Visions - July 2010

Newspaper ads
Attend job/career fairs
Attend job/career fairs
Newspaper ads
Attend job/career fairs
paper ads
d job/career fairs

0 1

0 1

12 0 1

6 7

32 51 31 51 31 51

answered question skipped question

11 13 12 12

19 20 20

12
ans
sk
answered
skipped
answered quest
skipped quest

25% 50% 75% 100%
Candidate Search Tactics Success Rates

Hire a retained search firm

Hire a retained search firm

Hire a retained search firm

Hire a retained search firm

Hire a retained search firm

0%

Hire a retained search firm

Tried Tactic

Utilize my network Utilize my network Utilize my network Utilize my network

Utilize my network
Recommendations from current employees

Utilize my network
Recommendations from current employees
Free job posting sites (e.g. LinkedIn) Free job posting sites (e.g. LinkedIn) Free job posting sites (e.g. Link dIn) Free job posting sites (e.g. LinkedIn)

Free job posting sites (e.g. LinkedIn)
Commercial job posting sites (e.g. Six Figures, Monster)

Free job posting sites (e.g. LinkedIn)

Commercial job posting sites (e.g. Six Figures, Monster)

Commercial job posting sites (e.g. Six Figures, Monster) Commercial job posting sites (e.g. Six Figures, Monster) Commercial job p sting sites (e.g. Six Figures, Monster) Commercial job posting sites (e.g. Six Figures, Monster)

most successful

59%

92%

94%

73%

Own corporate website job posting Own corporate website job posting Own corporate website job posting Own corporate website job posting

Own corporate website job posting Own corporate website job posting

88%

Work with contingency recruiters Work with contingency recruiters Work with contingency recruiters Work with contingency recruiters

Work with contingency recruiters
Search social networking sites (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook)
Professional association job boards (e.g. PDMA, PMI, ASME)
Attend professional association networking events

Work with contingency recruiters

Search social networking sites (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook)
Professional association job boards (e.g. PDMA, PMI, ASME)
Attend professional association networking events
Professional association job boards (e.g. PDMA, PMI, ASME)
Attend professional association networking events
Search social networking sites (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook)
Professional ass ciation job boards (e.g. PDMA, PMI, ASME)
Attend professional association networking events
Search social networking sites (e.g. Link dIn, Facebook)
Professional association job b ards (e.g. PDMA, PMI, ASME)
Attend professional association networking events
Search social networking sites (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook)
Professional association job boards (e.g. PDMA, PMI, ASME)
Attend professional association networking events

least successful

92%

73%

78%

55%

Very successful

SOURCE: 2010 New Product Development Professionals Survey

73%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Somewhat successful Not very successful Unsuccessful

0% 25%

Very successful Somewhat successful Not very successful Unsuccessful 0% 25% 50% Very successful Somewhat successful Not very successful Unsuccessful

0% 25% 50%

Very successful Somewhat successful Not very successful Unsuccessful

0% 25% 50% 75

Very successful Somewhat successful Not very successful Unsuccessful

that employers are requiring very specific industry and functional experience. Many want proof that the candidate has successfully performed in the position before, meaning the employer is not in-terested in providing the candidate a growth opportunity but, rather, wants to minimize any learning curve associated with a new hire.

Even though we are definitely in an employer’s market, respondents reported that companies are moving slowly through the hiring process—often canceling the position or putting it on hold while in the midst of interviewing candidates. Respondents also reported frustration with the difficulty of the job search, the lack of feedback, and the problem of self-motivation.

The tactics companies employ for hiring
We also asked respondents who have made the hiring decisions
for NPD professionals to rate 18 candidate search tactics based on
their own experience. The best ways are shown in Exhibit 4 from
most successful to least: Top 10 tactics used by companies in candi-
date searches. Notice that many of these tactics rely on the candidate
being visible, as opposed to relying on the candidate to find and
apply for an open position. We were interested to note that for every
tactic that companies use most and believe are most successful, at
least 50 percent of our respondents had given it a try.
The next two most successful tactics were tapping into the hiring
manager’s network (79 percent rated it successful) and receiving
recommendations from current employees (75 percent rated it suc-
cessful). Next comes advertising the opening widely and using the
free and paid job posting sites (success rates of 64 to 70 percent). We
find this tactic is a mixed blessing, since it inundates the employer
with resume submissions, but the number that are a good match is
usually low and reviewing the submissions is time consuming.

Sometimes companies utilize “contingency” recruiters as a way of casting a wider net and avoiding some of the work of screen-ing resume submissions. Contingency recruiters are only paid if they complete the search; retained recruiters are compensated no matter what the result.

Other tactics that companies (meaning, hiring executives) reported yielded success 50 percent of the time or more were “searching social networking sites (LinkedIn and Facebook, for example),” “accessing contacts through professional association job boards (PDMA, PMI, ASME),” and “attending professional association networking events.”

Conclusions

In answer to the earlier question, “How are NPD profession-als faring in this economy?” we discovered that unemployed NPD professionals are experiencing a difficult and frustrating job search. We cannot say whether it is worse than the average unemployed job seeker in the U.S.—or the result of a shrinking number of jobs in this category—but we have learned about the common obstacles as well as what works and what doesn’t. We hope that this will be helpful to PDMA members searching for new jobs—or considering changing jobs—and others in the field of NPD as well.

Additional results from this survey will be published in a com-plete report available through PDMA and NPD Recruiting. The survey will be repeated annually allowing for analysis of employ-ment trends experienced by NPD professionals.

Endnotes:

1. Economic News Release Table A- 13. Employed and unemployed persons by occupation, not seasonally adjusted May 7, 2010 2. Economic News Release Table A-12. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment, seasonally adjusted May 7, 2010 3. See the links below for an article on the value of professional development reprinted from the NPD Recruiting blog http://npdrecruiting.com/exchange/2010/03/career-advice-from-louis-pasteur1/ http://npdrecruiting.com/exchange/2010/03/career-advice-from-louis-pasteur2/

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