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Why Are Mobile Marketers Hard-to-Recruit?

By Abby Lombardi on May 1, 2013 in Advertising/Marketing.

Marketing professionals with mobile skills and experience are one of the hard-to-fill jobs on our Hiring Scale. We thought we'd take a look at some of the reasons why Recruiters are likely to be challenged when sourcing potential candidates for these open positions. First, we'll take a look at the Hiring Scale scores for these jobs. On average, mobile marketing positions score an 87 on our Hiring Scale. The Hiring Scale ranges from 1 to 99, with 99 representing the most difficult recruiting conditions. A job with an average score of 87 would be considered very hard-to-fill. Also, when you look at the below "heat map" of Hiring Scales in major metro areas, most areas are orange and red. Only a couple of locations are yellow, and none are green. So, it's likely that conditions will be rather difficult across the US.

Hiring Scales for Mobile Marketers in Major US Metro Areas

Hiring Scales for Mobile Marketers in the US

Source: WANTED Analytics

One reason that hiring is likely to be difficult is the growing hiring demand. In the past 90 days, more than 22,000 jobs were available online for mobile marketing professionals. This is a 25% year-over-year increase, when compared to the same 90 days period in 2012. The below hiring trend chart shows that hiring has been growing steadily over the past 4 years.

Hiring Demand for Mobile Marketers in the US – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Mobile Marketers

Source: WANTED Analytics

There are currently 1,843 employers recruiting for mobile marketers. Not only are there a lot of companies hiring, but many companies are sourcing for several mobile marketing positions all at the same time. Below are the 10 companies with the most ads currently online for mobile marketers. As you can see, some of these are sourcing for 200+ jobs at the same time across the US. This means they will not only be competing against each other to attract candidates, but will also be competing against themselves to fill all jobs in a timely manner.

10 Companies with Most Job Ads for Mobile Marketers

Companies currently hiring for mobile marketers

Source: WANTED Analytics

However, growing demand isn't the only reason that Recruiters are likely to experience difficulties when sourcing potential candidates. There is a limited candidate supply in the US – approximately 19,000 people in the US work in mobile marketing. If there were 22,000 jobs in the past 90 days available, and only 19,000 potential candidates across the US, that means there aren't even enough people to fill all the open jobs.

Estimated Candidate Supply of Mobile Marketers in the US

Candidate Supply of Mobile Marketers in the US

Source: WANTED Analytics

So, what do you do if you are recruiting for an open mobile marketing position and are experiencing challenges with sourcing candidates? First, look to areas with lower demand constraints on their talent pool. Cities like Memphis, Tennessee and Springfield, Massachusetts currently only have a couple of employers sourcing for open positions. Keep in mind that these are current conditions – as hiring demand in each location changes, you may have to change the cities you look to for candidates.

Also, consider opening your search to candidates that don't have "marketing" in their job title. For example, Product Manager is actually the most commonly advertised mobile marketing job title. Other common ones include business development, product development, communications, and creative job titles.

Are you recruiting for mobile marketing professionals? Find out what hiring demand and talent supply are in your city with a free trial of WANTED Analytics.

Already an Analytics user? Log in here – the marketing occupation and mobile keywords have already been selected. Just add any specific location, skills, or certification requirements to get customized results for your local market.

Hiring Data for Data Analysts

By Ashley Rowe on July 19, 2012 in Computer/Math/IT.

Earlier this year, we highlighted “Big Data” Brings Big Hiring for Analytical Skills. Recently, Business Insider discussed that LinkedIn has job ads posted for “big data” professionals, whose roles would be to unlock their abundant user data. Noticing the increasing interest in this area, we decided to further investigate online job ad results for data analysts.

Online job ads hit their highest levels in March 2012 at 9,394. Since then, hiring demand has dipped 16%. However ad volumes are still higher than 2 years ago by 31%. As you can see in the chart, overall online job ads for data analysts have increased since 2009 with slight dips annually around December month (likely a seasonal trend). With increasing amounts of online and customer data being collected by organizations, we expect the demand for data analysts to continue.

Online Job Ad Growth for Data Analyst Skills

Data Analyst Online Job Ad Growth

The Hiring Scale™ indicates that it will be very difficult on average across the US to recruit data analysts, although the best place to source this talent would be Fresno, CA.

