The recruitment industry is evolving – at a rapid pace. The current changes come as a consequence of a more general sociological trend: people are starting to radically redefine their values and goals. Technological advancement, increased globalisation, broad social changes, and behavioural transformation of candidates are only a few factors that directly influence recruitment. Here are four major challenges in-house and agency recruiters are currently facing.
1. Candidate driven job market
The ball is in the candidate’s court, and those with in-demand skills are in a different court altogether. Candidates now have far more power during the job search and are hopping jobs more often than before. Salary expectations rise along with competition for qualified individuals, and that puts companies and agencies at a disadvantage. Chances are your star candidate has 3 other opportunities in process.
Recruiters, HR and talent acquisition managers must act now to stay competitive in this market. It’s not enough anymore to post a job and wait for applications to roll in. And, while sourcing time is expected to sky-rocket, the importance of delivering a great (and unbeatable) candidate experience through all the hiring stages is and will only grow to become more paramount.
2. Skill shortage – it’s harder to find the right talent
For those of us born in the 90’s (yes, we are in your workforce) it might come as a surprise that this is such a hot-button topic – didn’t everyone grow up with high-speed internet? There are significant technical skill shortages and the skills needed change as rapidly as your IOS. As technology continues to evolve, it creates a gap in the market; more and more jobs require specific technical skills, while others that didn’t have a very technical aspect to them now demand reinvention.
Companies are losing their employees but are unable to fill those new vacancies with qualified applicants. The result: your company falls behind.
For recruiters, dealing with client demands becomes as much of a challenge as dealing with a candidate-driven market. Finding the right fit is getting difficult and with hordes of unqualified applications, most recruiters find the search for the right candidate equivalent to looking for a needle in a haystack. This often leads to interview processes being stretched across many weeks thereby losing the interest of the candidate.
To solve this issue companies will need to shift their focus to continuous training and educational opportunities for employees rather than expecting to find the perfect candidate right away.
3. Differentiation – employee attraction and retention
Companies have to rethink how they can stand out to draw talent and cut through the noise. Candidates expect an extra level of service and if you can surprise and delight them through your brand storytelling and personalising the hiring process you’ll not only attract the right candidates, but retain your great hires.
Using the right technology also becomes important in this regard. The right digital tools can help in speeding up the application process, make it more interactive and attractive for potential candidates. For the recruiters, on the other hand, transitioning to a more digitally savvy mindset and being open to using various technologies will allow them to recruit more efficiently and will definitely gain them a competitive edge in this industry.
4. Recruiters as marketers
There has always been some element of marketing involved in recruitment. Now, and especially in a competitive candidate-driven market, a recruiter must become their own marketer if they wish to be successful and efficient.
In order to attract quality candidates, recruiters need to know how to effectively market vacancies, how to engage and establish a more personal connection. Recruiters have to recognise the importance of constantly diversifying their skill set and always being on the lookout for new digital advancements.
One of the easiest and most effective ways of doing this is to take to social and establish yourself as the go-to authority on trends in your specialism. Looking for the right finance candidate? The next rising star in Digital Media? Want to reach the ellusive IT specialist? Share content that your ideal candidate would want to read, and they will find you.
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To sum up, technology, business, and the workforce are constantly changing and evolving. Holding on to your tried and true techniques of the past will only harm your success in the future. Adapt to the current market trends, and you will edge out your competition.
