Candidates need an early connection

Looking at the past boom years in the real estate and construction industry, there are at least two reasons for the lack of personnel, says Christoph Hartmann. As a personnel consultant, the managing partner of Deininger Consulting has been placing candidates with companies in the real estate, construction, infrastructure and private equity sectors for 17 years. For some time now, he has repeatedly come across two core problems in the search for suitable candidates for vacancies in the real estate industry. “On the one hand, training has generally not kept pace in certain areas. For example, the demand for project developers was and is high.” He does not see the problem as a lack of students, but rather that some degree courses take too long to fill all vacancies at once.

Candidates are looking for security in their careers‍

“The second issue is that there are potential candidates for many vacancies. But companies first have to win them over and then retain them. This is a generational challenge. Whereas employers used to be able to choose their candidates, it's often the other way around now." This is due to the fact that since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic uncertainties caused by the war in Ukraine, many people are unwilling to take a career risk. “Many people are not so willing to change jobs at the moment because they are satisfied with their position and are afraid of the uncertainty that comes with a change,” says Hartmann.

In order to convince suitable candidates to switch jobs, the personnel consultant has adapted his recruiting strategies. He first had to convince the companies that commission him with their recruitment of his new approach, as they are also playing an increasingly important role in convincing candidates.

“If employers want to attract an interesting candidate, they have to be quick and appreciative,”

says Hartmann, summarizing the new approach.

For him, making a candidate wait several weeks between two application steps is a no-go, because “the risk of receiving another offer during this time is too great”. Going through the entire process quickly has become particularly important because for most positions the application process consists of more steps than it did a few years ago. Hartmann takes on a moderating role and mediates between both parties. On the one hand, he passes on the expectations of a position to his clients; on the other hand, he prepares the candidates for case study tasks or assessment center scenarios, which are increasingly becoming part of the application process. “I always advise companies to entice candidates with some bullet points on their strategies. What teamwork looks like at their company and whether the company has perhaps won an award before can also be good arguments.” At the same time, he helps companies to select case study tasks for which the candidate's solution is useful for an assessment.

However, because the case study examples also give candidates a more accurate picture of what it is like to work in a company, it is at this point in the application process that the risk of a candidate dropping out is greatest. The recruitment consultant is observing this more and more frequently, especially among those in their late 20s to mid-30s. “The drop-out rate has generally increased in recent years,” he says.

“It is therefore important for an employer to retain a candidate as early as possible in the process. The decision to make a change is no longer as final as it was in the previous generation,”

he explains. It is now even the case that jobs are not taken up after an employment contract has been signed. “If the current employer takes action and convinces the candidate to stay after all, the new employer can insist on the candidate taking up the position, but the candidate still has the option of resigning after a few days and returning to the old job,” he reports on exceptional cases.

To prevent this from happening, Hartmann advises employers to engage in “bonding” before the candidate joins the company. This refers to close contact that is maintained on an ongoing basis, for example during the period in which the candidate is still tied to their current job due to a long notice period. “The candidate must be offered guidance in the application and transfer process.This can be done by inviting them to initial appointments, for example, to get to know the team.”

The willingness to relocate has also decreased.

“Jobs that cannot be done remotely are harder to fill than they were a few years ago.”

This applies to both young candidates and experienced candidates who have settled in one location with a child and family. “Anyone who is happy with a job is reluctant to put up with the stress of moving and the associated costs,” says Hartmann, explaining that, depending on the constellation, the partner may also have to find a new job, children may have to change schools and sports clubs may have to be left behind. So-called “relocation packages”, which companies offer as individual benefits, can help. “Support with relocation costs, contacts to schools or employees at the location can be part of this start-up assistance,” Hartmann lists. A large proportion of working from home and flexible working hours could also prevent the entire family from having to relocate. “Location-independent and time-independent working are therefore benefits that more and more candidates are insisting on - even in positions where this would have been unimaginable before the coronavirus pandemic,” says Hartmann.