Episode #46: Q1 Ursus Contractor Council Meeting

We took notice that staffing, talent, and recruiting events are typically represented by suppliers, clients, technology, and managed service providers. Noticeably absent from these industry forums is YOU, the employee doing the work and making it all possible!  

The Ursus Contractor Care and creative recruiting leadership facilitate our quarterly Contractor Council Meeting where recent employment trends, market outlook, and general questions about finding and keeping jobs are addressed. 

For more Hiring University episodes tune into your favorite podcast player or visit us at www.ursusinc.com

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to hiring university. The following was recorded on April 10th, 2024. During our quarterly contractor council meeting. This group discussion was led by members of the earth contractor council team. And our creative recruiting leadership. Then just a reminder, this forum's for you guys. We're here to really just facilitate group discussion and you know, we want, we want to hear your input. So feel free to come off mute share your feedback. We open, we open up to you guys. We want to hear your debate on any of the topics raised as well.

This is a new, a new time for us. So hopefully this is working out. And then just as a heads up, you will see more. More faces new faces in the groups later on this year. So just again why we're doing this Ursus realized that there, you know, there's dozens of different contingent staffing conferences every year, and rarely, if ever, is the contingent worker represented, so that's why we have this put together for you guys.

This industry doesn't work without you, so we want to open the floor to you guys to hear your thoughts. [00:01:00] Again, we're meeting in smaller groups. Everyone here is either in a creative or business professional type role. You'll be hearing from two speakers that come directly from those recruiting branches here at IRSIS.

So we're interested in what you have to say. So I'm going to turn it over to our first speaker, Tyler. He is our creative recruiting manager. Tyler, you want to share a little bit just about your background and some of your insight into the market? Yeah, absolutely. Thank you guys for all being on. I oversee our creative recruiting division.

I have a team of about four under me. We will work on anything here that is going to be focused in the marketing, creative design and content writing. So these are kind of market insights that are applicable, not just to creative, but. All of our divisions that are assist. So Q4 of 2023, you know, we definitely saw things slow down towards the end of the year.

A lot of that is relatively cyclical in the staffing industry, but the holiday season [00:02:00] also affected that plus kind of the current economy and market conditions that, you know, we have been working with. At the end of Q1 we did see an uptick, which is a huge positive shift for us going into the rest of the year, obviously still taking into account kind of where the market and the climate is, but you know, we're, we're cautiously optimistic for the rest of this year and starting to see you know, job orders pick up as well.

So So far, a lot of that has been contingent or contract roles. A lot of companies are starting to supplement a lot of these teams, especially across marketing. So they are looking to bring people back as contractors. And then, you know, kind of reassessing where they can make an impact. And, and, you know, if that person can be full time and or extended you know, is all kind of still on the table, but doing our best to kind of work with hiring managers through that.

Again, seeing some direct hire roles come in as well. Definitely seeing a little bit of an uptick there. Companies are definitely looking to add headcount especially on the creative side, we've heard from a lot of hiring [00:03:00] managers that they're pushing for more headcount throughout the rest of this year, and we're hoping to see some positive you know.

Action with that.

Some trends. So if a lot of you have worked with us, you know, we work in a lot of different ATS systems for a lot of our various clients. There definitely are some inefficiencies there. Just because there is a third party vendor and we're doing the best that we can, which is, you know, why we have a contractor care team and a VMS team here.

To push our applications through. So a lot of internal recruiting teams are swamped right now, definitely understaffed and they're utilizing a lot of agency help. So we're doing the best that we can to kind of help, you know, all of our candidates get pushed through and get interviews. But they're definitely, you know, it's important to note that, you know, they're not as efficient as, you know, we would always like them to be.

But I think on our side, we're doing the best that we can to kind of make things happen. Just some overall trends across the market to you know, we have seen a lot of rates dip. A lot of it has to do with, you know, companies are in cost saving mode while they are adding headcount. You know, it's a [00:04:00] it's important to be aware that, you know, what the comp was a year or two ago might have changed.

And I've been talking to a lot of candidates kind of across the board that having some flexibility will enable us to send you guys more opportunities. Obviously everybody has a floor, but there are a lot of, you know, great opportunities out there that may require flexibility, but have some long term potential.

So it's definitely something to keep in mind. Due to kind of market conditions and where the economy's at, there are tons and tons of qualified candidates out there, so really making sure that you have a clean and updated resume, we can absolutely help you kind of tailor that to specific roles applicant tracking systems, et cetera, so that we can try and help you guys you know, stand out, and I believe Alex is going to go into that a little bit later in this.

