iLocatum

PLACEMENT #32 of 2024 This was for a leadership position in maintenance in Dallas. Every time I think DFW and Houston are as hot as it’s possible for Job Markets to be, these two just turn it up a notch relative to the rest of the country. You have an area where people want to move. You also have an area where taxes, regulations, weather, geography, natural resources, etc conspire to create an area employers want to move their businesses to. There was a need from this client for this candidate to have leadership experience in food/beverage manufacturing in maintenance, with Bilingual and a Mechanical or Industrial engineering bachelor’s highly preferred. Candidate was local to DFW, as is almost always the case lately for Dallas placements. This aspect is interesting, since Texas clients are usually happy to relo candidates from anywhere, as they believe candidates are likely to enjoy it in Texas and stay. Many clients in cold country on the other hand, are reluctant to relocate folks in, as they worry the winter will drive them back out. This gives locations in the southern and southwestern locations a double advantage in recruiting. This candidate had a BSME and 8 years total experience. So, great skills with the desired degree. The candidate, however, was not bilingual. Also, the 8 years of experience took place over 4 companies. Prior to maybe 5 and certainly 10 years ago, that might have been a deal breaker, but it doesn’t seem to be recently. Also, this candidate is very talented and interviewed well also. A candidate who presents well is always a game changer.

Placement #31 of 2024 This is a strange year to say the least. I’m a few weeks behind on writing these updates. Placements have been progressing decently and revenue has been steady but there is something a little different about the “right now” that we are in. Everyone I talk to, from clients to fellow recruiters has no idea exactly what is going on, what we are in the midst of, or when it will pass. It’s made especially tough by the fact that relying on official news sources and numbers seems more and more a fools’ errand. Are we in a recession, or are we not? Will there be a soft landing, or was there already a soft landing? When I read the mainstream news, it feels more and more like they are asking me, “Who ya gonna believe, me or ya lying eyes?” But to the business at hand, the latest placement was in Healthcare, a President in Homecare in Oregon. Healthcare and specifically Home Health, Hospice and Homecare has remained resilient in the last year, albeit with more fall offs and offer issues. This went smoothly. Candidate was local, had an excellent resume with great tenures. Also, the candidate had a strong technical degree and a technical leadership background to go along with homecare experience. The process start-to-finish was almost 2 months. So, it was not super-fast, but it felt like it moved at the right speed. There was a sense of urgency from both sides, but not too much. Also, an aside on the resume issue. In contrast to this candidate’s impeccable resume, I’ve been seeing more resumes lately with misspellings. It seems crazy that there could be misspellings on a resume in 2024, with all the spellcheck software available, but it’s happening more than previously for sure. I’m also seeing these misspellings on impressive template or image files. It’s possible that candidates are uploading their resumes onto these before spellchecking them and then spellcheck is not possible afterward. Who knows, but it is an issue that shouldn’t be.

Placement #30 of 2024 This placement was for an Engineering Manager in Wisconsin. This client, like many in Wisconsin, overwhelmingly prefers candidates who are from Wisconsin, or at least from the upper Midwest, where candidates are used to long winters and significant snow. They’ve had many past relocations from warm weather areas that didn’t work out. Many people from warmer areas don’t realize how long winter can be and how that can affect one’s mental state if you are not used to it. The position required leadership, heavy equipment, design and a BSME. This candidate was extremely experienced, local and checked every box skill-wise. He interviewed well, got an offer and quickly accepted. Start to finish it was about a month and half. Lately the difficult point in placements occurs at the offer stage. So many deals are not moving forward there. Clients are putting out lower offers, as they feel they can at this point. Candidates are quickly rejecting them. When they are rejecting them, they are often not even mentioning counter offers, as they would often do in 2022 and early 2023. They are just quickly rejecting them. Thankfully that didn’t happen here. The offer was fairly solid and things went smoothly.

The pendulum for control of the job market swings back and forth between employers and employees. Employees were firmly in control from the pandemic through early to mid-2023. Then a change occurred and the pendulum starting swinging back the other way, towards the employers having the upper hand. It’s likely to continue to swing further. Employees can sense this, and it's being manifested in the dissatisfaction seen in these worker surveys. https://ow.ly/juqi50S1f8l

“It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on him not understanding it.” One of the most insightful quotes in human history from Upton Sinclair. A corollary to this might be, “Never believe jobs reports from an organization whose success depends on readers not understanding the data.” Here’s the bottom line. Consumer spending is over two-thirds of our $28 trillion GDP. Consumer spending is fueled by consumer confidence. Consumer Confidence is created in part by things like government issued jobs reports. Those jobs reports affect our GDP as much as reality. Going further, those reports become the reality which shapes our economy. Is this good? I don’t know. I’m inclined to think not. But I can’t imagine them releasing a warts and all, rip the band-aid off, report. It’s hard to gauge what the effect would be; there is no real precedent. All governments tend to massage data, at the very least. All we can do is understand the incentives of the person or entity disseminating the information, counterweight the results appropriately, and hope to arrive at somewhere near the truth. https://ow.ly/6KL950S1eMw

