If you’re on the search for a new job, the field is open and it’s a sellers market.
The recession is over, and job seekers are calling the shots.
Here in the North Bay, the recession is over. Business is brisk. Unemployment is low. Demand is high. So what does that mean for the job seeker, the employer or the matchmaker, who works to bring the best fit together for both?
Good news and some challenges
“It’s absolutely a candidate’s market out there,” says Karen Alary, managing partner at The Personnel Perspective, a human resources consulting, training and recruiting firm based in Santa Rosa. “A couple of years ago, the employers were calling all the shots. Now, job seekers have much stronger bargaining power, because unemployment is so low. Candidates are often receiving multiple job offers, so they’re able to negotiate better packages. In some industries, we’re seeing an increase in starting salaries but also in annual bonuses.” In this fast-paced, highly competitive market, employers must find creative ways to get—and keep—their best people. “It’s great to see the confidence businesses have today,” says Alary. “Companies are hiring. And employees aren’t afraid to go out and look for a new job or career, whereas just a couple of years ago, nobody was willing to leave the job they had.”
Gary Nelson, founder of the Nelson Family of Companies, whose business for the last 45 years has been to bring together the best talent with the right clients, allows that while this is definitely a “seller’s market,” for the employers, there’s a catch.
“Today, candidates have multiple opportunities and options,” he says. Jobs in technology, finance, administration and production workers for hospitality and the wine industry all are in peak demand right now. This means employers may actually have to search and compete to acquire the right, qualified people. “The difficulty is finding quality talent,” he says. “That’s the challenge in today’s market.”
“There’s a lack of talented people,” Nelson continues, adding that people coming out of the school system typically aren’t properly prepared for the world of work. This, he says, is a cultural condition, and longstanding—not part of the market cycle. “The culture in our society today has changed dramatically from what it was 30 or 40 years ago,” he says. “The main change isn’t so much in the market, which is dynamic, but in the quality of candidates we’re getting.”
He sees deficiency not only in skills and qualifications but also in the work ethic—the commitment to work long hours, to do whatever it takes to get the job done. He says the society now has a more “give it to me because I deserve it” mentality. The result is that recruiters have to work harder to find the right people for their clients. “We spend more time and money reaching out to the greater community.”
Craig Nelson, Gary’s son, who was CEO until two years ago and is now chairman, says Nelson, as a company, is responding to the challenge in three ways: by helping prepare candidates; by searching their wide network for best matches; and by helping employers adjust to today’s market dynamics.
“The challenge for us,” says Craig, “is to locate the people who have the skill sets [who are likely already employed] and get them interested in the job—which means we have to recruit and sell the opportunity.” Then, he has to get the clients to commit.
He says employers can lose out by not moving fast enough—that whereas five years ago, employers might have conducted multiple interviews and taken weeks to consider, today qualified candidates will likely be juggling several offers, and employers can lose out if they don’t act fast enough.
“The technical skills are easy,” says Alary. “If you don’t have them, you can acquire them. It’s the soft skills that employers need, and if they aren’t finding those in employees, then a lot of employers are investing in training for their employees.” These are the values, the communication skills, the ability to work with teams, the desire to do the best job possible whatever it takes: in short, the work ethic. “We typically work with supervisors and managers, providing training on how to be a better communicator, how to deal with conflict in the workplace, how to be a leader and to carry the organization forward,” she says. “
A good public sector market
In Napa, Alice Hughey, acting director, Napa County Human Resources Division, says the county experienced few layoffs even through the recession, since the county is fiscally well managed, and “employment is actually growing a little now.”
“During the recession, we did see less turnover,” she says, “people did seem to stay hunkered down in their jobs.” But now, when the county puts a job posting up, we will get “tons of applicants” for certain positions. The “tons” are usually for the entry-level jobs. Jobs requiring specialized skills are harder to fill, as they’re competing with the private sector or, such as in the case of social service jobs, they’ll be competing with other counties.
“We do lots of training,” says Hughey. “It depends on the field and the requirements, but lots of positions require ongoing professional development.” The health and human services department is a partner with Workforce Napa, and the county and partner organizations have a resource center where people can research materials, attend workshops and learn to write résumés and interview for jobs.