You're on mute, Whitney. Oh,

no. Thank you. I [00:05:00] want to introduce Alex. He's our our recruiting manager for our business professional division. If you haven't met him yet. So I just want Alex to share a little bit of his insight for. For what he's seeing as well if you guys both want to just comment on on this. Yeah, I can dive in and wrap up the creative section really quick.

So, again, contract rules have been pretty dominant so far. We did see an uptick in direct hire kind of at the end of Q1. As far as, you know, what we've been seeing hiring a lot, a lot of UX design and research so far definitely some copywriting and editing event. Marketing is making a big comeback.

I think a lot of that due to many, many companies kind of going back on a hybrid schedule and looking to kind of engage their workforce from you know, on site perspective Definitely a lot of marketing program and project management across the board and various capacities. Some demand generation and again, just overall product management is a big one at the moment too.

Yep. Thanks, [00:06:00] Brady. Thanks, Tyler. Hey, everyone. Nice to meet you all. Yeah. So in, in, in our world, so we focus on a lot of roles that are really administrative positions that, that support an organization, right? Help make that, help make the organiza organization run behind the scenes. So you know, how that applies to, to my team to.

You know we see a lot of companies that are looking for folks that have specialized talent, right? So when you look at staff accountants, they're looking for someone with a specific regulation background right. Or some sort of compliance background immigration specialist, that's been another key skill set as well as you know, a lot of companies are bringing folks in from, from overseas you know, to, to supplement talent.

And then executive assistance as well has been another key area that we've seen. And then lastly, just, you know a big emphasis on, on bilingual you know, in the, as the globalization of things continue, right, you know there are folks that are, you know, working in different countries or, you know, coming from different countries as well.

So having that bilingual skill has been a trend that we've seen as well.[00:07:00] 

Is that me? Sorry, quick transition. Sorry, Alex. Thank you. We wanted to, we know with the market being as saturated as it is there are a lot of agencies to choose from but we want to sort of set a baseline for what you can expect from working with IRSIS. One of those things is the pre interview.

We give you as much client research as possible. We try to give you a blurb on the company a little bit of what you can expect about the job, not just the roles and responsibility. If we have any, any additional information about the project, if we have any additional information about the culture, the, the team that you'd be working on obviously if hours, anything like that we want to be able to give that to you on the front end.

If we have. The if we know who's going to be interviewing, you will provide you with the LinkedIn profile. Always recommend you brush up and do your research on that stuff. And then in terms of. On [00:08:00] assignment on boarding and on assignment on boarding in and of itself. If you're if anyone ever extends you a job that is like a full time job in and of itself to do the background and do the paperwork and all that.

That fun stuff. We know it's not the most exciting thing in the world. It's just. It's one of those things that you have to do, and our team really is here to help get you through it. You can expect pretty regular follow up from us and routine check ins. You know, if it gets to be a bit much, just say, Hey, I like hearing your voice, but maybe I could hear it a little less often.

Maybe we just connect once a month or something. We can definitely do that for you. We really just want to help you navigate the experience. Experience. And then we'll do our best to operate with transparency, meaning we'll let you know everything that's going on in as real time as we possibly can. And then one thing to sort of just.

Mention unfortunately with the market being as saturated as it is, there are people that take advantage of others. Beware of scams. No reputable agency is going to ask you for money to represent you to their clients. They won't ask you to purchase [00:09:00] their own, your own equipment through like a link.

Please don't do that. So you shouldn't be expected to pay for any of their services. We don't do that. No one does that. So just wanted to let you guys know that. Yeah. And I know some, I know some folks on here, maybe, you know, exploring the market right now. Has anyone had like a, a good or bad experience that they want to share?

Maybe. With another agency or, you know, just with the overall like interview process getting through that.

No.

No news is good news. So it sounds like all good experiences. I hope everyone's had a good experience. That's for sure. All right. Alex, do you want to go into a little bit about just standing out from the competition in a saturated market? Sure. Yeah. So there's a lot of competition out there for each and every job.

I'm sure you guys have seen it out there, right? So it's about, you [00:10:00] know, about making yourself stand out. So how do you do that? Going into you know, the interview stage or just, you know, starting from the beginning and applying, You know, you really want to make sure that if a job is calling out key must haves that that those key must haves are reflected in your most recent experience.

