Why Your Positions Are Still Vacant

See if you can relate to this: One CEO told me he has a position vacant for 8 months. The company has posted the job on their website, HR sent it out to recruiters, and then HR even invited the recruiters in for a seminar to chat with the hiring managers and learn more about the presentation. However, only a few resumes trickled in, and the position is still open after 8 months.

I truly appreciate the headache. You’re not alone in your frustration. In Japan, many companies for various positions, do all they can to fill the role, but still end up empty handed.  

Greg Savage, one of the well known recruitment trainers, recently posted the above diagram on social media and I feel it sums up your challenge. You have a vacant job, then you shoot it out to recruiters. Recruiters then start to “grade” your position based on the criteria in the blue boxes: 

• Is the position well qualified? 
• Reasonable search criteria? 
• Attractive company name? 
• Good office location? 
• Good salary
• Interesting job? 
• Is the talent available? 
• Does the recruiter have a relationship with you? 

And that’s just some of the criteria!

The recruiter then evaluates your role based on that criteria, quickly searches her database to send any matching candidates. If, however, the role is “graded” as “difficult” or “too hard,” she moves on to the next easier job, which she has “graded” as more fillable. You might think she goes and searches LinkedIn or some other platform for your role, but you’re mistaken. She doesn’t. She moves on to easier jobs. 

In short, you are left alone struggling to fill a job, and often, the recruiter neglects to let you or HR know that she has moved on to an easier mandate. 

When clients ask me about this, I explain to them this grading process that recruiters follow to “stay close to the money.” I’m surprised that many companies fail to realize this.

FocusCore used to work that way too. But like you, we found this process frustrating and broken. “Exceptional Customer Service” is one of FocusCore’s values, and this process is definitely not exceptional.

For that reason, FocusCore has moved to a model where we partner with our clients until the position is filled. It’s a tall order, but we have found that this model allows the client to receive the best customer service, transparency into the recruitment process, and 100% fill rate for their vacancy. 

The model allows us to partner with you, go deep into the research process for your job to find the best candidates, consistently update, provide you market research on your competitors (such as team structures, salaries and bonuses, and how your company is perceived in the market). And we guarantee to fill the role. 

In short, we are your partner: your vacancy is our priority.

If you think that your job might be difficult to fill, but is imperative for your organization to grow and succeed, then email me to discuss further: david.sweet@focuscoregroup.com.

Having your position filled by a trusted advisor, guiding you to fill your vacancy feels much better than just hoping a recruiter will email you a resume. If you’re tired of being frustrated by recruiters and need your position filled, then take the next step and send me an email.