Blue Signal Recognized Among 2021’s Top 30 Recruiting Agencies

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Blue Signal Search has been recognized among the Top 30 Recruiting Agencies of 2021 by DesignRush. 

DesignRush is a B2B marketplace that connects brands with professional full-service recruiting agencies, web design companies, digital marketing firms, and top technology companies. Their platform lists over 9,300 agencies from over 50 different countries and is consulted by thousands of decision-makers looking for project support - such as hiring. 

“It’s genuinely an honor for our agency to be acknowledged among so many innovative companies in recruiting. This is especially notable since we are in such a competitive and turbulent job market, it’s a difficult yet busy time for recruiters all across the board,” said Matt Walsh, CEO of Blue Signal Search. 

Recruiting agencies in all industry verticals are experiencing the long-term effects of the now candidate-driven market. There are an estimated 7 million open jobs listed online today, highlighting the abundance of opportunities yet lack of qualified talent to fill those roles. Blue Signal knows what it takes for client companies to win the war for talent, making us an ideal partner in the hiring process.  

Blue Signal Recognized Among 2021's Top 30 Recruiting Agencies Accreditation

More about DesignRush 

Since 2017, DesignRush has helped advise brands faced with all the difficulties of finding the right professional partnership for their next digital project. They help brands choose the right agency that is able to adapt to their brand, understand their goals, and effectively work with them as a team. DesignRush brings value to their clients by matching them with agencies they can trust. Their process is proven to provide a strong return on investment in the form of long-term business growth. 

 

More about Blue Signal Search 

Since 2012, Blue Signal has grown into a multimillion-dollar executive placement firm, backed by remote employees nationwide. Blue Signal has established itself as the premier executive search firm within wireless/telecom, information technology, IoT, finance & accounting, emerging technology, cloud & managed services, manufacturing & industrial, lighting, logistics & supply chain, food & agriculture, human resources, medical & healthcare, and related industry niches. 

At Blue Signal, we believe that hiring the right people is the best way to transform business. Our targeted, specialized searches deliver highly qualified professionals to meet every hiring need. Paired with our 12-month placement guarantees and our incredible retention success rates, we stand apart from other recruiting agencies. When creating strategies and setting goals for hiring and recruiting in the 2020’s, Blue Signal is your partner in the process. Contact us today to let us know how we can help. 

Winning the War for Talent in 2021

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As the competition heats up among industries to snag the best of the best to fill open roles, it’s becoming more clear we are experiencing a “War for Talent.” The phrase “War for Talent” is not a new term in the recruiting industry, as it was first coined in 1997 by Steven Hankin of McKinsey. In their 2001 book The War for Talent, authors Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod predicted that “the make-or-break for firms in the next two decades would be the ability to attract, develop, and retain talent.” In 2021, we’re in the thick of that battle, struggling to beat out the competition and win over top talent. Though there is an uptick in hiring across the board, with a closer look you’ll see just how small the market is when targeting top-tiered talent with niche skills and specialties. With over 7 million jobs recently posted online, the industry is experiencing an abundance of open roles and a lack of qualified candidates to fill them. In light of this sudden and increasing need for talent, job seekers are left with the upper hand. In today’s market, when it comes to winning the war for talent, employers need to take meaningful action by offering unique benefits, remaining flexible, improving branding, and focusing on retention post-hire. 

War for Talent: 4 Steps

Roll Out the Red Carpet

The current job market is in the hands of the job seekers — so it’s important to get to know your audience. Millennials for example, (who in just five short years will comprise almost 50% of the workforce) have different expectations for jobs than their predecessors did. 86% of Millennials put values, like respect for peers, before salary and 82% prefer to work from home at least one day a week. Now more than ever, hiring managers and companies need to be rolling out the red carpet and concede to the demands of those on the job hunt. Large, leading tech companies such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have been perfect examples of this in the past as we’ve seen them building, buying, or rehabbing office spaces to make them attractive and appealing to workers. However, today’s climate calls for a little more creativity as the majority of companies and candidates are switching to the work from home model, making fancy office spaces obsolete. Companies are now branching out, offering new incentives like Peloton bikes, paid time off for mental health, additional vacation days, raises, and bonuses to keep their employees motivated and happy. Unfortunately, if you’re not doing your homework to find out what benefits your employees actually care about, you’ll be taking a shot in the dark. 