So I talk about recency and relevancy, right? So that's something that is super important. So if you have 10 different jobs you're applying to with different must haves, you should have 10 different versions of your resume you know, realistically. So Just wanted to call that out. And then during the interview, this is the biggest area where I think I see candidates fall short.

And the difference between a candidate getting a job or not is a candidate that can provide concrete examples. So if candidate A goes in there and they ask them what their greatest strengths are, and the candidate rattles off several key strengths even if it's said in a very eloquent and clear way in the, the, the strengths make, make sense to themselves, right?

A candidate that goes in there and gives those same [00:11:00] strengths, but then backs it up with a concrete example from, from the workplace of, of a key project that they worked on or whatever it is. Something tangible for the hiring manager to hold on to. Those are the, those are the individuals that end up getting the job and STEM and those are the individuals that stand out.

So there's something called the star method. I think in most of the prep templates that. That folks use that, that star method should be in there, but it just refers to situation, task, action, result. So, you know, it's a, it's a way to frame your answers, right? When you're giving an answer, you can give a little blurb and then you're backing it up with that star method, right?

Like here was a situation I had task, the action and the tangible result, ideally with data to back up what they say. And then just lastly, I just mentioned Yeah, good questions to ask at the end of an interview. Yeah, it's always good to ask questions that will help further sell yourself into the job and show vested interest.

Questions like, hey, what are some challenges in this position? How can I overcome them? Or what are some goals for the department and how can I help you achieve those goals, right? Those questions are a lot better than, you know, Hey, when's the lunch break every day [00:12:00] or something to that guy like just just kind of more basic questions and then and then yeah that thank you letter post interview has been proven, right, you know, if there's you know the hiring manager's ever on the fence about about a candidate They're gonna be looking at thank you letter and it can help them Push them in the in a favorable direction and result in offer some time.

So and just I'm going to chime in really quickly on the thank you letter because I've had some pushback from candidates recently where they're like, does this really make a difference? Does it do anything in our favor? It hasn't worked for me in the past. So after all interviews, I'll hop on a call with my candidates and just chat with them.

You know, Just highlighting what they discussed in the role, how they feel like they could make a difference, you know, what they're excited about, and those are the things you want to focus on. So you want to create a thank you note that's going to be personalized, and then, you know, reiterate the strong points of your interview and then what you think that you can really, you know, make a difference in that role.

And it goes a long way and keeping it, you know, brief, but descriptive, you know, will make all the difference.[00:13:00] 

No, thank you both. I think that's, that's good information for anybody who's maybe like in the job market or even folks that are currently in a role and hoping to convert to a full time employee, like always having an updated resume with your most recent experience, the most relevant experience for the job that you want is definitely going to be important if they ever want to talk to you about that.

Does anybody have questions or comments just on, you know, what, what the market feels like to them? I know we have some people on the job search, some people still currently working. Any thoughts here, guys? I can add a confirmation on the thank you I'm, the current manager that I have had said that while a thank you email doesn't make her hire somebody, not receiving one is always a red flag to her because she uses it as a gauge of someone's ability to follow up and follow through.

I [00:14:00] agree with that. Alex or Tyler, like what would you say? Like, there's gotta be, you know, I think, I think more often than not, a hiring manager is going to, to appreciate seeing that than not seeing that. I do think it's a, makes you stand out again from the competition, so I agree with you. Yeah, like it was just mentioned, I think not sending one speaks a lot more volume than sending one, even if it's like not the best thank you note.

It just shows appreciation that you're actually engaged.

I have a question. So recently I've been seeing across LinkedIn, the common theme of people applying to hundreds of jobs and not hearing even anything back. Sometimes thinking it might even be a scam. What's your advice on like navigating that kind of marketplace? Like, how do I [00:15:00] say help a friend who's been laid off, find better opportunities or like direct them in the right place to find a recruiting agency?

So Tyler, can you speak to that? Yeah, I mean, first I'll just say, like, you know, this isn't maybe the best thing to hear, but it's the truth, like, you know, the more the better, you know, it is truly a volume game, right? And the more places that you're, that you're applying to, like, you know, the higher chances you have, and it does take, you know, I think this is just some reassurance to, like, you know, folks that are getting jobs, like, It's very rare that someone on their first shot or even their 10th shot right at a job is, is landing something that they really want.

It's, it takes, it takes a while. Right. So I'll just say that. And then you know, back to what I was saying about, you know, making themselves stand out, like, you know, again, making sure that you're, you know, all the must haves your resume is tailored to the resume is tailored to the job. And then just lastly, I'd say like [00:16:00] anything, anything that individual can do to create a connection with the hiring manager themselves or you know, creating connections at the organization.