Data Analyst Hiring Scale

Our candidate supply estimates that there are approximately 205,000 data analysts currently in the US workforce and there are 1,642 employers currently recruiting for candidates with this experience. One of the top certifications required for data analysts is Crystal Reports. Other than data analysis, the most demanded skill is structured query language (SQL).

5 Employers with the Most Hiring Demand Now

  1. SAIC, Science Applications International Corporation
  2. Unitedhealth Group
  3. Capital One
  4. Booz Allen Hamilton
  5. Time Warner

If you are recruiting for data analysts, the national average salary advertised for this position is $73,000 – $89,000
Average Salary for Data Analysts

For Analytics Users, you can look up this information by logging in to My Analytics > Go to Summary Tab > Under Job Criteria Type “Data Analyst” into the Keyword Box > Hit Enter

Note: Adding quotations around your keywords groups the term together. To compare hiring demand or average salary information to your location, select your city in the Locations filter.

Will 2012 Be the Year that Hiring for Recruiters Goes Mobile?

By Abby Lombardi on March 1, 2012 in Recruiters, Staffing Industry.

Mobile recruiting is a hot topic in the human resources field and there is some debate on when – and if – mobile recruiting will become a more widely accepted practice. It’s been forecasted that mobile recruiting will be one of the biggest trends in talent management this year. We thought it would be interesting to look at how many online job ads for Recruiters include mobile skills as a requirement. Hiring demand for these skills could indicate how quickly mobile strategies are being implemented by HR departments in the US.

We found 15 employers that specifically mention mobile recruiting in their job – either in the description of the position or as a required skill. Since some companies are sourcing candidates for multiple positions, this works out to 23 unique job openings currently being advertised online. Although this doesn’t represent a large portion of job ads for Recruiters, this is a trend we plan on watching.

Hiring Demand for Recruiters with Mobile Skills – 16-Week Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Mobile Recruiters

Some of the most commonly advertised job titles that include mobile recruiting in their job ads include:

  • Recruiter (or Technical Recruiter)
  • Telerecruiter
  • Learning Development Manager
  • Bilingual Spanish Recruiter
  • Staffing Consultant

Since mobile recruiting strategies are still developing, our Hiring Scale™ shows that these jobs are moderately hard-to-fill. Much of the difficulty will be caused by the fact that the current talent pool is small. Our Candidate Supply charts estimates there are less than 1,000 qualified candidates currently in the workforce. These candidates represent 0.5% of all people currently working as Recruiters. If you are looking for work as a Recruiter, these skills may become more valuable if hiring demand increases.

Candidate Supply of Recruiters with Mobile Skills in the United States

candidate supply of mobile Recruiters nationwide

What do you think? Is 2012 the year that your company implements a mobile recruiting strategy?

Are you a Recruiter with mobile experience looking for work? Or an employer looking to fill open Recruiter jobs that require mobile platform skills? Try our free, online Hiring Scale™ to see the level of hiring demand in your area, compare average salary ranges, and find other companies are currently hiring for this talent.

Recruiting for Specific Skills in Mechanical Engineering Candidates – Best Locations to Source (Part 2)

By Abby Lombardi on February 10, 2012 in Engineering.

Yesterday, we looked at a Mechanical Engineering job ad, located in the Washington, DC metro area, with some very specific skill requirements – experience with engine control units (or ECU) and specifically mentions knowledge of diesel engines. Based on our Candidate Supply charts, we saw there were only about 5 people in the DC metro area that met our requirements. With so few candidates in the local area, Recruiters are likely to have a difficult time sourcing candidates. However, there may be other areas where these candidates are in large supply and would be easier to source.

By removing the location requirement of Washington, DC, our Candidate Supply chart changes drastically. There are more than 2,000 candidates. That means that just 0.2% of the qualified candidate pool currently works in the local DC area. No wonder this job is so hard-to-fill here!

