Project Recruitment update - November 2011
I am pleased to be able to say that although here at Wellingtone, the last month has shown a marked slow down in the number of new opportunities in certain sectors, overall it is encouraging to see that recruitment volumes are holding up well and our market has remained relatively stable in Oct / Nov.
One of the most common things our candidates are saying is that the initial call to interview, follow up meetings and hence conversion times for these roles has become frustratingly long. While we do acknowledge and accept this as fact, we would urge patience as the sheer number of applications we receive for every role now, combined with the time it often takes for the HR teams to consider the CVs presented to them by us, currently seems makes this inevitable. The “good old days” of interviewed and hired in a week are long gone!
To try and address these somewhat protracted timescales, we are working hard with our client, especially with those new to hiring project managers into their organisations, on producing much clearer definitions for the roles, and hence the types of project managers they are looking for. While we see a lot of enquiries and requirements for project managers in the round, often this is manifest by a non specific role definition and somewhat generic job description being forwarded to us in the first instance. Strangely there if often a definite reluctance to really take the time to detail what the requirement really is, and ultimately this leads to longer lead times and an increase in the inability of the hiring manager to push the hiring button knowing they have exactly the right person for their requirement
We are hopeful that this more cautious approach to hiring may herald a more confident mood for 2012 and beyond, although at present the prevailing approach across all sectors still appears to be one of ‘wait and see’, so the next 2 quarters will be critical. If key sectors like banking, insurance and finance can build upon recent successes, hopefully we might see the number of project managers required in other related sectors reap the benefits, and create a positive knock-on effect for the profession as a whole.
Interestingly, the engineering and construction sectors do appear to have reached a somewhat of a plateau recently for project managers, but after the initial burst of activity, hopefully we will see hiring activity pick up again as major infrastructure projects around the Olympics approach critical deadlines, and require specific delivery resource to nail things down, with the benefits filtering through to the wider economy.”
Tags: project management jobs, Project Management Recruitment
