What Job Seekers Want in a Position

Late last year I wrote a post entitled, "What job seekers are looking for", based on research put out by Accenture. Recently, DDI and Monster released the "Slugging Through the War for Talent: Selection Forecast 2006 -2007" which had some very interesting findings with implications for HR, job seekers and also managers.

The study found that of the survey respondents (3,725 job seekers, 1250 hiring managers and 628 staffing directors in 5 global regions) felt that the war for talent continues to heat up, with 2007 being no exception.

Job Seekers indicated that they wanted to following in a new position (beyond salary and benefits):
* Opportunities to learn and grow (78%)
* Interesting Work (77%)
* A good manager/boss (75%)
* An organization you can be proud to work for (74%)
* Opportunity to advance (73%)
* A creative or fun workplace culture (67%)
* A compatible work group/team (67%)
* Balance between work and personal life (65%)
* Opportunity for advancement (64%)

Interestingly, the 2006 Accenture study found job seekers listed their top three priorites as:
1. Offers challenging and interesting work - 60%
2. Recognizes and rewards accomplishments - 58%3.
Provides an opportunity for fast career growth and advancement - 44%

From your perspective, how closely does it align with what you think? What implications could this have for your job search or hiring?

The DDI/Monster study also looked at why employees leave their current positions, with the top three reasons being listed by job seekers as:
1. Insufficient compensation, benefits, rewards/recognitiion
2. Lack of growth/development opportunities
3. Did not feel efforts were appreciated

The study finds a discrepency between these internal reasons cited and the staffing director and hiring managers perspective that in fact employees are leaving for external reasons (for example, a spouse moving, returning to school). How would you rate your hiring managers in terms of keeping their fingers on the pulse of exiting employee's reasons for leaving?

If this is an area of interest for you, I would encourage you to take a look at the DDI Monster Survey results and look at how aligned they are with your organization or personal job search. I would welcome hearing your thoughts - please feel free to comment below.

Warmly,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton, CPCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Email: jennifer[at]potentialsrealized[dot]com
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960