Candidate Supply of Qualified Mechanical Engineers Nationwide

Candidate supply of Mechanical Engineers

Source: WANTED Analytics

So, where are these candidates located? Below are the 4 markets that currently find these specific skills easy-to-recruit. Columbus, Indiana is the easiest across the US. Here, they have more than 230 people currently in the workforce that meet our requirements. Below, the Hiring Scale™ snapshot confirms that these jobs are likely to be the easiest to recruit in Columbus. Detroit, Michigan is the second easiest place to find this talent, also with more than 200 potential candidates. This makes sense since many Engineering jobs have been concentrated around the Great Lakes region and, since there are many vehicle manufacturers here, more candidates are likely to have the required skills. By sourcing from any of the below 3 locations, Recruiters in the DC metro area are likely to shorten their time-to-fill by up to a full week. To attract talent from these areas, you may want to consider listing job openings in these areas.

Best Locations to Source Mechanical Engineers Nationwide

Easiest places to recruit Mechanical Engineers

Source: WANTED Analytics

Do you know where the easiest markets to find candidates with commonly required skills for your company's job openings? Sign up for a free trial of WANTED Analytics to find out! You can search for any skills, certification, or job title and we'll show you how hard-to-fill the job is, average salary ranges, and where you can find potential candidates.

Recruiting for Specific Skills in Mechanical Engineering Candidates (Part 1)

By Abby Lombardi on February 9, 2012 in Engineering.

Mechanical Engineers are a hard-to-fill job in the US. During January 2012, there were more than 9,000 job ads posted online for Mechanical Engineers – up 12% from January 2011. Although overall hiring demand has increased steadily, Mechanical Engineers often come in different areas, and it is important for Recruiters to know which skills and experiences are critical for candidates to have.  By specifying these skills, the market conditions change drastically for Engineering jobs. Below, we took a look at one engineering job ad located in the DC metro area and some of the required skills to see how difficult it is likely to be to fill this particular opening. This job specifically requires that candidates be familiar with engine control units (or ECU) and specifically mentions knowledge of diesel engines.

Mechanical Engineer Job AdWe looked at the competition for this talent – or how many other companies are currently recruiting for a similar combination of skill sets. Nationwide, there are 116 total job ads that require these same skills. In the DC metro area, where this job will be located according to the job ad, there are 3 jobs currently being advertised that also match these job requirements. Recruiters and hiring managers may think that competing with 3 other job openings isn't too challenging. However, we also looked at the candidate supply in the local area. Within the DC metro area, we estimate there are only 5 potential candidates currently in the workforce that meet the skill requirements and have the desired experience. This means that Recruiters in this area are still likely to face challenges finding and attracting candidates to their job opening.

Candidate Supply of Qualified Mechanical Engineers in Washington, DC

candidate supply of mechanical engineers in Washington, DC

Source: WANTED Analytics

As you can see in the Candidate Supply chart above, there are many Mechanical Engineers in and around Washington, DC. In fact, there are more than 5,000. However, if the employer is willing to relocate, there is a significantly larger number of candidates that meet all these requirements across the nation. Check back for tomorrow's blog where we explore these alternate locations.

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After Increased Web Threats, Cyber Security Hiring Grows Slowly

By Abby Lombardi on February 7, 2012 in Information Technology - XLK, Occupations.

Over the past year, there have been an increased number of high-profile corporate website hackings and cyber threats. After banks, online retailers, and energy and telecom companies have been breached, we wanted to look at hiring for cyber security skills to see if demand has increased.

During 2011, hiring demand for cyber security skills grew 12% compared to in 2010. From October through December of 2011, there were about 6,400 job ads for these skills – just 2% more than were placed online during the last 3 months of 2010. The chart below shows hiring demand over the past 4 years for cyber security skills – it's been growing slowly and steadily over the past years, despite a slowing in hiring in the last quarter of 2011. Considering there have been a number of website hackings that resulted in outside parties accessing private customer information, do you think hiring for cyber security skills will pick up in 2012?

Hiring Demand for Cyber Security Skills in the US – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Trend for Cyber Security Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Some of the occupations that are most commonly required to have cyber security skills are tech positions. Other jobs commonly required to have these skills include Intelligence Analystst, Operations Analysts, and Business Development professionals. Below are 10 of the most commonly advertised job titles that include requirements for cyber security skills.