You know, I think that can go a long way too, right? You know, so like if the individuals or if the hiring manager's name is on LinkedIn, you know, sending a message on LinkedIn you know, to the hiring manager is something that I would recommend. Anything that would just catch that individual's attention or if they have internal contacts that can also, you know give it, give a nudge to the hiring manager that that could be helpful as well.

Those are some of the things that, that I'm, that I'm thinking of. And then just in regards to agencies you know, getting connected with a, with a good recruiter that can, you know, really understand what the candidate's goals and interests are. And, you know and you connect with multiple recruiters, honestly, too, right?

You know, so that you have multiple sets of eyes looking out there for you. Yeah, the job market for that right role, I think, is key as well. Yeah, I think. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, you go. Okay. I was just going to say, if you know [00:17:00] people that are just applying on LinkedIn, if you can go on and just look at open jobs right now, there's hundreds and hundreds of applicants for.

Pretty much every role, even if it's posted like, you know, less than 24 hours ago. So working through an agency like us, you know, if we reach out to you with a job, that's going to fit what you're looking for, we know that that job is hiring right now. And so hopefully like, we'll be able to, again, help you tailor your resume, push that through to the best of our ability.

And there's a much higher chance of you probably getting an interview than just, you know, sending out an application with. You know, thousands of other people. So like Alex said, getting connected with the right recruiter and, you know, working through, you know, what you're looking for, as well as, you know, knowing where to find those jobs.

Just building on that from, from yesterday. One of the main points was, Kind of during some of the downturn, a lot of the first people to go from larger companies were the recruiters. So now you have internal recruiters that work for companies directly. The teams are much smaller. They [00:18:00] have a lot more recs.

They have to sort through a lot more resumes. Typically, ATS. So when you submit your application and your resume, it goes directly into that system. And then That system pulls out keywords. That's one of the points that Alex was making about making sure that you have the correct terminology in your resume.

That's why it's so important, because typically if you're applying directly to a job with a large company, no one, no actual human. Is looking at your resume to determine if there's a fit. It's just looking for key words. So the more people that that you network with, right? Sometimes the old way is the best way.

The more people that you can network with, the more. recruiters that you can meet. Sometimes just looking on LinkedIn to see who actually posted the job and seeing if you can connect with them that way. You'd be surprised how many people don't try, don't try to go the route of the human connection in terms of like, Hey, FYI, [00:19:00] I, I'm interested in applying for this job.

But I wanted to have more of a conversation with you about that. I'm sure you're pretty busy right now. Do you have like five to 10 minutes where we could just connect. And talk a little bit more about that. Sometimes being a little bit more proactive can just put you a step ahead of everyone else who just submitted their resume and went on to the next thing.

That makes sense. Yeah, thank you so much. That's really good advice. And I know I was having a friend in mind, but like with the industry having so many layoffs and like the tech world and stuff, this is really good knowledge to have. And I, I would second Brianna's advice, you know, cause we have, anytime we post a job, we can get upwards of 100 and 150 applicants.

And it's. A lot to go through. So we do shortlist as well. And occasionally, you know, either I'll get an email or HR inbox. I'll get an email saying, Hey, I've applied for this role. I just want to express my interest. Here's my resume. Please let me know if you think this would be a fit. Any, you know, since [00:20:00] I work more internally and on the benefit side, I'll be sending that to Alex or to Tyler for their team to review.

So it's just that extra step, right? Where it increases the visibility that that company is going to have on that resume. You know, the other piece on the recruiting sign is it definitely comes down to finding the right organization and the right recruiter that has those relationships. It's something we, Look at internally and discuss on an executive level and at the management level constantly on really developing those client relationships because that's what it's going to come down to is, you know, our goal is to find clients where we can have those direct relationships with the hiring managers to avoid.

You know, some of that delay and feedback or responsiveness when we are submitting candidates over. So we really try and make sure those relationships are in place. So we can move quickly and get updates on anyone that we've submitted. So, that would be a key point to look at you know, if you're engaging with other agencies on what their [00:21:00] relationships are, what their specialization is you know, and how much contact they truly have with the managers versus you know, there are some agencies that really just.

Submit blindly, get it into the ATS system that the client uses, and then just hope for the best. Yeah, that all makes sense. Thank you.

Great question.

Any other questions, guys? You've got two recruiting managers here that are all ears for your questions.

