I’m a huge football fan, to the point where I am so excited to watch the National Football League Draft this weekend. And I realized just recently that the process of the draft parallels my business right now.

These past few weeks have been tough on us all. I hate to use the word but “unprecedented,” but it truly is the only word that comes to mind. No one alive today can recall a time like this. More people have filed for unemployment benefits than at any other time in our country’s history. Simply put, this has been devastating for our economy.

The good news is that our efforts at social distancing is working and that cities and markets are starting to open back up. What does this mean for talent acquisition?

This means that some of the best talent out there is AVAILABLE. Remember when you couldn’t find candidates with a unique skill set just a couple of months ago? There are some incredibly talented candidates available in the marketplace, and they’re available right now.

If you haven’t started planning for the rebound, now is the time to start doing so.

What projects were in play that are now going to be resuming?

Where is the talent that you had to furlough or lay off?

Since the pandemic started, there have still been companies hiring. So if there was a star employee who you had no choice but to lay off, there’s a good chance that person was snatched up by another employer.

NOW is the time to make up for lost time . . . and quite possibly, lost personnel.

In the spirit of football, even if a role isn’t yet technically “open” on your team, you can still design offer letters very similar to the ones that colleges and universities use when recruiting high school talent to attend their institutions. When an athlete (or job candidate) signs an offer letter, it indicates a commitment on their part.

And then, as the lockdowns start to end and the restrictions are lifted, this new hire will be free to join your team and fill the role that is now technically “open.”

This weekend, NFL organizations will be trying to draft the best athletes to join their teams. And it just so happens that NOW is also the time for you to draft the best candidates available in the marketplace and position yourself to hire them in the near future. Before your competition does.