Racy Ming is director of the Marin County Workforce Development Board, which oversees services provided by the Marin Employment Connection and division director for Marin’s Employment and Training Branch of Social Services. She says the employment climate is also good in that county. “Marin historically has the lowest–or one of the lowest–unemployment rates in the state, with a 3.7 percent unemployment rate in July 2015,” she says. But that’s deceptive, Ming points out, because it’s based on where people live. “It’s complicated,” she says. “Of the people who work in Marin, who can’t necessarily afford housing in Marin, about 60 percent are commuting to Marin jobs from areas where the housing cost is lower, predominately Sonoma County and the East Bay.” Of the people who live in Marin, approximately 60 percent commute out of Marin to work.
Educational programs arise
Ming says the counties are committed to strengthening education to prepare students for the workplace. “We’re working with our education partners on the Northern California Career Pathway Alliance,” she says. “Last year, we received a five-year, $15 million grant from the California Department of Education for our region—Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Mendocino and Lake counties—to create career pathway programs to connect K-12 schools, community colleges and businesses throughout these regions. The program aims to prepare students to be ready for in-demand occupations when they get out of school.
Gary Nelson has personally invested funds and leadership to launch a public-private initiative involving local business groups, the Education Foundation and the local Sonoma Valley school district to bring every single student up to grade level in reading and math by third grade. “We want to catch them early and make a foundational change.” A similar effort is underway in Napa, spearheaded by Napa Valley Vintners and funded by NapaLearns, in partnership with the county school districts. Learning through and about technology is a big part of the effort to prepare students for jobs as yet unimagined.
Get what you’re looking for
Most people she sees want to change jobs to reduce their commute, says Joanne Sanders, president of Bolt Staffing, with offices in Sonoma and American Canyon—especially those on the east-west corridors. She says crossing a bridge from Solano/Napa into the East Bay can raise the pay rate 20 to 25 percent (for the same job); the same goes when commuting south from Sonoma County to Marin or San Francisco. “The north-south isn’t such a problem because there’s public transportation. But east-west is rough. People commuting from American Canyon to Marin County could see a two-hour commute.”
What are employers most interested in? “Longevity and stability” says Sanders. “People should be prepared to show stability on their résumé. You don’t want to put extraneous information that doesn’t relate to what you’re looking for.”
“Employers are looking for contributors,” says Alary, “employees who care, have a passion and want to do a good job. They’re continuous learners. They’re looking for employees who want to advance their career but also want to be of value to the organization.”
“We’re looking for the ‘will do’ factor,” says Craig Nelson. “A self starter willing to be part of a team. Willing to try new things. So when hiring someone, I care less about what someone has done than about what they will do. Will they show up on time? Are they a person of integrity? Are they willing to try new things? Those are the kinds of people you want on your team—and as friends. Across the board.”
Napa County has an identified set of core values, says Hughey. ”We’re always looking for people with those values. There’s a mindset around public service and giving back to the community. In terms of qualifications, those will vary a lot. But we do talk about whether the person has a public service mindset, an ability to work in a collaborative environment.
Coaching for candidates
For a broad range of jobs, the Marin Employment Connection offers free workshops, career counseling and support for the cost of training. Ming says that, even in today’s seller’s market, job finding can still be challenging for many people. “You have to swim through the sea of rejection before you get to the one ‘Yes,’” she says. “So it can be very demoralizing. The economy is good now, so, in some ways, it’s easier than in the recession. But people still have to take care of themselves and keep their spirits up. It’s not productive to just stay home and look for jobs on the Internet all day.”
As others have advised, people still have to practice networking. “Because the vast majority of jobs aren’t even posted. They’re found through networking and employers asking their best employees, ‘Who do you know who might be a good fit?’”
“It’s not formal, but we do that all the time,” agrees Craig Nelson. “Our recruiters prepare the candidates as they’re going in for a job. They prepare them to know what the culture’s like, what kind of questions they might be asked, how to show up in terms of dress. So we absolutely provide coaching, and we provide informal coaching when people come in looking for a job. We do provide coaching to our clients when they’re trying to close a deal, but less so than with our candidates.” For him, it is a basic part of the Nelson service. “This is what we do. We’re matchmakers. We’re brokers. We’re trying to prepare them so they’re the best they can be when they go in for their interview.”
The important thing for job seekers and employers, too, is that they don’t need to feel they’re doing it alone. Highly qualified recruiters like Nelson, Personnel Perspective and others have been matching candidates with company cultures for years. They use tools such as sophisticated testing as well as their own trained personal sensitivities and listening skills to be able to recognize a need, and they have the network of relationships ready to help the search for the right person to fill just that need.
