In the last week, MJ Bronkhorst, Sales Director for PNET chatted to Shirley Anderson at Placement Partner to share some interesting statistics from his experience during the period of lockdown to now. These stats give us insights into the opportunities available to us as recruiters right now!
MJ reveals that the top 5 sectors in recruitment: IT, Banking & Finance, Engineering, Accounting and Sales + Purchasing remain in the top spot as always. Although between April 2020 and September 2020 there was only a 20% decrease in the number of vacancies advertised there was a 71% increase in active applicants, meaning the opportunity for recruiters who recruit in these sectors have active candidates in abundance. Take advantage!
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Total visits to the Pnet site is up by 90%
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Total unique visits to Pnet site is up by 25%
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Application rate for vacancies is up by 33%
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An increase in the total database by 6%
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An increase in the number of candidates loading CV’s for top sectors above – by 49%
Looking at these stats it might be easy to recognise why recruiters have experienced such hardships over the last few months, with many businesses retrenching or putting on hiring freezes, so you will be encouraged to see some stats that are much more positive:
The number of positions being advertised on Pnet have doubled from the 4500 advertised in April to the current 9000 available in September 2020. We are making our way quickly to the pre-covid rates of advertised vacancies on Pnet which was 13 000. In saying this, MJ believes that the opportunity in the market is more than the current 9000 reflecting as not all vacancies are being actively advertised! If you hadn’t had access to vacancy opportunities over the last few months, then it’s time to go and find them, because the opportunities are there and increasing every day.
The news of rising vacancies corresponds with the placement stats shared by Placement Partner recently.
Which brings us to the next opportunity! Recruiters should ensure that they are advertising their vacancies. Why?
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The first is that if a candidate doesn’t see the opportunity, they won’t know it exists.
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Job alerts go out to more than just actively seeking candidates, there are plenty of potential candidates who opt to receive job alerts. So listing a vacancy will give you access to 20% – 30% more candidates.
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This also gives your candidates the freedom to apply directly to you as they may not wish to sign up to a platform like Pnet, and prefer to apply directly to your company via your application process.
So what should we focus on in the last quarter and into the next year?
- Highlight your brand and attract candidates to work with you by giving them certainty about what they can expect from you. Brand positioning for agencies is just as relevant today as it is for the employer. In fact, MJ shared a case study showing that agencies who focus on their branding, attract fewer applicants but achieve a 57% increase in the relevance of candidates applying for positions. That means a faster hiring process overall.
- Include culture fit as part of your search criteria. This gives us further criteria to ring-fence the most relevant talent for each client adequately, whilst improving the value we offer our clients as we aid them in their staff attrition and succession efforts
- Use the tech tools available to you, like video interviewing tools and Zoom. They open up the opportunity to engage more candidates to assess their fit more quickly and early on in the process. And it increases your ability to engage more prospective clients. Increase your visibility to clients and candidates on every possible platform. The trend shows that hiring freezes are going to be lifted, new types of roles will be created and more vacancies will continue to be available. So be visible and ready to move fast when it happens!!
- Last, but not least don’t forget that basics are key! Good old fashioned hard work always pays off. Remove the obstacles and up your efficiency so that you have the time to have those human to human conversations. There are some things in recruitment that remain constant.
Pnet and Placement Partner wish our recruiters all the best. Well done for getting through 2020, we are encouraged to see the market open and here to support you in achieving your success.
Looking for ways to increase visibility? Book a demo with our knowledgeable team!