Poaching and persuading top talent isn’t an altogether new concept but with today’s market, it’s now become a crucial part of everyone’s talent search. The rule of thumb when recruiting for top talent while competing in any industry is to assume there is always another offer on the table. Whether the candidate is actively interviewing for other roles or gets offered a promotion/raise by their current employer when handing in their notice - push your boundaries and dive deep to find what you can offer that no one else will. 

Be Flexible & Act Fast 

With so many competing offers and employers incentivizing candidates to stay where they are - quick decisions in the hiring process are crucial. Just imagine, while a hiring manager is contemplating possible,  better candidates, the perfect candidate they let go cold is accepting another offer. With the majority of talent currently working from home, the process of taking an interview during the day has become a breeze. Candidates can resign from their current position and start a new one with the simple act of shipping back one laptop and receiving another in its place. This simplified and fast-acting turnover is exactly why it is imperative to remain flexible, open, and decisive when recruiting top talent. 

The flexibility shouldn’t stop there. Being open to offering a flexible schedule in today’s market is another “must-have” on a majority of applicants’ lists. It’s been reported that “up to half of employees might quit their jobs if remote or hybrid work arrangements are not provided post-pandemic.” Due to this new norm, industries across the board are now competing on a national scale rather than with their local markets. By choosing not to employ remote workers, you are actively limiting your candidate pool. Offering a flexible work schedule is becoming non-negotiable when keeping up with the competition. With job seekers in the driver’s seat and in a position to make demands, hiring managers need to be listening. 

Step Up Digital Branding & Awareness

Enticing a candidate to join a new company goes beyond what’s written on an offer. Most potential hires are conducting their own research on companies they’re looking to join, digitally. With the internet as the new marketplace, it is absolutely crucial to have a stellar online reputation and top-notch digital branding in place. As a simple fact of life, first impressions are everything - and more often than not, that introduction doesn’t come straight from a company email. 

When a candidate is deciding if they should apply to a company, their first instinct will be to dig up some background information and see if they can picture themselves at the company. Ensuring consistent, clean, and up-to-date branding across all platforms positions you as a well-oiled machine, and instills a sense of confidence - which will result in more applicants. 

Beyond consistency and aesthetics in branding, companies should be going above and beyond to create buzz in their industries. PR initiatives and posting exciting company news online can get job seekers’ attention and spark a good impression before they even land on your website/social channels. Another common way candidates look into a potential employer is through their online reviews and testimonials. This goes without saying, but poor reviews are one of the most passive reasons top talent will walk away from a job offer or even an initial interview. Open the door to communication by conducting exit interviews with employees leaving the company to uncover and address issues before they affect your incoming talent. Better yet, encourage satisfied customers to leave a positive review about their experience.

Invest in Training

With the added competition of today’s recruiting market, it’s important to remember that your job isn’t done when a new hire is made. In some cases, this is when the real work begins as your focus shifts to retaining that hire. One of the best ways to ensure retention of new hires is training, training, training! Investing in thorough and continued training programs is crucial in today’s market when the act of making the initial hire is already such an uphill battle. Hiring professionals agree that “in every industry and sector, among companies large and small, a new conversation must occur as upskilling and reskilling become the new norm.” Employers need to be more proactive by providing employees with the resources and time needed to learn the material and skills. Companies can focus on creating their own internal training that’s specific to their processes by including real on-the-job examples. The biggest mistake you can make after landing a top talent hire is to go into their employment blindly. Do your research and leverage tried and true methods to make sure you retain that expertise in-house. 

