As the unemployment rate edges 10%, the Nightly Business Report sought out employment professionals to discuss the marketplace. The discussion centered on what employers are looking for in a hire and the hurdles faced by potential candidates.

Employers are being especially prudent when selecting a new employee. The costs incurred hiring a new employee and uncertainty in the future of our economy slows the hiring process. Job openings go on hold or hiring managers wait for the perfect candidate that can make an immediate impact.

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I recently asked job seekers and hiring managers their thoughts about job boards and if they were or weren’t effective in their search.  The results were interesting.   Of those I spoke with, no one is completely satisfied with just using the job boards to find qualified jobs or candidates. In fact, some of the large job boards have become a nuisance to users.

Job Seeker Jimmy

One candidate I spoke with was recently laid off from his company due to the financial downturn.  His first inclination was to put his resume on a major job board.   When I asked him about the results he was less than pleased.  “Between calls from financial service companies and 100% commission jobs, I can’t decipher the difference between what jobs are worth it and which ones are just scams.  It’s a little overwhelming.”

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A guarantee. According to Webster, an assurance for the fulfillment of a condition. As a headhunter I am often asked by companies to extend our guarantee on candidates to lessen the risk in paying recruiting fees.

In reality, we shouldn’t have to offer any guarantee.  When we decide to recruit on a position the only thing we are guaranteeing is that we will find the most qualified candidate based on the needs of that client.  We do the upfront work in prospecting and finding the best fit, but we can’t guarantee retention.   After all, we are talking about human beings here.

I had a sales manager tell me last week that another recruiter offered him a ridiculously low fee and a year long guarantee.  A YEAR LONG guarantee, for a sales person?  Interesting.  Why would they offer such a long guarantee?

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When things go wrong, we start to really pay attention. If you’re in the staffing industry, or any sales position for that matter, Q1 2009 hasn’t been easy and possibly a bit humbling.

It reminds me of playing college basketball. Sometimes it took a losing first half and a reaming from our coach to make adjustments and attack our competition in the second half.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, regardless of your occupation, it’s time to hit the locker room and re-group. Bottom line, what was working before IS NOT working now. We can’t continue to do the same things in a different economy and making adjustments to our work patterns is vital to our continued successes.

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On a recent trip I was perusing through one of those in-flight Southwest Airlines magazines and I stumbled across an article about Magic Johnson. I was actually surprised to find out besides being an all star athlete, youth mentor and AIDS survivor, Johnson is actually quite the entrepreneur.

Magic Johnson Enterprises was founded in 1987 and is basically a portfolio of different companies. Interestingly enough one of them is a staffing company, “Magic Workforce Solutions”. In the article Johnson discusses his successes in many arenas and the many challenges along the way.

At one point in the article Johnson quotes, “When selling a service or product, find your competitive advantages and exploit them.”

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