As we move into the late summer months, the search for talent is heating up along with the temperature!

In fact, job creation in July exceeded expectations according to the Labor Department. With a total of 255,000 new jobs added to the U.S economy, most of the strongest gains were made by professional and business services, healthcare, and financial services. Even more noteworthy is the unemployment rate, which has stayed steady at 4.9%—a strong indicator that the war for talent remains in full swing.

This is especially true for employers in areas where the regional unemployment is lower than or at the national average:

• New York County (Manhattan, NY): 4.4%*
• Morris County, NJ: 3.9%*
• Somerset County, NJ: 4.1%*
• Fairfield County, CT: 4.7%*
• Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA – NH: 3.9%*
• West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL: 4.9%*

“As the unemployment rates in these regions continue to drop as more jobs are added to the economy, the war for talent will only get more intense,” notes Edward Fleischman, CEO of The Execu|Search Group. “In this candidate-driven market, job seekers know they can be more selective with opportunities in the market and the organizations they choose to work for. As a result, employers need to adapt their hiring strategies to attract this new type of candidate. If not, you risk missing out on top talent and falling behind your competitors.”

To ensure you can secure the talent you need to move business forward, try incorporating the following tactics into your hiring process:

Make better, faster offers:  It’s a buyer’s market for candidates right now so, you’ll often find your top candidate interviewing with multiple companies at once. This means taking too long to make an offer—or not giving the best offer up front—can lead you to miss out on a candidate who has a better experience elsewhere. To ensure these practices don’t negatively impact your ability to secure talent, extend salaries that reflect the candidate’s true worth; make faster decisions; reduce the number of interview rounds; and keep candidates informed of where they stand throughout the process.

Promote your company culture: Having an attractive company identity has always been important to professionals, but today it can make or break a candidate’s decision to accept an offer. Give prospective hires a well-rounded view of what makes your company unique by: having them meet with their potential team members, making introductions to key players at the company, and giving them a tour of the office.

Emphasize the role’s purpose + growth path: Professionals in today’s market want to work for a purpose, not just a simple paycheck. While compensation is certainly important, you need to be able to articulate what is meaningful about the role if you want to entice an applicant to choose your organization over another. To do this, be prepared to answer questions pertaining to: what is challenging about the role; what makes the company unique; what traits make someone successful in the role; the growth track of the position; and how the role will help the company make an impact on the industry, the world, and it’s stakeholders.

For more information on the above strategies as well as best practices for retaining top talent, check out our eBook, Spotlight On The New Candidate: 6 Steps For Connecting With Talent In An Evolving Market.

*Regional unemployment rates as of June 2016