Earlier, hiring for a job was less complicated. Often, a single interview was enough to arrive at a decision. Not anymore.
With the market moving at a frenetic pace and newer skill sets always on demand, Plain Jane professionals don’t make the anymore. Given this, assessing a candidate has become a longer and more strained process.
The recruitment process now has various dimensions, which can be broadly classified into two categories — online and offline.
Today, hiring is heavily supported by technology as information about the candidates is readily available on the web. New procedures, including psychometric tests, personality tests, group discussions, group exercises, presentations, written reports or case studies and e-tray exercises also play a significant role in the hiring process.
The year that is at the door — 2018 — is set to take the ball further.
Rise of automation
There is a lot going on in terms of automation for HR and talent acquisition. Increasing advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have lead to smarter job hunting platforms, bolstered by analytics, chatbots and other elements.
As a result, it is necessary for recruiters to keep an eye open for advancements in this space and constantly evaluate their processes.
Social recruitment
Social media can be used for professional networking. With the advent of tools such as social job distribution that empower pages like LinkedIn, it’s easier to post jobs on social networks. As such, we’re seeing more and more recruitment marketers take advantage of these web pages as bonafide candidate sources.
With digital natives (those born in the early 1990s) entering the corporate world in huge numbers, there is now a larger target for social job advertisements.
A marketing tone
Hiring is slowly taking a marketing and PR tone, and this will soon shake things up. As part of this trend, content marketing, lead generation and nurturing campaigns, branding and other choice practices are being brought into the traditional talent acquisition frame. Services that can help businesses plan, execute and measure their strategies to ensure greater success are going to be very popular.
New hiring experience
It will no longer be candidates wooing the recruiters; it will be the other way round. Recruiters must vie with each other for optimal quality in talent. Practices such as easier online application processes, streamlined mobile experiences and an investment in overall employer branding will promote this trend. It is the fight for the fittest, where only the wise survive.
Increased creativity
With recruiters turning to newer methods to unearth the core potentialities, hiring has taken a creative turn. As mentioned above, only the fittest will stand to win. Hiring, firing and then re-hiring until you get the right talent is an expensive process. So, these new strategies have to be employed optimally to ensure you get the arithmetic right, the first time around.