Does this complaint sound familiar?

“I’ve offered some jobs, and had lots of applications.  But I have a real hard time finding people who want to do the work, and I’ve even had a number of job offers declined because people were too comfortable receiving their unemployment checks.”

You have a choice here. You can either choose to play victim to the economy, to the government, to lousy jobseekers, …

OR you can choose to work on the things you control.

What you can control is what you’re offering to prospective employees.  Most people focus just on the job tasks, pay, and benefits.  But if you’re limiting your view to just these, you’re missing the big picture.  You don’t have a compelling Employee Brand.

Here’s some other things to take a hard look at, from the job seeker’s point of view:

Will I like the people I work with? Does this company have the kind of culture that I’d like to fit into?  Were the people I talked to optimistic, supportive, and welcoming?

What are the prospects for continued employment? Does this feel like a temporary job assignment with no assurances for the future?

Is there an interesting growth path? Is the company positive about its future?  Will I learn something new, and be rewarded for it?

The typical job-seeker’s mindset these days is:

  • Worn out because of such a long period of unemployment;
  • Disillusioned because so many offers have ended up being demotions with little hope for growth;
  • Pessimistic because nobody is painting a hopeful future; and
  • Isolated because everybody’s telling them to “just find a job!”

If you can address these deeper emotional conditions by painting a picture which is optimistic, appreciative, and growth-oriented, you’ll get people to accept offers.  Don’t expect people to be so grateful for your largesse in offering them an entry level position that they’ll accept anything you offer.

Advertisement