Now, I guess I have one more question. Yeah, go for it. You mentioned a lot of companies going back to a hybrid model. How do I phrase this? How are there still, is there still like a big pool of remote only jobs or is that really dwindling significantly?[00:22:00] 

Do you want to go, Alex? Do you want me to answer this? It's yeah, I'm curious to see what your response is there, Tyler, but yeah, in all transparency, it, unfortunately, or at least, I think, unfortunately has dwindled you know, a good bit. Now, sometimes I do see, like, a role starts out, you know, the hiring manager who maybe was hiring for folks remote, you know, a year and a half ago, now they're hiring hybrid remote.

And then when they don't see the candidate, the local candidate pool they're looking for, they want to get the best candidate pool possible and want to open it up nationwide, then they have to make a business case for it. And we do see it sometimes move back to remote, but yeah, I mean, I'd say. a good, probably 75 percent of roles that we're working on now are hybrid remote versus a year and a half ago, or maybe I don't know, 25 percent hybrid and most of the rest were remote.

Yeah, I would, I would agree with that. I would say on the creative side, it's probably closer to like 60, 40 at the moment, but I would say like, you know, At least once a month or [00:23:00] so we start, we will, we'll hear about a client that we work with, that's going to go back on a hybrid schedule. And like Alex said, they'll usually try and put out a search in their general area first, or they'll look at candidates in that area before they look at candidates that are remote.

Even if that is like listed in the job description, that they're open to those the candidates that are close that have similar or Or the right experience are going to get the job over those that are going to be remote. And if I could just add there, like, if you see a job that is very, very, very specialized in your area chances are.

The hiring manager is going to have trouble if it's a very niche role to fill it locally. So I'm not saying to just go and apply for a, you know, hybrid remote role in a location where you don't, you know, near location where you live, but, you know, just, just something to keep in mind. Like it couldn't hurt to maybe put it in your, Your application, if it's a dead on fit for something that, that says hybrid remote, and you know, you could help convince the hire manager to make it remote.[00:24:00] 

That's all really good to know. I'm I'm thinking purely hypothetically, but I was also wondering, yeah, is there like a room for negotiation if there is a hybrid or in office? role to like negotiate it being remote. Again, totally hypothetical, but yeah, on occasion, on occasion, you know it's hard to decipher, right.

If you're just looking at a LinkedIn post saying like what that, what that might be or what room they may have, but it can happen. Yeah, and we'll try to be transparent about that, too. Like sometimes, like Alex said, like, sometimes it'll be hybrid at first and then they'll open it up to remote. So, like, I've had to go back to candidates and make sure that that's, like, fine or that, like, you know, they're open to various kinds of you know, work.

Makes sense, yeah.

Great question. Anything, any other questions, comments, guys? Your opinions on, [00:25:00] on what, what we shared today?

It was very helpful. I definitely learned a lot. Thank you. And if I heard you correct, you maybe have someone that you maybe, or who's maybe looking for help with the job search. I could connect with you. I can connect with you after this give you an update give you a rundown on our referral program, too.

Okay, perfect. Yeah, thank you. A lot of folks were impacted by layoffs, so Yes. Quite a few connections looking for new roles. Yes, we, we love referrals all the time. We're happy to reach out with anybody to see if we can maybe help facilitate their, their job search with us. But I will, I will definitely connect with you after this.

Anything else, guys? Looks like we filled the 30 minutes. Thanks.

All right. Well, I appreciate everyone making time in the middle of your work days. Anything else anyone wants to, to comment on? [00:26:00] I'd just like to thank you all for taking the time to join us. I know it's time out of your work days. Typically we have our CEO John Beck on. I know he said he had to miss this one.

He was put out of commission the other day and is still in recovery. So you get stuck with me as the executive sponsor. So apologies. I know I'm not as dynamic as he is. But we truly appreciate you all joining. It's important for us because at the end of the day you know, you're our representation.

You shout the marketplace, so your feedback is invaluable for us. What we talk about on these market trends and what we're seeing again, you know, we talk at length internally, but recognize it's not always that information is not always shared or transparent for you. The contractor. So we want to make sure we have these forums and those open avenues.

Is for us to have these conversations. I appreciate y'all taking the time to join us. Thank you guys. I will announce the next meeting date soon. If anyone has any follow up questions, wants to connect with a recruiter or [00:27:00] myself, just let me know. But thank you guys. Appreciate everyone making time today.

Thank you. Have a good one. Bye guys.