But who’s side is it on really? The Rolling Stone sang this song in the mid 60s, and it always caused me to ask the question of whose side was it on. Mick Jagger, who is now 81 and active as ever, clearly does have time on his side. As for candidates and client firms today… who has time on their side in the hiring process?
Who’s Driving The Market?
Usually, I would have said that this is a candidate-driven market, which means the candidates would be the ones that are fortunate to take their time in the hiring process. However, that’s not the case for some reason, even though candidates for public finance positions are greatly in demand. How could that be? The process is moving so slowly from the initial interview to getting hired. Firms are adding more layers to their approval process. Why is this?
What Layers?
We have seen recently the outsourcing of the HR role; therefore, the urgency to get someone hired has been not as important as it used to be. If a hiring manager has control over the hiring process, their desire to get a candidate hired is clear and it can happen. Yet with all these new layers added to the process, it just does not happen. More and more firms are requiring extensive C-level support before a candidate can even be presented an offer. Once the offer has been presented, it still is taking at least another two to four weeks to start (that is if they do not have any legal restrictions that have to be met).
How To Prepare Yourself: Candidates & Hiring Managers
Outsourcing, which should be hastening the process, is actually causing the opposite effect. I worked with one firm that outsourced their entire hiring process from offer letter to onboarding. Getting an offer letter out of the firm took almost an additional four weeks from the hiring manager making the recommendation to hire. As a candidate, the day of making a quick move is no more. As a hiring manager, you must start the process early enough – knowing that getting a candidate started is going to take much longer than you have ever anticipated. What does this mean? It means that if you are contemplating a move, start the interview process sooner. Waiting for an event to happen like getting a bonus towards the end of the year is likely to happen even now if you start the process. In all likelihood in today’s hiring process timeline, you may just be starting next year even with a long time left after Labor Day. That’s the day when people start really looking in earnest at their current situation.
Conclusion
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About Harlan Friedman, JD & Founding Member, H. Friedman Search LLC. Harlan is a thirty-year veteran Public Finance Banker turned recruiter who specializes in the placement of all levels Public Finance Bankers, Healthcare Bankers, Municipal Advisors, Compliance Officers, Issuers, and Bond Counsels.