  1. Cyber Security Analyst (or Specialist)
  2. Cyber Security Engineers
  3. Software Engineer
  4. Systems Engineer
  5. Security Specialist (or Analyst)
  6. Information Assurance Officer (or Analyst)
  7. Network Engineer
  8. Systems Administrator
  9. Cyber Intel Analyst
  10. Cyber Threat Analyst

Below are the 10 industries with the highest volume of job ads during the last 3 months of 2011. Hiring was seen mostly by various computer design and programming services industries. We were surprised that retail and banking industries weren't on this list – in fact, they didn't even make the top 30 industries.

10 Industries with the Most Job Ads for Cyber Security Skills

Industries with most hiring demand for cyber security skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

With decreased hiring demand across the US, will jobs that require cyber security skills be easier-to-fill? Our Hiring Scale™ shows that these jobs are moderately difficult-to-recruit on average. If demand begins to increase in 2012, we would expect these jobs to become more difficult. Currently, Recruiters in Charleston, South Carolina are experiencing one of the more difficult conditions when recruiting candidates with security skills. This metro area has seen some of the highest demand for cyber security skills over the last 3 months of 2011. While demand more than doubled in this time period compared to 2010, the local talent pool did not grow at the same pace. The Candidate Supply charts estimate there are about 400 potential candidates in this area. With such a small talent pool, Recruiters are likely to compete heavily to attract candidates for their job opening.

Candidate Supply of Cyber Security Skills in Charleston, SC

candidate supply of cyber security skills in Charleston

Source: WANTED Analytics

Employers in this area are likely to compete heavily to attract talent and experience a longer time-to-fill than most other areas. The average duration of an online job posting in Charleston with cyber security skills is 7 weeks, one week longer than the national average.

Are you recruiting for job openings that require cyber security knowledge or experience? Find out how hard-to-fill these jobs will be in your area, who you are competing with for talent, and average salary ranges with the free, online Hiring Scale™.

Do You Find Engineers Hard to Recruit? Look Outside Your Industry for Candidates

By Abby Lombardi on January 24, 2012 in Engineering, Occupations.

Many times Recruiters are tasked to source for job openings where the hiring manager has required previous experience in your organization's industry. Below, we take a look at how diverse the candidate supply in the city with the highest demand can vary from industry to industry. Houston has seen some of the highest volumes of engineering job ads over the past months and we focused on this locations for this post. But, this can be done for any city, region, or occupation.

First, we looked at Engineers in the Aerospace industry. Currently, there are 21 Engineering job being advertised in the Houston metro area by companies in the Aerospace industry. Most of these ads require previous experience within the industry. However, there are just 73 potential candidates in the Houston area, meaning there are only 3.4 potential candidates currently in the workforce for every job ad that requires industry experience. This also makes it one of the most difficult industries in Houston to recruit for engineering openings. There are many Engineers in Houston – more than 78,000 – so what industries are easier to recruit from?

Candidate Supply of Engineers in the Aerospace Industry in Houston, Texas

Candidate Supply of engineers in the Aerospace industry in Houston

Source: WANTED Analytics

The mining, oil, and gas industry in Houston has a significantly larger talent pool. With more than 4,000 engineers in this industry, our Hiring Scale™ shows that recruiting is likely to be significantly easier for these companies than employers in the aerospace industry.  The general manufacturing  and scientific and technical services industries are also sources of potential candidates – the 2 largest in the Houston area with more than 13,000 engineers currently working in each sector. Recruiting conditions in these other sectors are much more favorable, with as many as 20 potential candidates for every job opening. This is about 6 times as many candidates as are in the aerospace industry. Recruiters should discuss the possibility of sourcing from these other sectors with the hiring manager. By having more candidates to source from, it is likely that job openings can be filled faster and the time-to-fill can be reduced.

Hiring Scale for Engineers in the Mining, Oil, and Gas Industry in Houston, Texas

Hiring Scale for Engineers in the Mining industry in Houston

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Engineers in the Aerospace Industry in Houston, Texas

Hiring Scale for engineers in the Aerospace Industry

Source: WANTED Analytics

Are you hiring for engineers? Sign up for a free trial of WANTED Analytics™ to see how conditions compare in your area, view candidate supply data for your industry (and other sectors), and where sources of hidden candidates may be located.