For job seekers, Ming says, “Take a look at our website, or try our workshops. It’s all free.” And remember Craig Nelson’s advice, whether you have a job right now or are looking, to make sure to build your own network. And if you’re an employer—hang on to your good people as if they’re gold!
Advice to Candidates
From Joanne Sanders: Be careful with your résumé. You may read somewhere that you can leave off the “objective,” because it sounds too much about what you want and not what you can do. “But HR professionals want to talk to people who know what they’re applying for,” she says. Employers want to see that candidates really want their particular job, and the objective, carefully directed, can make that statement.
From Alice Hughey: If you want to work for Napa County, apart from the skills required for any specific position, pay attention to the county’s core values. “We’re always looking for people with those values. There’s a mindset around public service and giving back to the community. Qualifications will vary a lot, but we do talk about whether the person has a public service mindset.”
From Karen Alary: “Reach out within your own personal network. Tell people, ‘I’m in the market, I’m interested in doing x,y,z.’ Spread the word. It’s the old-fashioned approach, but it’s still very effective.” Also, she urges job seekers to remember they’re in a good place right now and to see a job search as an adventure. And for those who are stuck, to know that job coaching is available to build their confidence
From Craig Nelson: “I’d argue that it’s not just the current job seeker, but anyone who’s out there in a job should be continuing to network at all times because you never know when you’re going to be looking for a job or when someone’s going to meet you and offer a job that’s better than the one you already have. If you’re currently seeking a job, it’s even more important. Build a great relationship with your recruiter, but take some of the onus on yourself and go out and network.
Résumé Tips
Nicole Smartt, co-owner of Star Staffing, offered some basic résumé tips, which we’ve summarized here.
Make sure there are no typos. This is basic. Have it proofread. Spelling conventions change. Not too many years ago, “email” was still “e-mail” and “internet” was capitalized. A simple Google search will help you stay up to date.
Make your résumé readable. Watch font size, use of color or special fonts—you want the document to be readable. Make sure your contact information is easy to find and that all of your alignments match. Avoid formatting glitches on the other end by submitting the document as a .pdf.
Make sure your résumé is the right length. Keep it concise. The better you can synthesize the “high points” of your experience in context for the job you’re applying for, the more you’ll demonstrate why you’re a great fit for the position. If you can get it down to one page, you’re doing great! Extra tip: Research the company you’re applying for. Check out its “About Us” and “Team” pages on its website. Then look back at your résumé and see how closely you align.
Make sure you tell the truth. Don’t say you received a diploma when you didn’t. Instead, highlight the things you learned while you were taking classes. Increasingly, tenacity is a higher benchmark for employers.
Be careful with confidential information. If you’ve been working with proprietary information, consider consulting with a legal professional to ensure you haven’t inadvertently breached a confidence. Potential employers will catch it, and it may damage trust. Extra tip: If you wouldn’t want to see the item in the news and associated with your name, don’t include it.
Growing Industries
Tourism: Successful marketing increases the numbers of people coming here demanding service: eating, shopping, wine tasting, staying—and that pays off in terms of increased demand for hospitality workers.“We’ve seen an increase in the demand for hospitality workers,” says Joanne Sanders, “and I attribute that to the formation of some of the tourism districts.”
Elder Care: “There’s an aging population, as Baby Boomers become older,” says Racy Ming, “and people want to live healthy lives in their homes for as long possible.” The home care jobs can be challenging, she says, because the hours can be irregular and the pay isn’t particularly high.
Frank Samson is founder of Sonoma-based Senior Care Authority, a national network of advisors that assist families with locating the best options for senior living and proper care. He says our local aging populations will require increasing numbers of caregivers and that will open up new fields for employment. He says he’s asked all the time, “Do you know anybody?”
“There’s the health side—which requires a nursing background,” he says, “and there’s the care side—which involves activities of daily living. There’s a need for physicians’ assistants and a shortage of geriatricians.” Pay isn’t great, he allows, but the satisfaction is high and the demand is there. “The demands in this area are going to be tremendous for various roles.” His own business has expanded nationally with locations coast to coast. “There are so many needs out there that people have, and they don’t know where to turn.”
Mental health: Napa County is opening up a new, entry-level position in the mental health area. “There’s a recognition that people who’ve had experience have valuable skills,” says Alice Hughey. “So they’re getting ready to set up peer support positions, which would be entry-level positions where a person without specific qualifications but with relevant experience could provide a valuable service.” These would be people who’ve been through mental health issues in their lives or with their families. Mental health staff would be supervising them.
