Engineering Opportunities
It is worth noting that engineers with 2 to 3 years of experience in the electrical, trade (water and/or piping) and mechanical disciplines are enjoying a high demand at the moment. This is followed by engineers with design, projects and/or sales experiences.
Civil engineers on the other hand are experiencing a bit of a challenge, especially those without adequate market exposure even if they have been employed for several years. This could be due to the challenging market environment in the building industry caused by a series of unfavourable factors such as a slowing property market, rising material prices and technology advancement.
But regardless of how lacklustre any sector may be, it is CXL Group’s duty to present the candidates in the right light to the employers, notwithstanding differing a candidate’s professional designations compared to a job description’s job title.
Matchmaking Specialists
The open secret here is that no matter the complexity, pairing a candidate to a job is a matchmaking of skills, experience and sometimes, aspirations and cultural expectations of both parties. To fit well, it means CXL Group should be represented by a team of knowledgeable and experienced hands who are well versed with the industry. By this it also means having “industry specialists” on board so that when rubber hits the road, job details will not be misunderstood due to lingo, lack of market understanding or the inability to pre-screen candidates properly.
For example, CXL Group’s Executive Search division is manned by specialists dedicated to the Engineering, Energy, Architecture, Construction, Logistics and Manufacturing sectors. This way, the specialists can hit the ground running without much resistance from the clients.
In addition to the above, these specialists also go a step further to hand hold the candidates beyond just dressing up their resumes. While it may seem putting together a resume is a simple job, the truth is not many are acquainted with the task no matter the voluminous literature available on “Effective Resume Writing.”
Shaping Up the Candidates
From the time the candidate’s CV is received, our specialists will firstly assess if they are fit for a certain position and if the content is representative of what the candidate can bring to the table. They then scrutinise for essential parts which may have been omitted or what needs to be fleshed out more effectively.
They also go the extra mile to improve a candidate’s probability of securing a certain opportunity by guiding and coaching where necessary. This includes regular communication prior to the interview, preparing them for the interview by suggesting the suitable tonality and mannerism, injecting confidence by focusing on strengths instead of weaknesses, imparting negotiation pointers (eg. salary, relocation allowances etc) and even showing the way to place laptops or tablets if the occasion calls for it. In fact, one of the peculiarities in the job industry is that technical professionals tend to need more assistance in negotiation compared to their non-technical colleagues.
The aim is to convey relevant confidence, not overwhelm the interviewer with unnecessary details, and certainly not misinform the hiring managers that a potential hire is a flight risk.
“The best part about all this is that we help our candidates on a complimentary basis so they can be strategically positioned for suitable career opportunities.”
Raising Potential
Candidates guided by CXL Group’s specialists have often been able to raise their chances of getting hired by up to 66% compared to when they were searching on their own. Take for example the case of an engineer in the electrical & electronics industry based in Johor who aspired to move up north to Penang.
Before coming to CXL Group, this engineer attended 12 interviews with zero success to land a job. With every passing negative outcome, the confidence of the candidate was shaken. But to the specialists at CXL Group, this wasn’t a case of mismatched skills and experience but rather his job hunting strategy. With CXL Group’s specialist hand holding the entire process, the engineer was successfully placed in Penang three months ago.
The takeaway from here is this, while LinkedIn and the digital platforms are there to conveniently help candidates tunnel their resumes to their desired jobs and organisations, it is only professional recruiters like CXL Group who have the insights about every specialised industry, the niche jobs and the companies that are offering them.
In that regard, it would not be possible for a job seeker to fully assimilate all the details when say an engineering role of the same job title is advertised by very different companies eg. a construction company, a package engineering outfit and a consultancy enterprise. With first hand insights, we can speed up the process with greater efficiency and accuracy for the benefit of both the candidates and the employers.
If you are a professional in the Engineering, Energy, Architecture, Construction, Logistics and Manufacturing sectors or are aspiring to be part of these industries, please email your CVs to [email protected]. For more information about us, please visit our new and improved website at cxlgroup.com.
