The talent acquisition industry has been continuously evolving over the past few years with the ever-advancing technologies. From placing classified ads, manually screening thousands of applications, and commending the end-to-end hiring process to incorporating cloud-based applications, AI, and digital transformation, recruiters have progressed significantly in adopting technology in the talent acquisition landscape. While the hiring systems were already been taking on technology to improve the way to identify, engage, evaluate, attract and retain highly skilled talent, it turned into a savior during the COVID-19-induced pandemic and has expedited the dynamism.
Therefore, with the increasing role of technology in the talent acquisition field, a recruiter must be aware and focused on the emerging trends and updates in the industry. In this article, we explore the top trends in recruitment technology that a recruitment professional needs to know to stay at the forefront of the industry.
Job Aggregators
Job aggregator sites are perhaps the first port of call when candidates look for a job. Job portals like Indeed.com, Naukri.com, Hirist, Monster, Glassdoor, CareerBuilder, Google for Jobs, etc save both candidates and recruiters enough time as they pull in job listings from different sources and give an extensive search.
Acting as a reliable search engine for job hunters, these sites reckon artificial intelligence and its proprietary algorithms to connect candidates with jobs that suit their skillset and other requirements. However, these job aggregators sites have proactively been in use for a really long time, yet these are turning out to be the first choice for job seekers as big data is enabling more relevant job matches for candidates, bringing out pitch-perfect results.
‘Gig’ Apps
Post pandemic has brought individuals closer to the “gig ecosystem which has modified the way employers and candidates think about employment. There has been a strong shift in the number of professionals who choose to work as freelancers in the gig economy as it allows them to work on multiple projects from different companies simultaneously, acquiring skills and exposure, and the freedom to choose when and where to work. For recruiters, these gig applications make the talent pool bigger which allows them to work with negligible constraints and accomplish better results in talent acquisition.
In a survey, it is assessed that approximately 7.25 million individuals will be working in the gig economy by the end of 2022 and hawk-eyes recruiters are already prepared to grasp the open door and tap the market.
Interview Chatbots
Chatbots have been in the recruitment for a couple of years, however, their use was restricted to providing landing page call to action and prompting candidates to apply for a job. But today, the functionality of chatbots has been advanced and they are being used for pre-screening of the candidates and scheduling interviews as well. These chatbots engage with applicants in a human-sounding text conversation to gather their responses, documents, pictures, and videos. These interview chatbots help in speeding up the scheduling of interviews, responding to user requests quickly, and giving prompt answers, hence improving the candidates’ overall experience.
As per a survey conducted by Userlike, 99% of individuals have used a chatbot, and almost 80% of that rate the experience as good.
Individuals perceive chatbots as innovative, not as a cheap “out” for not offering a real person to converse with. In this way, with their highly positive reception, it is no surprise that an ever-increasing number of recruiters are starting to adopt them in talent acquisition.
Social Recruiting
Recruiters around the globe are actively using social media as a recruitment tool for talent acquisition.
As a result of the survey done by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 84% of organizations use social media for recruitment.
In the present time, social recruiting is not just restricted to screening candidates’ social profiles and connecting with them on LinkedIn. While telephone and email are still considered the most effective recruitment tools, keeping Gen Z’s inclination toward social media in mind, now recruiters are widening their scope and working on other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Social media not only helps recruiters to track down the best talent yet it comes for an exceptionally minimal cost and is effectively accessible for everyone.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is now a big buzzword for the recruitment industry. An ever-increasing number of recruitment partners are exploring the power of AI as it makes the recruitment process efficient by automating time-consuming repetitive tasks while offering personalization and data insights throughout the hiring process.
Artificial intelligence algorithms are being used in different areas of recruitment including profile screening with more fairness, chat engagement, shortlisting candidates more accurately, business prediction, and so forth. AI can lay out what a successful candidate in a particular job position has done and search for applicants with skillsets and experience that match up with job criteria. It can identify combinations including skill, work experience, location, qualification, etc.
The significant advantage of AI in recruitment is that it saves lots of time, increases the quality of hires, enables taking unbiased decisions, and streamlines the recruitment cycles.
Remote Hiring and Remote Working
Remote hiring has been around for quite a while and presently many organizations comprehend that it is the future of work offering incredible advantages to reap if it’s carried out appropriately. During the pandemic, remote working has become important, and now almost 32.5% of organizations intend to be completely remote this year which should translate into remote recruiting practices.
The shift to remote work has expanded the number of professionals choosing to work from home. As well as an increased number of companies are looking for remote employees who can be productive in a remote setting.
Remote recruitment saves time and expenses, and increases productivity, focus, and flexibility, while also making the way to a larger talent pool that is not limited by geography.
Conclusion
With the change in time and technology, the recruitment trends are changing at a rapid speed. While recruiters may face plenty of uncertainty in the coming years, these recruiting trends will assist them with recruiting the right people to better capitalize on the open doors presented to them. Focusing on automation and artificial intelligence, remote hiring, and social recruiting will definitely put recruitment professionals in a superior position to keep up the pace, take challenges head-on, hire the best talent, and remain one step ahead in the industry.
