The unemployment rate for technology occupations fell to a record low in the month of March. Employer job postings for tech roles surpassed 400,000 according to an analysis by ComTIA. With the demand being so high, the power has shifted from organizations to individuals, which has allowed candidates to negotiate more of the terms and conditions they are searching for in opportunities.
Recruiting Lead, David Rueff shares three main areas where candidates are negotiating.
- Interview Process: With the job market moving fast and staying competitive, engineering candidates are getting picky about the opportunities they entertain. Candidates are more interested in a hiring and onboarding process that is simple and efficient. Anything more than a two-part interview process and the candidate may lose interest or already accept another opportunity. For example: a candidate with an embedded software background specializing in Linux and C++ will have 1-3 offers at a time. When candidates have multiple offers, it tends to create a sense of urgency for the hiring manager to make a decision. From what we are seeing, candidates are starting to drive the interview process by keeping it under two rounds and skipping any coding or technical tests. A hiring manager’s best bet when interviewing is to keep it to ONE INTERVIEW and make their decision immediately.
- Flexible Schedule: Although businesses are opening back up and people are going into the office, candidates are still heavily pursuing remote work opportunities. They have successfully proved they can work remotely and are taking advantage of fully remote or partially remote opportunities. In our latest Quarterly Hiring and Job Trends Report you can see how partial remote work has significantly grown over the last six months and is being favored by candidates. Hiring Manager Lesson: The market at large has embraced remote work. Keep up or lose talent.
- Compensation: The most significant area where we have seen candidates negotiating is their compensation. This topic is always at the top of the list no matter where the job market is but right now, we are seeing candidates increasing their pay rate by 5-10% per project, which is substantial. They are also leveraging other offers to negotiate a higher rates and/or remote opportunities for themselves.
Speeding up the interviewing process, requesting a flexible schedule and increasing hourly rates are all big shifts that candidates have been able to negotiate over the last few years. Overall clients are receptive to these conditions, you just simply must ask for what you need to be successful in the role. From a staffing and recruiting perspective we don’t see these circumstances changing anytime soon. Negotiating is no easy task, so if you aren’t working with Triple Crown, please contact us today and let us help you secure your next position!