you receive, because at least 45% of your candidates have lost hope.


The good news is that we can improve this situation. We are recruiters, and we are the ones giving hope to people or taking it away from them. Let's start by forgetting about the recession (which by the way has already ended), it's time to move on, there's no point to keep talking about it. We can reach out to the job seekers we have met before but were unable to place, let them know that we have positions available and there will be more coming soon. We should also keep posting jobs online. If people see more positions posted online, they will realize that there are more opportunities out there. You can post as many jobs as you want at no or little cost on DandyProject.com, this way you can both minimize recruiting costs and let people know that the job market is improving.


We all have been through a lot over the last few years, now let's make sure that we all learn from it and keep moving forward. Every single person can contribute to a spirit of the nation with just a little effort. The important thing is to realize that we need this spirit high to keep being successful at what we do - giving people jobs. And hope.