The recruitment industry is evolving at such a pace at the moment that sometimes it can feel impossible to keep up. But instead of fearing the changes – or worse, ignoring or resisting them – remember it’s those recruiters who embrace change that come out top, particularly when there’s so much competition out there.
So, here are just a few of the changes we’re seeing in the recruitment industry at the moment, and some thoughts on how to adapt so you don’t risk being left behind.
The job market is candidate-driven
Unemployment rates in the UK are at their lowest since the 70s – which is great news for the economy, but a big challenge recruiters are facing a serious talent shortage.
This has resulted in an extremely candidate-driven market, where your best candidates can afford to be more demanding and ask employers to make it worth their while if they really want their skills.
This change to the job market has also triggered a rise in the need for temp workers over the last year, as employers battle to find available manpower.
How to adapt…
Our best advice here would be to ditch the spray and pray methods and instead focus your efforts on providing value to your network and building lasting relationships with your best candidates.
Candidate experience matters more now than it ever has, and remember that happy, loyal candidates bring referrals, too! There’s no better advertising than good old word of mouth.
If you’re working with temps, it’s also important to build and maintain passive talent pools to ensure you have a constant flow of workers ready for placement – find out how Firefish can help you do this by watching my webinar.
Data handling is more complex
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year or so, you’ll be well aware of just how much GDPR has shaken up the recruitment industry.
The changes have heavily impacted how recruiters should handle collecting, storing and processing candidate data (you can take this test to find out if your processes are compliant).
The biggest challenge recruiters are currently facing as a result of GDPR is that their candidate databases will have shrunk substantially (if they’ve taken the right steps in cleansing their data to get it GDPR ready, that is).
But this isn’t something to get upset about! As we've been saying for the last year or so - it’s not about size anymore, it’s about how engaged and valuable your database is.
In reality, you could have a huge database but it could be full of dead data and no real relationships. And where's the value in that?
How to adapt…
Start thinking about your candidate database as more of a ‘candidate network’ that you keep in constant contact with because you're part of it.
Embrace GDPR and use it to your advantage by keeping candidates warm and engaged so you can justify keeping them on your books. This is just simple recruitment best practice, right?
Recruitment marketing is getting tougher
You’ve probably noticed it’s getting a lot more difficult to cut through all the online noise and be heard.
Nowadays, you need to be more original, innovative and most importantly human with your marketing to help you stand out from the crowd.
Candidates are already looking outside of the traditional job boards when looking for new opportunities, and recruiters are having to put a lot more effort in to reach them before the competition.
And the recent launch of Google For Jobs has just made marketing your job ads that bit more interesting!
How to adapt…
For one thing, it’s important to get Google for Jobs ready at this stage, as it’s inevitable that it will continue to have a big impact on how our job ads are found online.
Furthermore, any business who doesn’t already have a recruitment marketer on their team should think about hiring one.
Having a team member who’s entirely dedicated to the likes of targeting job ads to the right audiences and discovering new ways to get your brand out there will provide a whole lot of support in this competitive environment and make your job as a recruiter a lot easier.
Technology is changing our relationships
You’re probably sick of hearing about how AI and machine learning are shaking up the recruitment industry and putting us all out of a job!
But whilst many recruiters are sceptical about AI, consider this: It’s those recruiters who embrace new tech who'll be at an advantage.
And why? Because any recruiter who takes advantage of software that automates high-volume tasks will be able to dedicate more time to building lasting relationships with their candidates and clients. Simple as that!
How to adapt…
Don’t just ignore everything you hear or read about recruitment tech just because you’re sceptical of it.
Arm yourself with the knowledge, step out of your comfort zone and try new things – adaptability is key in a fast-moving environment like this, and if you don’t move with the times, you'll be left behind.
With temp recruitment currently on the rise, we put together a new eBook on how to create a high-billing temp desk with minimum effort. Click to download below!
