6 Recruiting Trends to watch out for in 2018

 Hiring the right talent is critical to any company. And considering that the human factor continues to be the most important asset of any organisation, everyone wants to acquire the best candidates for their organization.

2018 has brought forward new trends for talent acquisition teams around the globe as companies and recruiting firms explore unique ways to source interested job seekers who are the best fit.

As many as 56% of global corporates struggle with outdated and inefficient recruitment methods and are open to changing their methods and processes to guarantee the best outcomes.

So, let’s discuss the latest trends in recruiting in 2018 that are vigilantly reviewed by expert interview panellists and hiring managers across the globe.

Top recruiting trends shaping the future

1) The power of Artificial Intelligence

As many as 40% of companies and recruiting firms are opting for AI for better talent acquisition. It has started to have a strong foothold in the entire practice of hiring and will continue to do so in the coming future.

It makes the task of screening simpler through software that automatically searches for active candidates by trolling through social network sites and offers up a list of people who may be open for a change and have the right skill set.

Moreover, it has the ability to identify the work and educational history, qualifications, and work experience that suggests if a candidate would be a good match for the open job.

As per 2018 Global Recruiting Trends Report, as many as 35% companies have fully adopted AI as their primary way of recruitment and continue to keep human involvement minimal at the initial screening stages.

2) Data can give you wings!

Just like in everything else, data plays an undeniably imperative role in recruiting.

Numbers influencing talent acquisition decision isn’t a very novel concept, but what is new is the speed at which it is analysed these days and the sheer volume that is available now. When combined effectively with other recruitment practices, numbers actually have the power to predict hiring outcomes. Basically, data acts as fuel for the machine named Artificial Intelligence.

The best part is that hiring managers need not be mathematical geniuses to encode the data. There are tools available that automatically track and measure the most important metrics and analyze your recruitment process step-by-step and finally elicits easy and understandable information.

Almost all the smarter companies and recruiting agencies are now piecing together every bit of their data to come up with talent hiring strategies.

69% interviewees feel that data has elevated their position in the global market and they stay at a much safer status as far as recruitment is concerned.

3) Introducing new tools in the interview process

56% of talent professionals agree to the fact that new recruitment tools have helped them get better candidate at a much lower investment.

Traditional recruitment methods have their own challenges and it has at times proven to be subjective and biased. Not all charismatic candidates are capable and not all skilled people have charisma. It is definitely hard to assess anyone’s soft skills through a simple chat.

Hence, there are few assessment techniques that remove the inefficiencies posed by traditional methods,

• In-vivo methods; this can actually take place just like a casual interview where companies invite the candidates to a coffee shop and ask the waiter to mess up the order and then checks how the candidate deals with the situation. This is a small way of assessing behavioural aspects of a candidate
• Video interviews; Simply because it has a broader reach in far less time.
• Role play; companies immerse candidates into made-up corporate situations and then tell them to come up with the most effective solution.
• Hiring interns; some companies offer internship roles and pay the candidates and observe their work for a small time in actual work situations before making any hiring decisions. This is also true of contract positions.

4) Using technology in recruiting

This addresses one of the most pressing problems of today’s recruiting world; attracting the potential candidates.

This can be done through recruitment marketing software that offers solutions to get candidates to apply for your open positions. It simplifies and speeds up the pre-application stage of recruitment through advanced web sourcing, social media recruiting, referral programmes, talent networking etc.

5) Candidate Relationship Management

CRM, though the concept has been around for a while its significance has become much evident and complex in 2018. In the past building relationship with candidates was applicable only on the current employees but with the increasing competition, companies might have to manage their relationships with current, past and even potential employees through websites such as glass door, good employer branding and other methods to make the company attractive to potential job seekers.

This helps create a buzz about the company and one can have a steady inflow of applicants, thus bolstering the database and makes reaching out to talent easier from the existing pool.  

Talent Acquisition remains the most critical aspect of any organisation. It is important to value these prospective assets and recruit wisely and effectively!

6) Use Specialist Recruiting Agencies

As is evident above, talent acquisition has gone through a dramatic transformation. Recruitment technologies and methods have evolved and demand and supply of niche skills in the market have fluctuated.

Instead of investing a significant amount of time in these new technologies and trends, companies choose to outsource the effort and leave it to the professionals to get the best deal for your company and the potential employee whose career goals and aspirations are already well known to the agency.

Recruitment efforts always attract irrelevant “applicants” but not always the right “candidates”. A specialist recruitment agency will only send the latter. They also have knowledge of the market and the competition and are often a good ambassador of your brand as well. Over the last 5 years many companies have invested in in-house recruitment teams and as a result appear reluctant to invest in recruitment agencies. However, even the best in-house recruitment teams gain added value from working with niche and specialist recruiters – for the reasons above. A partnered and collaborative approach between in-house and recruiting agencies is a win-win situation for all.