Technology serves a new purpose when it comes to recruiting. While some recruiters may have used virtual platforms to interview and hire remote candidates in the past, the pandemic has made this type of technology crucial rather than optional.
But aside from the ability to virtually hire new talent, what else is in store for the future of recruiting? And how can recruiters keep up with the latest trends?
Indeed did a series of field studies in the US on identifying talent, building relationships, productivity, and looking to the future. We had so much good advice that we wanted to share more from our recruiting and talent acquisition experts.
Here, the experts share what they envision for the future of recruiting in today’s hiring climate — and how they stay ahead of the curve.
What does the future of recruiting look like?
Every year brings new technology — and new capabilities — on hiring platforms. With all of these modern features, we wanted to know how this would affect the future of a recruiter’s role.
“They’re creating software to automate all the parts of the process that are mundane and that a human being doesn’t need to do,” says tech recruiting expert Barbara Lee.
Lee points out that this automation includes everything from vetting out the first round of interviews to matching people’s resumes to job descriptions using machine learning and natural language processing. The goal for this type of automation would be to remove the more tedious, routine work tasks so the recruiter can ultimately focus on the candidate experience.
“There’s always going to have to be a human touch. At the end of the day, the decision to move to a different company and a different job is a very emotional decision,” says Lee.
According to Lee, the advancements in hiring technology that allow for this automation will add to the human element of the recruiting process — and make a recruiter’s job more personable.
“It’s going to make my job a little bit easier and more fun because it’s going to be working with human beings and connecting with them rather than staring at people’s resumes and having to look at qualifications that don’t really tell me that much about who someone is and what they’re going to be able to accomplish at my organization,” says Lee.
How do you stay ahead of recruiting trends?
Today’s labor market is a competitive place. The pandemic has prompted many employees to leave their jobs — so companies are looking to fill empty roles with new talent.
In order to stay ahead of the game, it’s important for recruiters to know what the current hiring landscape looks like in terms of trends. According to recruiting expert Emily Mays, one of the biggest employment trends revolves around individuality and candidate experience.
“I think if you’re individualizing yourself as an organization, your work culture, the rest of your team, the experience of what it’s like to work at that company — you’re going to set yourself apart in a way that is attractive to a candidate,” says Mays.
But how can you pick up on these trends ahead of time? Mays points out that it all comes down to listening to those around you, be they your candidate or your hiring manager, to find out what experiences they’re having.
“Hear from them, whether through surveys after their candidate experience or after their candidate has been hired. You want to know from them what their experience was like and what kind of things are emerging as potential challenges or things that were huge wins,” says Mays.
Gaining insights from the experiences of candidates and hiring managers is one way to stay in the know, but Mays also recommends looking within your inner circle of recruiters as well.
“I think it’s also really important if you want to stay on trend to make sure that you’re looking within your own network and understanding from other recruiters what could potentially be working for you if it’s working for them,” says Mays.
What resources help you stay ahead of the curve?
Now that we know what the recruiting and talent acquisition experts do to stay ahead of trends, we wanted to know what resources help them do so.
“I read a lot. I read every day. I make it a point to schedule time in the morning when I’m drinking my coffee to simply just read articles,” says recruiting expert Adriele Parker.
Aside from just reading, Parker also watches clips and TED talks and listens to podcasts that are related to recruiting and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work. Parker also emphasizes that attending conferences is critical to staying on top of trends and “getting to know what’s sort of happening in various industries.”
These conferences allow recruiters to connect with one another and other experts in the talent attraction field to share experiences — and exchange insider tips.
“People are just a wealth of knowledge, so the more connections you can build, especially as a recruiter, the better,” says Parker.