Placement #29 of 2024 This was an NYC placement in Civil Engineering, Heavy Civil. It seems like a lot of the Back Better American Jobs Plan, the BIL, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act money continues to flow through the industry across the country. I expect this to keep up and possibly intensify should the economy shift gears into a more serious downturn. Infrastructure and specifically transportation infrastructure projects provide a lot of high paying jobs, are something this country needs, and are the old standby for the government to roll out during difficult economic times. This position required a BSCE, 8+ years of experience with a heavy civil contractor, and experience hiring and managing Project Engineers and Managers. Candidate had 10+ years of international experience, leadership, good tenures, a BS abroad, and an MSCE in the US. This took slightly less than a month, from start to finish. In the past, this process would not have gone as quickly and smoothly; but things are happening much faster in Civil now.

Housekeepers making $150k? Is that Crazy Insane or Insane Crazy? I say it’s the free market; although it may sound shady! With the homage to the Detroit Bard out of the way, let’s get to the point. We live in a new world. The market has always been the final arbiter of how much a good or service is worth. That hasn’t changed. What has changed is Technology and Wealth/Income Inequality. Wealth inequality is advancing as rapidly as technology, AI, and Automation. They are joined at the hip and march forward in lock step. Technology is upstream from the Economy, which is upstream from politics, which is upstream from media, academia, etc. Essentially, technology dictates all. So, we have a situation in Southeast Florida (and in upscale enclaves all over the US) in which: incredible wealth has created a demand for housekeeping services far outstripping supply. Based on how things used to be, our culture had decided that housekeeping would be a lower status endeavor, so many avoid it for that reason. Additionally, it has not paid a lot historically, so most in the housekeeping field are not always able to live in the areas where needs are most intense. But now, Housekeepers can make $150k…working for someone else. How much can they make starting their own business? Going forward, working in a field, or owning a business which provides services to the very wealthy (or even provided services in an area which has not been traditionally considered ‘high status’) will be one of the smartest moves you can make. You can already see this in the way private equity is pursuing HVAC companies. Pool Cleaning, Housekeeping, and Landscaping companies may be next, “So you wanna be a Housekeeperstar, big house, five cars…” https://ow.ly/fuGN50RUnOb

Placement #28 of 2024 This was for a Branch/Plant Manager position in Seattle. Bachelor’s Degree preferred with a background in beverage manufacturing and distribution, and leadership experience, and ideally some CDL experience. It is a leadership position, but as with most cases, it’s easiest to lead and coach when you’ve actually done everything you teach. Candidate came in via a job ad. He had no background in beverage and no degree. However, he had spent the last 15 years in great leadership positions, with excellent tenures at only 2 companies. He had extensive delivery and distribution leadership experience, and one of the best resumes I’ve seen, with KPIs for days. This level of resume quality is rare, and it’s very important. Some of the best candidates don’t put time into it, especially when they don’t change jobs often. So you get a situation where a job hopper will often have a better resume (in terms of skills, KPIs, etc than a solid candidate). Other times solid candidates don’t want to feel like they are bragging. But, as they say, it’s not bragging if it’s true. And you have to promote yourself via your resume; otherwise recruiters won’t find you, or it will be tough to make it through the screen without that keyword-rich resume. Finally, I think having a solid resume shows the candidate knows themself, the path they are on, and the narrative that describes it. This level of self-awareness speaks to a whole host of strengths that create a strong performer and leader. This candidate went on to do well in multiple interviews. An offer was made and accepted; Start to finish the process took a little under 2 months.

Placement #27 of 2024 This was in Healthcare via a Job Ad. Despite the current economic situation (whatever we are calling it according to the new metrics now used), the demand for healthcare workers is as strong as ever. That is even more so the case in Home Health and Hospice. The position was a Hospice RN in the DFW metro. So, the hottest niche within the hottest industry in one of the hottest job markets in the US. And the client wanted someone to do a significant amount of on-call. This was a bit of a challenge. But the good news is that strong candidates are already in Dallas. If they are not, they are likely to be open to Dallas. This is in stark contrast to some very remote areas across the US. Staffing folks in those places versus the DFW’s of America is like night and day. This is going to be an even bigger issue in the future. This candidate had decent tenures. She had an associates in nursing, an RN, and was fluently bilingual in English and Spanish. So, it was a fairly smooth placement that took about 15 days from application to hire. That is how it goes in Home Health and Hospice, where it’s a candidate driven market, and looks to be so indefinitely.

Headline is slightly misleading, as the rates for satisfaction in their jobs are very close. 65% of men report being satisfied in their jobs, compared with 60% of women. The question is why would women be consistently less happy (albeit by a little) for 12 of the last 14 years? https://ow.ly/O8ON50RATmW