If you snooze you lose -so true in todays market

Low unemployment, a buoyant and growing industry is resulting in a shortage of good candidates. Rag Trade Recruitment has been recruiting in the apparel industry for nearly 10years and over these years we have had to change many of our habits and the way we do things to meet industry needs.

We now advise the industry that "It is time to change track” by listening to the job market and adjusting the recruitment processes.

We are the first stop for candidates who are wanting to change their jobs or returning from overseas. They feel safe with us as they are confident with our experience we know the industry and which companies are looking for people. They can ask us the hard questions and we can give them experienced career advice. By the time we have interviewed and profiled our candidates it is very clear to us which clients they will FIT with, not only by skill but by culture. Although we have the experience and have put the time into making these decisions for clients, we do experience clients missing out on good people when they are slow to respond to:

• Giving an interview time to see a candidate
• Making a decision on a candidate

We often have to say to our clients "I am sorry but that candidate has got a job." We find that in today’s market, when a candidate is not snapped up quickly by the client we target them too, they are quickly snapped up by someone else.

In the Apparel industry, there is an extreme shortage of patternmakers - especially CAD, O/Seas production co-ordinators, merchandise assistants, Q/As and retail professionals. We often have clients saying that they are "too busy this week to see anyone". A week is far too long for a candidate to wait for an interview. The ideal time frame and process for a successful recruitment that results in the best person for the role is as follows:

• Recruitment consultant is contacted by the candidate
• 1st interview by consultant within 48hours
• Profiled and promoted to the client within 24hours
• Interviewed by the client within 48hours of receiving the details
• Second interview by the client within 48hours of the 1st interview
• Decision made within 24 hours.

In the life of the candidate this is a seven day process and seven days for some people is a life time, especially if they are not presently employed. They need to earn money to pay their rent and other outgoings. In the case of the candidate currently in employment, there is still an urgency, they will tell a lot of people that they are looking and once again if they are after a role they will be snapped up immediately.

We have had some of our clients saying, "if they want to work for 'us' they will wait". Two years ago that would have been accepted, but not in today’s market. Candidates today are becoming more discerning about who they work for and what environment they want to be in. The selling of a job and the company is becoming a crucial part of our recruitment process. The candidate selling themselves to the company is only now part of the process.

In a buoyant job market a sense of urgency is a necessity. It is time to keep our eyes wide open to avoid "loosing by snoozing".