Finding qualified people isn’t the hardest part of the hiring process for most employers in advertising and marketing, according to a new study.

Rather, the most common challenge cites by marketing executives is generating interest among qualified people to work for them.

The survey of 400 marketing and advertising executives was conducted by the Creative Group, a company that specializes in advertising recruitment.

While they work for firms devoted to generating interest in products, 31 percent of the advertising chiefs polled say convincing top-notch workers to buy into their company is the greatest hiring challenge they face.

Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed say designing a compensation package is the greatest challenge. Roughly the same percentage says not being able to offer high enough pay or generous enough benefits was the main reason that qualified applicants opted not to join their company.

The other hiring challenges cited by executives are rather banal in comparison. Fourteen percent cite reviewing application materials, 13 percent say creating job descriptions and 10 percent say asking the right interview questions.

Again, it may seem odd that today’s “Mad Men” would have doubts about their ability to “ask the right questions” during a job interview, but then again, perhaps the anxiety voiced by the ad executives reflects a healthy skepticism about traditional hiring processes, as well as an openness to changing the strategy.

Thirty-five percent of executives say that the most common reason an applicant would turn down a job offer is because he or she took a job elsewhere, sometimes as the result of a counter-offer. Seventeen percent says the top reason was that candidates did not see a strong potential for career growth at the company.

A separate study by the Creative Group focused on compensation in the industry estimated that salaries in the advertising and marketing field will rise 3.6 percent next year, while positions in areas of the highest demand, such as user experience and mobile design, will likely see even greater pay bumps.

As employers in other fields have consistently said in the past year, hiring has become difficult as the economy has rebounded and wages have risen. The tight labor market has forced employers to re-think their compensation packages, as displayed most prominently by moves from big players — Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Starbucks — to raise wages and boost benefits, including for entry-level workers.

Instant Insights /

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