Meeting prospective employees, interviewing them and assessing how these will eventually fit an organisation is becoming a tougher exercise. A balance needs to be reached between the candidate’s motivation to seek employment and the opportunity the employer is offering.

It is only when a synergy between the two is reached that a match can happen. On the one hand, employers are facing a retention issue where they wish to employ and keep talented people within their company, while a number of employees might be enticed by seemingly better-looking opportunities.

On the other hand, if the vacant role the company is seeking to fill has limited candidates available for it in the market, employers might need to rethink the overall opportunity they are offering and study how attractive it is holistically to job searchers within the market. To avoid losing high-potential candidates for a position, employers may wish to be more creative and flexible in the overall package offered to current and prospective employees.

This may include the salary being offered, the working hours and extra allowances or other benefits in relation to the employment. Flexibility at work is becoming increasingly important for employees, especially those with a family. Therefore, companies might need to consider offering something more – maybe flexible hours or the option of working from home, making themselves more attractive as employers.

Other options to consider can be advancement opportunities, training, flexibility and other important benefits that contribute to the well-being of the employee and make the overall package even more enticing. To many employees, certain benefits can turn out to be priceless.

During work interviews with candidates, one of the most recurrent questions is always the location of the workplace. Social issues are becoming important considerations when it comes to life choices. Traffic has become a crucial factor. Are we ready to face more congestion problems and parking issues that could impact our life, our daily routine and our job performance?

Today, the employment market is very dynamic

Most people are not. In fact, many candidates would be willing to give up a good career opportunity if this position is a 30- to 40-minute drive from home or is located in a highly congested area. Having said that, we recommend that a job seeker should never just ask questions about the salary package and location, as this may signal that these are the only aspects of employment they are concerned with.

Asking the right questions will already say a lot about you and put you in a better light in relation to others. Therefore, what about questions regarding the company, its values and its plans for future growth? What about asking more about the team you’ll be working with? Through such questions, a prospective employee can learn about the culture of the company or how things work. This may also open up discussions about additional perks that may be offered by working for that specific company.

Remember that there are benefits you might consider as an additional plus when working at a company – this may include opportunities to travel, training opportunities and flexible hours, to mention but a few, and these may be a huge plus for you and can actually lead you to choose a particular role over another position that may offer a higher salary package.

At Misco, we encourage candidates to make time to go to interviews. There can be instances when the position is seemingly not very interesting to the candidate and these might be considered as a time waster if certain aspects of the position are not of interest. However, the company might have other enticing opportunities to offer.

During interviews, candidates are also given the opportunity to meet with key people in organisations and explore other positions available within the same company, hence expanding their contacts, leading to better career prospects. This positive disposition is usually very telling of the personality of the prospective employee and could turn out to be an added advantage during the selection process.

Today, more than ever, the employment market is a very dynamic one with a lot of market forces to deal with. However, if both the candidate and the company want to be flexible and are willing to meet half way, this can be the perfect start for an individual to find the right career opportunity and the other to find the most suitable talent for the company.

Nadine Borg is an HR consultant at Misco.