The recruiting industry has undergone significant changes within the last decade. Some of these developments have been glacial, while others happen at lightning speed.
The main changes have occurred due to technological advancements, which have ultimately shifted the hiring process. This disruption shows no signs of slowing down, and this new decade is predicted to present other new recruitment trends.
The majority of these key hiring trends have already taken place, and their impact on the market is significant. With all these changes taking shape, the pressure mounts on employers and staffing agencies to be at the top of their game when sourcing top talent.
It is no brainer that talent acquisition is now shifting from paper resumes to emphasizing skill assessment. Phone screenings are now a thing of the past as video interviews take shape, especially in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
As a recruiter, your job won’t be the same five years later, even if you kept your position. You’ll have to adapt by mastering new skills, new tools, and new metrics. To help you get a clear insight on how to maximize future changes in the industry, here are seven recruitment trends to watch out for:
1. Persuasive candidate experience
Many agencies often put the candidate experience as an afterthought, after putting a lot of effort into the user experience. The first impressions you make to the prospects dictate the long-term retention possibilities. Cristina Boehmer, the marketing manager at the career platform, ‘The Muse,’ advises that recruiters ought to look beyond their careers page.
Today’s job candidates want more than just a paycheck, and however much they need the job, their first experiences during the recruitment process will help them decide whether to break or offer their best to the company.
According to Christina, one of the best practices in the staffing industry is keeping the candidates consistently informed. According to a 2019 study, job seekers are always looking for a seamless application and recruitment process. Many of them prefer to use a career site that answers their questions, connecting them to relevant opportunities.
Relevant: 5 candidate-driven market trends
2. Remote working
Work-from-home policies are becoming the new norm popularized to curb the spread of the Coronavirus disease. However, researchers claim that people will be using the work-from-home structure, long after COVID-19.
Job candidates will be looking forward to getting such flexible schedules; hence organizations have to adapt to such policies. Even after the economy got reopened in some parts of the world, we still witness some companies preferring to let their employees work remotely.
This situation has also opened more doors for companies to access global talent without the limitations that come with geographical boundaries. As such, we see an increase in collaboration tools and software that make remote work easier.
3. Social media recruiting
With an estimated 3.6 billion monthly users, social media is where almost everyone is, and using this channel as a recruiting tool will become the norm. The increased mobile usage and the on-the-go interactions that social media offers, recruiters will capture the users’ attention through popular platforms such as Facebook or Twitter.
Platforms such as Facebook have already begun, and people can now search and apply for jobs using the ‘jobs near me’ feature, directly from the app.
In the dawn of 2020, you might have seen a couple of videos, recruiting hashtags, and eye-catching content on social media as part of recruitment marketing. This is a way of not only luring prospective candidates but also as part of a marketing strategy.
One of the latest strategies used by companies is the use of podcasts. Podcasting has been there for years, but this platform started to pick up and has been exponentially growing over the last couple of years. Companies not only use this channel to promote their brand but also to source out for new hires.
Podcasts provide lots of convenience to the listeners as they can listen to it while doing other things. On the other hand, it is easy to learn how to launch a podcast, making this one of the fastest rising marketing methods.
4. Advances in recruitment Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The single most significant trend that will shape the entire recruitment process is Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The area of automation and AI has brought forth more gains to the recruitment industry. Therefore, it is no brainer that we should be expecting further improvements to the sector sooner or later.
Screening of potential candidates is one of the most time-consuming recruitment processes. But with AI in place, the recruiters can take the backbench and get much of their work automated.
Besides, AI works to eliminate bias during interviews, interact with applicants using chatbots, screen the candidates based on specific requirements, and assess them based on the responses given through video interviewing.
Natural language processing (NLP) tools are a great invention added to the recruitment process. The tool can interact directly with the candidates, offering personalized communication using state of the art chatbot technology.
NLP is also combined and integrated with voice recognition software to analyze and review the audio interviews seamlessly.
However, it would be prudent to note that some of these AI technologies might be subjected to human biases. This is why the organizations interested in getting it incorporated into their recruitment strategy should ensure that the system is created using algorithms that comply with agency anti-bias guidelines.
5. Soft skills
Although soft skills are usually considered during traditional hiring processes, more emphasis will be placed on them in 2024 and beyond.
According to a study by LinkedIn, 89% of bad hires often lack basic soft skills such as collaboration, teamwork, creativity, adaptability, persuasion, and time management.
Identifying such skills has usually been a huge challenge to recruiters. This is why there is a need to revamp the assessment process, emphasizing such soft skills alongside hard skills. Recruiters will be more interested in the applicant’s behavioral patterns, ethical dilemmas, choice of words, body language, and other similar factors.
Additional reading: Transferable skills: top skills employers should be looking for, key benefits and how to attract top transferable talent
6. Predictive analytics
Recruitment agencies and companies rely on data to the source, interview, and assess job applicants. This means that they need to get accurate data with clear analytics provided to them for better results.
To help identify the best in the job market, various technologies use recommender systems and predictive analytics to find the perfect candidates using different parameters such as education, past education, relationship network, and location.
Predictive analytics give the recruiters deeper insight into the best candidates suited for the job and those who aren’t actively seeking new opportunities.
AI uses previous data to make future predictions. Unlike traditional data analysis, which only tells you the ‘what’ and ‘why,’ predictive analysis software will be a huge differentiator for companies looking to source out for the best talent.
7. Shifting to project-based hiring
Although this is not an entirely new strategy, project-based hiring is an increasingly growing trend for companies sourcing for new hires. This trend is most notable in tech companies and other firms in the creative industry.
Instead of getting an employee who will permanently work for the organization with a broader title and set of responsibilities, agencies are now going for contractors with specific expertise.
As more and more people embrace remote working, this trend will be the next new norm for many companies worldwide. Whenever there is an ongoing project that requires additional expertise, sourcing for an experienced person for that field sounds like a great idea.
They will work on the project, and their contract expires after the said project. This helps companies as they don’t limit themselves and can get services from different experts without incurring additional costs.
Final thoughts
The advancements in technology will significantly impact the recruitment process. Recruitment agencies will have to adapt to the changes and start embracing the trends mentioned in this post not to get left behind. Regardless of how much technology will impact the hiring process, we still can’t overlook the human component involved.
Applicants want human interaction as interpersonal communication remains a vital part of the recruitment process. Recruiters can still prepare the candidates for what is expected of them, more details on the job, etc., even if there isn’t any prior contact.
Podcasting is one such great way of developing the human appeal needed to get the best to apply for the positions. With the best podcast hosting options in the market, getting started is easy, and you can comfortably position yourself as a sought after employer.
Looking for more trends? Check out our article on candidate-driven market trends
