It’s a Candidate’s Market!

According to the EDD, the unemployment rate in California has dropped to 5.1%, and has dropped even lower to 2.9% here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Finding the right Nanny, Housekeeper, Estate Manager or Personal Assistant for your household can be a challenging task under the best of circumstances, but when the unemployment rate gets that low, it will be especially challenging!

At Town + Country, we are dedicated to helping you find and secure “The One” as quickly as possible. Here is our advice to help you secure the right person for your job:

When you interview a candidate you “click” with and are considering hiring, we recommend moving forward with them quickly and efficiently. There are more families searching for help than there are qualified, experienced, committed candidates searching for new positions, so you can assume any good candidate you meet has several opportunities and may get an offer at any time. You do not want to lose out on someone great! If you like a candidate, we suggest you schedule one or two full trial days as quickly as possible after your interview; this shows the candidate that you are serious about them.

Many of our clients will interview multiple candidates for their position and find it challenging to figure out who to move forward with. If you are interested in two candidates, you should go ahead and do one or two full trial days with each candidate within a short period (ideally within a week or so). That way you keep both candidates engaged and interested in your position.

And when you find a candidate you “click” with and who can do the job, don’t hesitate to make the offer! With the labor markets so tight here in the San Francisco Bay Area, waiting to make a decision means that you are likely to miss out on a great candidate – when you find a good one, hold on tight!