Is your recruitment strategy based on your objectives, or on the needs of top performance candidates? This is a question to start asking yourself if you want to stay ahead of the trends in recruiting for 2013. According to a LinkedIn recruiting survey conducted by Qualigence International, a global recruitment research and recruiting organization, there is a renewed focus this year on attracting candidates by appealing to their needs and treating them better overall.
This survey revealed that recruiters are focused on several areas of recruiting:
- 57 percent say they will ramp up social recruiting efforts
- 17 percent said they will work on making more placements
- 17 percent of recruiters are making more effort to source candidates
- 8 percent of the recruiters polled said they want to focus on internal and external hires
Trending Problems in Recruiting this Year
Several problem areas were also highlighted in the survey, of which many recruiters are taking notice of and making more effort to correct. These problem areas that need correction across the board for recruiters are:
- Not showing enough respect to candidates in personal interactions
- Treating all candidate the same and not honoring their diverse talents
- Failing to communicate updates and progress to candidates
Although there has been a shift in attitude for many recruiters, 2013 looks to be a good year for professional recruiters who can step up their game in terms of candidate-focused techniques. Several major news and government sources are already predicting that hiring will be up. The nation is in a period of slow recovery, that is for certain. However, a vast majority of business in high growth sectors, such as health care, information technology, energy, transportation, and construction will be looking for quality staffers to add to the payroll.
For a full list of these top jobs, look at what the US Department of Labor says will be the fastest growing jobs until 2020. (Source http://www.bls.gov/ooh/About/Projections-Overview.htm)
With all this growth and increased employment projected, many recruiters are on track for a positive 2013 if they remain candidate-focused. Yet, there are some trends to be aware of, which can help any recruiter be more productive and efficient, to increase the chance of having a profitable year. Let’s look at some of these recruitment trends to watch for.
Recruitment Industry Trends that are Candidate Focused
Social, Creative and Collaborative Recruiting – The best recruiters understand the power of using social media to source for top talent. In fact, social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook now make it easier than ever before to use social tools to find great candidates. Current LinkedIn demographics appear to be strongly based on career-minded users who fall into the categories that recruiters are looking for, judging from the most recent statistics provided by LinkedIn. (Source: Mashable and Recruiting Trends)
Improved Applicant Tracking Systems – There are a large number of products now available to help support applicant tracking to deeper levels of data. Not only can applicants submit their information and take assessments, but recruiters can more closely match up skillsets with actual assignments. This allows for a better overall fit for candidates, which is efficient and helps to increase longevity in a new job.
Cloud Technology Integration – Along with social recruiting and applicant tracking systems, there has been a huge shift towards recruiting on a global scale, due to the emergence of cloud technology integration. Giving candidates the ability to search for companies that offer them the greatest opportunities is one way to increase candidate-focused recruiting.
Online Training and Education – While there still exists varying methods of workforce training, more companies are turning to the convenience of online training and education. This provides on-demand access to materials that can be delivered in a consistency that aids corporate compliance and onboarding practices. Candidates have access to information that honors their learning styles.
Executive Leadership Development – As companies learn the value of retaining employees, this makes the need for recruitment planning vital to their growth. Recruiters are more focused on locating the best candidate who have leadership development capabilities, and then placing them into top level assignments where they can thrive.
Mobile Recruiting – The ability to manage a busy recruiting agency on-the-go has enabled thousands of professional recruiters and sales managers to better meet the needs of their clients and candidates today. Mobile recruiting apps launched by popular job boards and social networks now allow candidates to apply for positions using their profile information, take assessments online, and get mobile SMS alerts from hiring companies.
Candidate Surveys and Feedback – Recruiters can send out surveys to both their clients and candidates now, to gather feedback and information that helps them become better at their roles. The most useful candidate surveys are customized and address the issues that candidates face, which helps improve communication between recruiters and their charges.
It will be interesting to see what 2013 brings for recruiters and how more candidate-focused the industry will become.
