A few months ago, Richmond, VA was ranked by Dice as the 2nd fastest growing city for technology jobs. It is crazy to think that little ol’ Richmond holds one of the country’s most booming IT industries! However, this should come as no big surprise as the World’s largest IT industry is just two hours north in Washington, DC.
According to The Register, most of Richmond’s new IT jobs have not come from tech industries but rather Government and Services. As a recruiter, I have definitely noticed the market getting better in the Richmond area. While we still have a good amount of candidates to choose from, we are definitely seeing that candidates are receiving multiple offers from various companies. While this is great for our candidates, it does pose new challenges in the recruiting space.
Gone are the days of sending candidates resumes to a customer and have them request to start a week later without even interviewing. Nowadays, we are seeing candidates who are receiving multiple offers for varying pay ranges. This typically results in a game of “who’s going to offer me more”. Just a few weeks ago, I had a consultant start and after being onsite with our customer, accepted another position where she would be receiving $20,000 more in salary plus a potential $20,000 bonus. In that specific case, there is only so much you are able to do but it does make securing candidates and retaining employees that much trickier.
At Morton, we have quickly realized that to remain competitive we have to continuously differentiate ourselves from other employers in this market to further secure the most talented candidates. With that said, it is important to offer strong benefit packages and incentives to ensure that candidates are fully committed to both you and your customer. How are you differentiating yourself and your organization to secure candidates?