All over the news headlines read: “US Dollar Falls” or “Oil rises to $115 a barrel”. People are driving less, moving out of the suburbs and into the city and spending less in general. While it’s difficult to be positive about the rising prices of bread and gas, sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. Here are some of the Good, Bad and Ugly consequences of the recession.
The Good:
Candidates are more open to contract work – At one point a candidate was either a “consultant” or an employee. These days many candidates are more willing to explore both options.Candidates are more open to negotiating pay – Perspective is very important with the market as it is. Many candidates are realizing that a long term contract with a lower bill rate is a way better alternative to sitting at home making nothing and waiting for the perfect job to come along.
Candidates are willing to consider “opportunity” versus “immediate gain” – sometimes negotiating a job title is almost as difficult as negotiating salary. Some people just have to have the word “manager” in their title. Unfortunately with the market as it is, a “Project Manager” might consider a “Project Coordinator” position or a “Tech Lead” look at a “Developer” position.
The Bad:
- When profits slow down, hiring slows down.
- Projects get suspended or cancelled.
- Candidates are not interested in commuting as far so this limits the candidate pool
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discusses a new trend where companies are combining multiple jobs, asking for senior level experience and offering junior level pay. This is a recruiter’s worst nightmare! Imagine asking a candidate to take a pay cut to wear multiple hats and take on a junior level title.
While apparently, there is a lot to love about a recession most recruiters and candidates still seem to think the negative outweighs the positive.
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I don’t see how any of this is good to someone looking for a job.
Comment by Baris Seker — August 29, 2008 @ 1:41 pm
Hi Baris,
Thanks for your comments.
The focus of this particular entry was observations on how the Recession is affecting recruiting so there is not much insight as to how it affects candidates. Perhaps one of my next entries will be observations on what candidates are experiencing these days and how to job hunt around the recession.
Thank you for the inspiration, keep reading!
Comment by Christine Seedholm — September 2, 2008 @ 4:28 pm
[...] • Career advice, market news – consider the nature of conversation one of your best consultants would have with a job seeker. Transferring that content (or more aptly that conversation) to the blog may well be viewed as manna from heaven by a job seeker, especially in times of uncertainty. Some examples here and here [...]
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