Hiring in 2010 - What's the Real Deal?

By: Shawn Desgrosellier of Vitality Group

This year has been a whirlwind in the construction recruiting business! I thought it might be interesting to recap what has happened in the first quarter of 2010 to give you a real look at what is really going on out there. I will tell you about our findings in the job market, the employers perspective on recruiting and hiring in 2010, and a few tips for the jobless.

In January and February we spent most of the month on the road. We met with the CEO's, COO's and HR Executives in the Commercial, Civil, Industrial and Specialty Contracting industry. We targeted in the San Francisco Bay Area, Hawaii, and Texas which is where our strong relationships, market knowledge, experience and best opportunity to secure new search assignments exist. We also fielded hundreds of calls from the candidate community and met in person many of the top candidates who were unemployed, underemployed or were preparing for an expected layoff or downsizing.

I recall in 2000 when we were faced with high unemployment in construction, search assignments were very tough to come by. If there was a demand it was for Business Development, Estimating, Senior Project Management or Project Executive level candidates in a technical market segment like bio tech, life sciences, pharmaceutical or health care. We placed dozens of candidates at that time with that experience so we learned quickly to stay away from everything else and focus our effort exclusively in that area. Ten years later we are faced with a similar story with the same characters but the niche and industry experience has shifted.

The demand in 2010 is for Business Development, Estimating, Senior Project Management and Project Executive level candidates however in 2010 employers want to see federal, health care or renewable energy experience. I guarantee if you have that experience you are not looking for work right now. If you do not have that experience you need to figure out a way to get it and get it fast.

The employers pespective is varied, most fall into the cut costs, reduce overhead and expand the responsibilities of the current staff company wide and are not hiring or even interviewing. Then there are companies who also are cutting costs, fixed expenses, overhead but also continue to interview and replace the "B" and "C" players with "A" talent from the competition. If they ultimately do not hire, at the very least they are evaluating the available talent and driving a corporate strategy which includes the potential talent they have access to because of their active participation in candidate recruitment. For obvious reasons, this makes smart business sense.

As a job seeker it is tough out there, those who treat their job search as a full time endeavor are having more success then those who are not. It is not a part time job! The one's who are involved in the construction market, community and are socially engaging in activities that create opportunities are also having success. The one thing you can not rely upon is adding your resume to Career Builder and Monster and simply let that do the work for you, you will go hungry with that approach right now. You are in control of your destiny and if you cast a wide net will find opportunities where you least expect them. If you take one thing away from this post remember CHEMISTRY is everything in these challenging times so take initiative and get out there and meet potential employers, clients, customers and vendors- it will be one of the best investments you make today.