The job market is in a constant state of flux. The biggest factor that contributes to market conditions is the economy, but this may affect industries, specialties and regions in very different ways. When a business needs to hire new talent, it's the employer's responsibility to understand the current job market when advertising their opportunities to the pool of job seekers.

This is the fifth in our How to Craft an Effective Job Ad series. Be sure to check out all of the articles for a comprehensive look at composing the perfect Job Ad.

The job market is a landscape that operates on an economically influenced cycle, functioning in a dynamic framework of supply and demand. Sometimes, there will be a high demand for staff, with an abundance of job opportunities, but a low supply of talent to apply for those jobs. This is the condition we are currently in, and have been in for the last few years. We call this an employee’s market, where the in-demand job seeker is able to pick and choose from the surplus of open job opportunities. In other cases, as we experienced during the great recession ten years ago, we have a high demand for jobs that are more scarce with a large supply of job seekers looking for work. This is an employer’s market, where the fewer available jobs are ransacked and bombarded by the overabundance of those seeking employment. In each case, your talent acquisition strategy will be different.

The Employee’s Market

At the time of this writing, we find ourselves in an employee’s market, which comes out of a strong economy with low unemployment. In this market, employers need to work much harder to stand out from the crowd and attract the best candidates by selling themselves and their teams to job seekers. We’ve already discussed the many ways that this can be achieved in this series and have outlined examples on how to capitalize on the unique opportunities available in our digital age. 

The mindset an employer should embrace in an employee’s market should center around promoting the authenticity of the organization. What makes your firm different? Why should a prospective team member spend their time applying to your office over their countless other options? This is often overlooked. Employers think that once they’ve posted a job ad, that quality candidates should start flooding in, but that rarely happens in this market condition. 

It’s those firms that go above and beyond in their search for new talent that attract the best candidates.

It’s those firms that go above and beyond in their search for new talent that attract the best candidates. Quality talent will recognize quality organizations. As the employer, you are the one asking the market to give you a chance and an opportunity. In an employee’s market, the tables are turned and the roles are reversed. While always a two-way interaction, the pressure, in this context, always lies heavier on the one with fewer options. Some ways to capture the attention and interest of quality talent in an employee’s market are:

1. Craft a compelling image.

In two of our previous articles, Curate Your Image and Consider Your Reputation, we discuss crucial steps an employer must take to stand out from the crowd. Everything from taking full advantage of your digital presence on Archinect by optimizing your Firm Profile to methodically utilizing social media and press releases are strategies that will propel you ahead of the group and solidify your position amongst job seekers. Sell yourself to prospective talent by showing off your best work and accolades.  

2. Talk about your culture and be transparent.

Job seekers want to know what it’s like to work at your firm, and you should tell them. Whether it’s an about page on your website, behind-the-scenes posts on instagram, or thoughtfully composed project narratives, future team members will be drawn to you if they can envision themselves working with you and your team. Communicating the true culture of what goes on at your office is a powerful step forward in elevating your identity in the job market. We discussed this in more detail in our recently published article Talk About Lifestyle. 

3. Use clear communication to show your personality, articulate your expectations, and share your vision for the new team member.

What a job seeker loves more than finding the perfect job to apply for is finding an employer that has a long-term vision for them within the organization. When you clearly outline what the prospective hire will be doings it allows them to gauge their candidacy more accurately and establishes an internal confidence in their ability to fulfill your needs. 

But, when someone feels that they will be able to progress beyond the work that they are applying for and grow towards more responsibility or more autonomy or to having their own projects, they begin to envision you as a part of their future. You want this and the employee wants this, most people want professional relationships to work out for the long term, use that knowledge to reach out and grab the best candidates. We discussed this in more detail in our recently published article Clarity is Key. 

The Employer’s Market

It’s in the employer’s market, typically brought on during a recession or period of high unemployment, where the employer holds greater power. Firms can be pickier and job seekers have to compete more rigorously with one another. Where before the employer struggled to receive a good quantity of applications (quality or otherwise), this market condition now produces an extreme result in the opposite direction, with firms often receiving too many applications. The outcome is an overwhelming pile of slush and an unclear sense of how to weed out quality candidates. Time wasted interviewing with no progress in growing your team is a frustrating dilemma.

The employer can utilize their job ad as a first step in weeding out lower-quality candidates. Since you have so much to choose from in this market, you can afford to “turn-off” some of those searching for work. Some ways to build this filter through your job ad:

1. Give very specific steps on how to submit an application for your job opportunity. 

You might specify that employees must submit a cover letter of at least 500 words expressing why they want to work for your firm. Perhaps, you could have this letter accompany a portfolio of no more than 5MB with at least three projects paired with a resume that includes three references that can be contacted. Creating requirements that require candidates to slow down and that take time to compose will weed out those who are not serious about working for you, which in turn will produce a more refined pool of interviewees to consider. But be careful! If your firm is too unknown or if you don’t have an established reputation, this strategy may not work as intended.

2. Make the qualifications stricter

When you’re trying to shrink the number of applications you receive, tightening the required qualifications can be a strategy to consider. Instead of a job ad specifying a requirement of 3 to 5 years, perhaps it would instead specify 5 plus years. Purposely disregarding applications that do not meet your specified criteria will sharpen your lens and allow you to consider professionals of a level that your organization feels is worth the time to review and interview. And yes, there will always be the risk of excluding someone who does not meet your criteria but would be perfect for the new role. This is the riddle of talent acquisition. 

3. Notice those job seekers who go above and beyond.

Every now and then, some employers will receive an application that so clearly illustrates the time and effort and employee took to get an interview that it is hard to ignore. Like the ambitious video young Étienne Duval made for the Bjarke Ingels Group, something Bjarke Ingels admitted made his day and won the applicant a response from the firm.

When I applied for my first job right out of school, I wrote personal thank you cards to the two people who interviewed me. Each card had the word “Thanks!” sketched on the back of it. One of the cards had each letter drawn in the form of a modernist piece of architecture and the other with each letter in the form of furniture pieces from the firm’s furniture line. In the end, I got that job. I know that the cards were not the sole reason, but I also was told after I joined the team that they contributed to the hiring team’s view of my candidacy.

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Ultimately, you’ll need to have a flexible mindset when crafting your job ad. A universal approach will not produce the results you’re looking for. Instead, plan according to the market and your strategic approach will move you closer to the desired outcome you’re seeking.

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Are you searching for new team members? Archinect Jobs offers the industry's most popular job board, attracting the most in-demand firms and the top job-seeking talent. Post a job on Archinect Jobs and search our database of 40,000 active job seekers in Talent Finder. Questions? Reach out to us any time at jobs@archinect.com or (833) 327-2446. And don't forget to follow the How To Craft an Effective Job Ad tag for updates on new articles in the series.