By Chet Jobert, Division Manager, Resource Options (ROI), New York City
Almost every person I have come to know in the city has moved here to pursue a specific dream or goal. For evidence of this, all I need to do is take a short walk from our office. If I turn right, I pass the Broadway theaters that thousands of talented actors dream of performing in. If I turn left, I pass by Madison Square Garden, which has hosted countless icons across most areas of entertainment.

Let’s not forget the food! Whether it’s experiencing authentic cuisine from hundreds of cultures, the fact that there are twice as many Michelin-star restaurants as in any other place in the country, or trying a cash-only food cart that “must be good” because there is a line 100 people deep, New Yorkers are surrounded by greatness.

The AEC industry is no exception.

New York is, in many ways, the epicenter of engineering, consulting, and design. The city attracts firms from every discipline, and professionals from around the world, to work on some of the most complex, high-profile projects the industry has to offer.

While all of that is true, New York is also very, very noisy. Sometimes it’s hard to know that you’re surrounded by greatness when you just feel surrounded by noise. The city is inundated 24/7. When every restaurant claims to be the best, the reality is that all that true greatness can be lost in a sea of options and claims.

Anthony Bourdain said, “You have to risk having a bad meal to find a great one.” As much as I love that, I think we can all agree that when we are short on time or resources, it is better when someone has a recommendation for you that they already KNOW is great.

As I speak with industry leaders at networking events, or meet with them in their offices, I hear similar concerns: “Where are the great candidates?” “We have our leaders and junior people, but where are the established professionals looking to grow?”

The clients we talk with are not struggling because they don’t have enough work. Quite the opposite. They’re busy, and they have projects lined up both now and in the future. What they’re struggling with is finding bona fide talent to join their teams.

What I have come to learn, and what I believe Resource Options is helping prove, is that there are strong candidates out there, but similar to choosing a restaurant, they are being absolutely BOMBARDED with noise and options, just with much higher stakes.

Recently, a candidate told me, “This opportunity sounds awesome. Occasionally I will do a search to see what’s out there, but it’s often the same companies I see posting, all the job descriptions seem boilerplate, and pay ranges are about the same. It’s hard to know what is actually different from what I’m doing now.”

So, how do we shift that perspective?

I’m often told by companies that they do well with “word-of-mouth” from their own employees to people in the industry. When we are doing our job well, we become an extension of “word of mouth” for both our clients and candidates. We dig in beneath the job descriptions and resumes and get to the core of what each person involved cares about to help facilitate lasting placements.

As stated, there’s a lot of noise in New York City. There’s a lot of noise in recruiting. There’s a lot of noise on everyone’s phones: notifications, emails, spam calls, and countless other distractions coming to us all day long. We’ve reached the point that simply sending another generic message isn’t enough.

I believe the only antidote to that is value-based relationships.

What I have been taught by leaders at Resource Options is to focus on two primary things: build strong relationships and always bring value. The Owner of our company once said, “Who in the industry could you invite to a backyard barbecue and they would be happy to join?”, and I have found that mindset to be the most significant when it comes to making a difference in New York.

New Yorkers love being New Yorkers. This also means they have a bias toward working with people who are physically here with them. They value people who show up to their events, who know the ins and outs of their teams and office dynamics, and who can develop a strong relationship over time by earning trust.

If we spend time getting to know our clients, we can more wholeheartedly recommend them to the right person. When we speak to candidates, rather than giving them generic, cookie-cutter job descriptions, we try to understand what they care about, and then say, “Hey, look, let me tell you what’s going on at this company. Let me tell you the story of how they got where they are, where they’re trying to go next, and how you could be a part of that.”

When so much can be mundane, people come alive when they hear that kind of stuff.

Recruiting has become such a large industry across so many different sectors that, in some ways, it’s almost become a satire of itself. Candidates and companies alike can immediately recognize the typical recruiter outreach. They think, “This is what a recruiter email looks like. This is what a recruiter message sounds like.” After a while, it all starts to blend and feel like noise.

While I know I have unintentionally contributed to that noise at times, the north star we aim for every day is value.

In my time working in New York so far, the things I have valued the most are when clients have trusted us to be their first call, often for a position that the internet did not know about yet; when key leaders are happy to see us at networking events and have asked us to get involved; or when a client was having a bad day and texted me to see if I was free to catch up after work.

In short, as technology makes information easier to come by and notifications more plentiful, it is and will continue to be strong relationships and the value of word-of-mouth recommendations that help people understand what is real and what is just noise.

And for New Yorkers, it also doesn’t hurt to have a strong food recommendation or two.