Are You a Most Placeable Candidate?

Let me let you in on a recruiting secret. In the recruiting world, there are average candidates, and then there are the Most Placeable Candidates (MPCs). An MPC is a candidate who we are confident will not only meet but exceed the expectations of a given or potential client. With that being said, if you are not an MPC right now, that doesn’t mean you can’t become one down the road. MPCs are based on two things: our clients and what we know about your career.
Although there isn’t much you can do to determine our book of clients or what they are searching for, you can ensure that your resume and career reflect what we are looking for in regards to potential MPC status once the right client comes along.
1)     Loyalty to their Work
While it is great to have choices in your career, we want to see that you see your role or project through at a company. It may be attractive to jump from job to job after only a year or two, but that doesn’t look promising to us or our clients. When our clients hire for a job, they want you to remain with the company for a minimum of three years and gain greater responsibility. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to stay at only one or two companies your entire career, but you should exhibit that you stayed with each company you worked at for a significant period of time.
2)     Clear Career Progression
Remaining loyal to your company and remaining loyal to your job title are two very different things. In your career, we expect to see you move throughout your career in a timely manner. That means getting promoted, taking on greater responsibilities, or taking on new roles that expand your skillset. When you are stuck in a role for longer than what is considered the norm it tells us that you were not performing above expectations or that you didn’t have the courage to look for opportunity elsewhere.
3)     Wide Range of Capabilities
If you want to be an MPC for multiple clients, you need to fit and exceed the expectations of multiple clients. A wide range of capabilities allows you to perform a wide range of tasks that can work for various job positions. If you are a chameleon and have the skills that allow you to adjust to any role be sure to display this on your resume or send us various drafts of your resumes that focus on different skill sets. One example of this is an MPC of ours who has provided us with her Digital Resume, her Account Planning Resume, and her resume with a mix of both.
4)     The WOW Factor
This is something that is harder to put a finger on, but the best way we can explain it is that if you can make us audibly “wow” while we are looking at your resume, talking to you, or looking at any supplemental material, that is a good thing. This can be anything from creating a viral campaign to circumnavigating an impossible task. More than anything, this is something that makes us excited to see more of your work and should make the client excited to imagine what you could be doing with them.
5)     Measurable Results
It is one thing to make us go wow, it is another to prove the impact of your work. When we present you to a client we want to be assured, without bias, that your work has exceeded expectation. The best way convince us and the client of that is to give quantifiable results. How much did your promotional strategy increase sales? Was your conversion rate off the charts for your digital campaign? While numbers aren’t everything, they do give us an unbiased measure of your work and performance.
6)     A Strong Recruiter Relationship
More than anything we want to get to know you. 9 out of 10 candidates will only send their resume to us one time and never follow-up. This is an easy way to be forgotten. We want to see our MPCs build a relationship with us. Get on the phone and talk us through their career progression and what their goals are for future positions. The more we know about you, the more we are able to advocate on your behalf to our clients. Don’t be a needle in the LinkedIn haystack.
We are always looking for new MPCs and re-evaluating the needs of our clients to determine who the best-fit candidates are. Do not let yourself be overlooked by not taking simple steps in your career or forgetting to keep a relationship with your DCAProSearch recruiter. If you are a company in search of a Most Placeable Candidate give us a call and we would be happy to learn more about how your needs match up with our talented candidate pool.