With the intensity of today’s job market, offering unique benefits, remaining flexible and fast-acting, and ensuring retention after a hire is made can give your company the edge it needs to land top talent. Just like this job market overall, the way recruiting is conducted is changing at unprecedented speeds. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, Blue Signal can help. We’re experts in this realm and most importantly, we have the dedicated time to complete the open job searches you need filled. A significant benefit in working with a recruiting firm such as Blue Signal is the ability to target passive candidates, which is a game-changer in this climate. The days of waiting around for candidates to come to you and apply to your job posting on their own are over. According to a LinkedIn study, only 15% of employees say they are completely satisfied with their jobs and would not be open to a change. In the midst of this “War for Talent,” you want to be working with the best. If you’re ready to start a conversation about how you can better target and retain top talent in your field, reach out to us today. 

The Changing DAS Space and the Looming Skills Gap

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The Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) market has made important gains in the past several years. The United States is the world leader in 4G technology (with 5G in the works), and exploding growth in wireless broadband coverage has led to a big rise in network infrastructure.

 

The Changing DAS Landscape & Forecast

In-building wireless applications are one of the most important areas of DAS market growth. Tier 1 demand has dropped (this includes stadiums, large office buildings, urban mass transit systems, and other large venues). Tier 2 demand (mid-size venues) will grow steadily over the next five years as retailers and medium office buildings invest in DAS and small cell technology. This growth is due to a high demand for coverage that is never interrupted. Network outages are more expensive than ever, and consumers demand continuous access to data and a good phone signal.

Will DAS/small cells replace macro cells? Not likely—they require 10 times the number of sites to cover the same area as a macrocellular site. Instead, they are a new facet of the new heterogeneous network infrastructure model.

Intense market demand has flooded the industry with small solutions firms hoping to make it big. In the next few years, we can expect this high-innovation environment to stabilize and thin out as the strongest players begin to dominate the space, acquiring and driving out smaller firms as they grow.

 

The DAS Skills Gap

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of jobs in the telecom industry has fallen dramatically since 2006, but this statistic does not give the full picture of today’s telecom labor market. The telecom industry experienced a bubble in the 1990s as cell phones gained popularity. Although the total number of jobs has fallen, there is a growing skills gap in technical industries, including the telecom and RF/DAS space.

The economy as a whole is facing one of the biggest skills gaps since the government began collecting data. This also applies to the telecom industry. Companies report major labor shortages within three major areas: technology experts, engineers, and field technicians. Even worse, the Baby Boomers, who dominate positions in senior management, are retiring in large numbers. They leave behind no good source of talent to replace them. This is a good reason to start succession planning early.

Although the millennial generation is one of the most educated workforces in history, telecom companies cite lack of technical experience as one of the biggest hiring challenges they are currently facing. The economy is experiencing high levels of educated workers being unable to find employment, despite the huge demand for skilled labor.

BLS Statistics - DAS and Telecom Employment

After the 1990s telecom bubble burst in 2000, there was a sharp drop-off in telecom employment. But competition is still intense for top talent, like engineers and technology experts.

How to Secure DAS Talent

Large enterprises are scrambling to implement training programs to grow the next generation of talent. This is the best approach for a long-term plan, but many companies need to capitalize on DAS market demand now. It takes years to train up new recruits.

This “land grab” phase has led to an industry-wide war for talent, which makes it difficult for DAS-focused SMB telecom firms to attract and retain top talent. For these companies, investing in a comprehensive training program is dangerous—it means falling behind the growth curve. Instead, invest in a relationship with a trusted recruiting firm who knows the telecom and wireless space well. In a high-demand, employee-driven market, sourcing and attracting talent is a full-time job. The cost of a bad hire can cripple an entire project during a critical time.

 

If your company is invested in DAS and small cell projects, contact us for a free comprehensive analysis of your talent sourcing strategy for the next 2 to 5 years. Get in touch with us at info@bluesignal.com, or at (480) 939-3200.