From calling clients and candidates, to working on business development, it’s difficult to find the time for new hiring trends. But, for recruiters looking to stay ahead of the competition, it’s important to focus on the future. The way candidates look for jobs has changed, and now, recruiters need to consider how to adapt their practice to suit modern candidates.
So, here are some thoughts on how new habits can make you source smarter.
The Current Landscape
We explored how the candidate market changed in a recent blog post, discussing what candidates expect from recruiters. But it’s worth exploring in more detail how the job search has changed. Candidates are far more proactive these days, turning to digital channels to seek out job opportunities.
Recent research has shown that a quarter of all job seekers use social media as their primary tool for job searching. And this number is likely to increase as each year a new wave of digital natives enters the workforce. Then there’s the fact that 7 out of 10 18 – 34 year olds reported finding their previous job through social media, along with nearly half of all employee referrals arriving through digital networks.
It’s not only candidates reporting successes via social media. The Muse published an infographic detailing how social channels have benefited companies too:
- 73% of companies hired successfully with social media
- 42% say that candidate quality has improved
- 20% say it takes less time to hire
Smarter Sourcing
So, that’s the setup. Social media is only growing in prevalence and importance and recruiters need to be aware of this in order to capitalise on it. Now these statistics are all well and good, but the real conversation to be had is on how recruiters can integrate these new trends into their daily routines.
The first place to start is by thinking about how you source candidates. Determine a process and start working from there. Perhaps you want to start 10 conversations with relevant candidates on Twitter. Create a specific KPI and start working within it.
Establishing a Goal and Working Towards It
But we all know that, even with the best of intentions, we don’t always manage to effectively turn our goals into reality. For many recruiters it’s clear that social channels could bolster their performance but finding the time to invest can be challenging.
Fear not, though, as there’s plenty you can do. Begin by forming habits and turning your aspirations into something you can monitor and work towards. For example, creating a KPI around growing your social reach is measurable and it’s possible to slot it into your day to day relatively easily. Be as specific as possible here and break down your goal into small tasks. From there you can focus on turning these new processes into ongoing habits.
3 Habitual Stages
Tom Bartow, a highly sought after business coach, developed a theory on habit formation. He argues that it follows three key stages:
- The Honeymoon: the period of time immediately after making a decision. You’re ready to go and you’re certain you’re on the right track.
- The Fight Thru: things become more difficult and you’re tempted to give up. Picture the future if you continue vs. if you quit now.
- Second Nature: you’ve hit your stride. Your new routine happens with minimal fuss. But there are some final hurdles that could send you straight back to the fight thru stage:
- The first one is self-doubt. It’s easy to sabotage your achievements at this point. So it’s important to keep things in perspective and double down on your efforts to make your new routine into a long-lasting habit.
- Secondly, and this one is a big one, disruptions can come along that upset your new found rhythm. A holiday or an illness can throw you off track and set you back. The only thing you can do here is accept that disruptions will happen and get back on the ‘horse’ as soon as possible.
- Thirdly, many people get seduced by their own success. We forget why we’re creating a new habit, instead focussing on how well we’ve managed so far. Make sure you’re looking forwards with your goal firmly in mind.
By following Tom’s outline, you can create a managed timeframe, with clear milestones, to aid you in turning ideal trends into tangible habits.
New Trends
Of course, social media is but one example and new hiring trends crop up all the time. You need to be savvy about which ones you decide to make into a habit. Sometimes you’ll get this wrong, other times right, but trial and error will be your process.
The above advice will help you form lasting habits, ones that will stick with you long into the future. The best thing about this is you’re creating new ways of thinking that’ll make forming habits easier in the future.
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