Today, technology isn’t just something everyone is using to get work done and to stay connected, it’s also impacting how employers recruit great talent and how great talent finds the right employer. While the principles of a well-written job posting to attract talent remain relatively constant, recruiting has rapidly changed the distribution model and has brought new, more powerful technological tools to the table for employers.
The job market of today bears little resemblance to their previous avatars. Millennials have a totally different way of connecting with one another than the generations before them had. Technology has evolved, and most people now rely on the Internet — including social networks — to find friends, jobs, and pretty much everything else.
Where once employers used to hold all the control, candidates are increasingly calling the shots.
So, what does this mean for the world of recruiting in the years to come? There will be a plethora of new channels through which to find that next job (if you’re a candidate) and that next candidate (if you’re a recruiter).
Social Media is Still the King
According to the studies, 29 percent of job seekers use social media as their primary tool for job searching and 93 percent of recruiters use or plan to use social media to support their recruiting efforts. Social networks are no doubt great tools for connecting with prospective candidates. It allows job seekers to interact directly with potential employers, read reviews and really see what a company is like before accepting a job there. Millennials have grown up using social networks and technology and savvy recruiters who understand how to connect with this age group in the places where they’re already hanging out will definitely have the advantage.
Embracing Big Data & Analytics
Until recently, descriptive data analytics failed to provide recruiters with information that provides actionable insights for proactive hiring strategies. The use of social networks has opened up a much wider talent pool for recruiters to draw from, but the time it takes to do that research could end up taking hiring managers away from their most important task: actually hiring. It is not that easy to manually sort through a lot of profiles and social network data. These information will increasingly get the “big data treatment” so recruiters can quickly and easily locate the best people for the job. Big data is the opposite of yesteryear’s performance analytics and will use predictive analytics to help the recruitment team build and manage a pipeline of qualified candidates, do job-matching etc etc and once candidates become employees, the tools can be used to predict the churn, employee longevity and finally to work on retention strategies.
It’s a man-plus-machine approach to big data.
Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Impact
Across the globe, we are seeing a transformation of the world of work, thanks to information and communication technologies. Many employees have grown to see the traditional office as choking and to carry out their job, all the average employee needs is a computer. So, why commute to work, spend hours in an office, and then commute home when you have everything you need to do your job right in your house? ICTs are enabling new, more flexible forms of employment and work and technologies like smartphones, social media, and advanced chat clients give employers the opportunity to widen their talent pools.
Mobile- First Strategy
These days, more and more job seekers are carrying out their job searches on smartphones and tablets as its more of a convenience. In the coming years, we can expect the amount of mobile activity to increase. At the very least, the company career page should be optimized for the mobile experience. This allows you to reach engaging and dynamic passive candidates much more easily and provides a great impression of your brand. Moreover, this could also be extended towards interview scheduling and communications. The hiring process should also be optimized for recruiters to make their tasks easier.
Conclusion
While digital tools will never fully replace the human instinct necessary for identifying the right candidates, an ability to stay on top of technological trends could be a recruiter’s biggest advantage going forward.