What Makes a Job Easy or Difficult to Recruit?

By Abby Lombardi on January 20, 2012 in Business/Finance, Computer/Math/IT, Labor Market Dynamics.

Most Recruiters source candidates for many positions at the same time. But, it's not always easy to know which jobs will be hard-to-fill and take more time to recruit. Today, we will examine how the supply of potential candidates affects the difficulty that Recruiters are likely to experience when sourcing candidates.

We looked at 2 job ads that included required skills that are fairly common for their respective occupations:

  • An Advertising Manager opening in New York, NY that requires social media skills
  • A Web Developer opening in Atlanta, GA that requires cloud computing skills

Both of these occupations have been growing in demand across the United States and have a similar size available talent pool in their respective areas – each with a little more than 1,000 candidates within their local talent pools. Which do you think will be harder to fill?

Candidate Supply of Advertising Managers in New York with Social Media Skills

candidate supply - ad managers with social media skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Candidate Supply of Web Developers in Atlanta with Cloud Computing Skills

candidate supply - web developer with cloud computing skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Despite having a similar size talent pools, our Hiring Scale™ shows that Web Developers with cloud computing skills in Atlanta are harder to fill than Ad Managers with social media skills in New York. In the local Atlanta area, there are about 8.4 potential candidates currently in the workforce for every job being advertised. Comparing to Ad Managers with social media skills, there are about 18 potential candidates in the New York workforce for every job being posted.

Competition for talent varies by skill and location, as well. In the Atlanta area, there are more than 130 unique job ads for Web Developers with cloud skills. In comparison, there are about 60 ads for Advertising Managers with social media experience in New York. Since there is more competition for Web Developers with cloud skills in Atlanta, Recruiters are likely to experience a longer time-to-fill than Ad Manager jobs that require social media skills. By looking at the Hiring Scale for all your open positions, you can refocus your time and effort on hard-to-fill jobs.

Hiring Scale for Web Developers with Cloud Computing Skills – Atlanta, GA vs. Nationally

hiring scale - web developers with cloud computing skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Advertising Managers with Social Media Skills – New York, NY vs. Nationally

hiring scale - ad managers with social media skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Which of your open jobs will be the hardest to fill? Try our online Hiring Scale™ to find out! Search for any skill set you are recruiting and we'll show you how difficult it is to fill that job, local and national average salary ranges, who your competition for talent is, and where you may find hidden candidate pools.

Hiring Computer Programmers Part 2 – Recruiting "Nice to Have" Skills

By Abby Lombardi on January 17, 2012 in Computer/Math/IT, Finance - XLF.

Yesterday, we looked at recruiting "must have" skills for Computer Programmers by reviewing candidate supply from a real job opening currently being advertised. Today, we'll use the same job ad to look at recruiting for some "nice to have" skill sets (in comparison to those that are required) and how conditions change. Often, job ads list required qualifications and additional skills that hiring managers would prefer candidates to have. We'll keep the same required skills (Oracle, VBA, and Sybase programming experience with background in the financial services industry), but add additional requirements.

Here's the job ad we used as an example:

Computer Programmer in Financial Services Industry

The job lists SharePoint and Java development skills as preferred skills. By adding these 2 common tech skills, our candidate supply reduces from 317 (in yesterday's post) to an estimated 8 potential candidates that would meet all our job requirements. After reviewing this information, Recruiters and hiring managers can discuss realistic expectations on finding these additional skills. You may decide that on-the-job training is a better option, since this combination of skills is extremely rare.

Candidate Supply of Computer Programmers with Java and Sharepoint

Source: WANTED Analytics

Another way that we can change our search criteria is by industry. This job ad requests candidates with experience in financial markets. However, by opening up our industry selections, we may find additional candidates. Even after keeping Java and SharePoint as required skills, we see that the number of potential candidates – across all industries – increases to 159. The first source of candidates for many companies is their industry competition. But, as you can see, this can often limit your candidate pool.

