2017 is a year of many changes, with the UK officially expected to trigger article 50 to begin the Brexit process and Donald Trump becoming president of the USA! Big changes are also expected in the recruitment sector, here’s our predictions for what we expect to happen this year!
Souring Top Candidates
With an increased pressure to recruit top quality candidates across the board, recruiters will need to find innovative ways to source the best candidates. Traditional job boards and LinkedIn adverts will no longer cut the mustard – you’ll need to think on your feet and stay ahead of the game to ensure that you’re the recruiter on top!
Diversity
A diverse workforce has many advantages; from increased productivity to increased creativity and problem solving! So this year we expect for businesses to have higher expectations for diversity in the candidates that recruiters are sending across. This is a problem faced daily in the IT recruitment sector, as fewer females are getting into technology lead careers.
This issue needs to faced from an educational level for longer term growth, with a focus on getting young females interested in and excited by technology from an early age. EDF Energy are leading the fight in this sector with their ‘Pretty Curious’ campaign. We’re exited to see how programs like this will impact diversity for future generations!
Soft Skills Assessment At Interviews
This year, we expect more clients to assess soft skills as well as technical skills at interview. Things like ‘being a team player’ ‘empathy’ and ‘natural instincts’ are harder to assess in a standard interview question than their ability to complete the technical requirements of the job. Asking questions such as “Can you tell me about a time when you had to ask for help?” will expose candidates who see themselves as above asking for help or candidates who provide obviously fake answers. Being able to ask questions like this will find candidates who match the cultural fit of the business as well as the technical capabilities of the role.
Innovative Interviewing Tools
Musicians, footballers, actors… All of these roles are filled when candidates are given an audition to prove their ability to do a job or complete a task. So we have to ask ourselves, why more vacancies aren’t given a job content simulation at the time of interview. In 2017 we expect to see an increase in skills based assessment days across the board, whether in the form of technical tests or samples of candidates work. Being able to fully assess candidates based on their capabilities to complete the daily tasks that they will experience at your company will increase staff retention and happiness in the role, as their will be a complete transparency of the requirements of the role from the offset.
All of these changes are aimed at providing the best possible experience for clients and candidates. With an increase in hires anticipated this year, an open line of communication between recruiters and hiring staff will be crucial in making 2017 successful!Hannah Ryle – Employer Brand Consultant
