Recruiting is an exercise in adapting to changing circumstances from season-to-season. Summer is when recruiters typically prepare for the hiring upswing in the fall and track candidates through summertime activities. However, this summer is not typical, and current circumstances raise serious questions about our industry and its prospects. To get some perspective on current events, I decided to ask Ed Lawrence, an experienced recruiter and colleague, about his views on the current state of the recruitment industry.

RW: What is the state of recruiting today?

Ed: Recruiting is and always has been a difficult profession, perhaps with the exception of the dot-com bubble. While the bubble did a lot to support our families, the truth is, the positions we filled two years ago are now vacant again. First, many no longer exist, and second, those high performance individuals we recruited have been identified, courted, and wooed away by our equally savvy peers. I remember when we debated whether a computer science major was better than a math major for software development positions. We have come a long way since then. As technology industries have matured, recruiters and companies have developed a more sophisticated understanding of the labor pool. Nowadays, hiring is both more precise and more competitive.

RW: Is the labor market improving, getting worse, or is it dead in the water?

Ed: Many, the media included, say that we are in recovery, but all we've seen is slowing layoffs. Unemployment has risen 1.5% since this time last year, a statistic that confirms the weaknesses we have seen in the labor market. There has been no reliable sign of improvement, and hiring in December through May has been basically flat. Perhaps we're at a small plateau, but from this point on, for better or worse, I can't tell. However, despite overarching weaknesses, some sectors have "deep holes" and present substantial opportunities for recruiters.

RW: Where are the opportunities now?

Ed: Now is the time to transition your business to industries with a clearly discernible need for candidates. Don't beat a dead horse. If business is weak, there's no time like the present to build your experience in a new industry and to set up your office and databases to support it. I have met my share of reformed IT-only recruiters now working in other industries, but recruiting has always worked like that. We adapt our skills and work to serve the customers who need us.

As for industry growth, in IT, information security and wireless are growing fast in terms of revenue, people, and usage. Don't confuse the telecom slump with growth in wireless information technology, these are two different things. Healthcare has huge needs. For the past eight years there's been high demand for nurses -- but now I'm seeing a need for hospital administration and middle-tier technical staff as well. The life sciences are in dire need of professional researchers who have completed post-docs, and the right research portfolio can be very hard to find. Customer service has some strength as call centers expand, but this is a real niche in recruiting. Top sales talent seems to have continuing demand, and I have seen a small uptick in tech marketing. There have been indications of strength in defense, with which I am unfamiliar... perhaps I need to follow my own advice!

RW: What is the impact of 9-11 on recruiting today?

Ed: I don't think my generation knows how to pick up the pieces and rebuild after a war or national tragedy. Our parents and grandparents learned that lesson, we have not. Confidence is what is lacking. Expectations are low, but perhaps they should not be. This is not 1981 when we were a decade behind the state-of-the-art in manufacturing and technology. We have never, ever had such a strong labor pool combined with such a strong industrial and technological infrastructure.

The recruiting industry and the country in general are well armed for a recovery. We just need to get more people back to work. Recruiting has suffered the combined impact of weakening trends prior to 9/11 and the tragedy itself. Unlike the downturn brought on by a major tragedy, recovery is unlikely to be induced by a single event. I think industry is going to have to fight it's way out of recession. Recruiters will not see an improvement until a national recovery is solidly underway.

RW: What are your summertime recruiting tips?

Ed: Follow the candidates and adapt to recruiting in more vibrant industries. Rachet up your sourcing activities because there are many great candidates in the job market this summer. Vacation schedules, school starts, and recreation activities mean recruiters have to shift strategies slightly during the summer months. The summer is an excellent time for candidates with families to relocate. However, nowadays, moving a family is a challenge, and requires flexibility with timing, temporary housing, and such. Having a good understanding of the candidate's family priorities is important to placement. Tracking candidates to recreational and vacation spots is another strategy. I have also had some success when placing recruiting ads on the preview trailers in movie theaters during the summer because attendance seems to increase during this period. Summertime recruiting is not extraordinary or vastly different than other times of the year. People just generally feel better about everything and we can benefit as a result.

RW: Thanks Ed. And to our readers, I'm sure we'll be talking to Ed again soon.

Ed Lawrence has been a Contract Recruiter since 1985. He can be contacted via www.edlawrence.com.
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