Candidate Supply of Computer Programmers with Required Skills across all Industries

Candidate Supply of Computer Programmers across all Industries

Source: WANTED Analytics

By discussing the estimated number of candidates for each scenario with the hiring manager, an effective recruiting strategy can be developed. You may determine that these are required skills and can't be compromised and, in that case, you can prepare the hiring manager for longer recruitment times or suggest ways to attract candidates from outside the NY metro area.

Do you know which skill combinations will be difficult to recruit? Start your free trial of WANTED Analytics™ to find out! Search by skills, location, industry, job function, and occupation to determine recruiting conditions, average salary information, and how much competition there is.

Hiring Computer Programmers Part 1 – Finding "Must Have" Skills

By Abby Lombardi on January 16, 2012 in Computer/Math/IT, Finance - XLF.

When Recruiters meet with hiring managers about a job opening, the hiring manager often provides a "laundry list" of skills and qualifications that candidates must have. Do you, as a recruiter, find out what the must-have skills are for the job opening? In this blog post, we'll take a look at an example of how narrowing down required skills can help realistically determine the difficulty to hire for any job.

Here's a sample job ad we found for a Computer Programmer opening in New York, NY currently being advertised by a company in the financial services industry. This ad requires candidates that have background in financial markets, as well as experience with VBA (or Visual Basic for Applications), Oracle, and Sybase.

Computer Programming job Ad

Overall, hiring demand for these skills is high. During December 2011, more than 3,200 job ads were posted nationwide for Computer Programmers that required these skills across all industries. Close to 900 of those ads were posted by financial services companies. In the New York metro area, we found 8 employers with a total of 22 unique jobs postings currently being advertised online that require these skills. This may not seem like much. Recruiters and hiring managers may think that there won't be too much competition for these skills. However, when you look at the candidate supply – meaning the number of candidates in the New York workforce that meet your job requirements – you get a different picture. Out of 8.2 million people in the New York workforce (279,000 of which are IT professionals), there are just 317 people that meet your qualifications.

Candidate Supply of Computer Programmers with Required Skills in New York

Candidate Supply of Computer Programmers

Source: WANTED Analytics

Our Hiring Scale™ also confirms that these jobs will be fairly hard-to-fill – both nationwide and in the New York area. Recruiters in New York are likely to experience a slightly easier recruiting market than nationally – but not by much. Nationally, it takes about 41 days or just under 6 weeks. In New York, job ads are listed for an average 40 days – one day less than nationally. This information is a guide that Recruiters can use when discussing market conditions with hiring managers and set expectations on how long it will take to fill these jobs.

Hiring Scale for Computer Programmers with Above Skill Requirements – New York vs. Nationally

hiring scale for computer programmers in NY

Source: WANTED Analytics

Since it is likely that Recruiters in New York will see difficulties with sourcing candidates, it may be beneficial to discuss hiring from alternative areas with the hiring manager. There are several cities in the US that are currently experiencing easier conditions and shorter recruitment cycles than in New York. For example, Washington (DC), Dallas, and Baltimore are currently experiencing the easiest recruiting conditions for these exact skills. By sourcing from these locations, Recruiters and hiring managers may be able to reduce their time-to-fill and reduce their cost-per-hire since job ads will be listed online for shorter period of time.

Companies recruiting for these skills should look for candidates with some of the below most common job titles. Searching for just “Computer Programmer” may not return all qualified candidates. In fact, of the 10 most common job titles below, only one has the word “Programmer” in it. By including some of these common titles, Recruiters and hiring managers may be able to expand their pool of potential candidates and possible reduce their time-to-fill.

  1. Rates Application Support Analyst
  2. RAD Developer Commodities
  3. CIO Service Delivery Analyst Associate
  4. Front End Solutions Development
  5. Systems Application Engineer
  6. Applications Developer
  7. Senior Programmer IT Securities Processing Group
  8. Oracle Developer
  9. Tech ASG Bond Studio Developer
  10. Support Analyst Problem Manager

Check back tomorrow, when we look at how the candidate supply changes when you add some of the “highly desired” skills and change your job requirements. Will this job become even more difficult to fill?

What skills do you require for Computer Programmers? Enter the skills into our free, online Hiring Scale™ to see how hard-to-recruit those skills are, average salary ranges, and who you are competing with for talent.

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