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FAST FORWARD – What will the recruitment industry look like in 10 years’ time

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Despite the massive technological advancements, we have all been part of in the last decade, an app to investigate the future has yet to be invented. That doesn’t mean that some good predictions can’t be made to figure out what the recruitment industry of the future will look like though.

The evolution of the sector from 2008 to now has been great. The way in which job boards have adapted and altered, the ability to recruit on the move and from anyway, sourcing and building relationships with candidates have all progressed and moved on.

RESOURCING

The paper CV has pretty much become obsolete. Digital versions still have a place, but with the advent of Linked In LinkedIn profiles, online will be the way candidates present themselves. Already personalised portfolio sites which outline someone’s skills and attributes are gaining traction; they can be adapted continuously and whilst on the move meaning a job seeker can keep up with a fluctuating job market. Social media sites are now a highly useful tool for a recruiter as they give the chance to delve into the personality of a candidate and find out about their background quickly, thus separating the wheat from the chaff early on and channel their efforts effectively. Networking digitally may also adapt and aside from linking in, joining applicable online forums and instead of attending networking events may become the norm as a method to engage with top talent.

TECHNOLOGY

The current trend is to have applicant tracking systems in place which help to record and categorise the information you have about your candidates. If you don’t have such a method in place, you are already behind the times. In the future, the technology for the recruitment sector should be streaks ahead of what is in place now. The ability to match a candidate with an employer will be quicker and easier due to advances in algorithms which will marry up the key requirements. What’s more, technology may be able to identify any trends of what generates an acceptance of a candidate against a rejection, thus streamlining the whole set up further.

WHERE, WHEN AND HOW WE WORK

The remote working model is already embedding itself deeper and deeper into many companies. Technological advances and the desire for people to obtain a better work-life balance has pushed this initiative forward so in a further ten years, perhaps all office settings will be obsolete? Maybe virtual/augmented reality will play a part, where people work from home, but technology will enable them to “be in” the office environment. The times at which people work could well differ from now also. With a shift from 9-5 to pretty much 24/7, when we work could be changed to whenever? All these factors and the change in what a company’s culture will have to be factored in when selling the job opportunity as a recruiter to a candidate. Alternative incentives will have to be offered perhaps in the form of increased annual leave, educational options or socialisation provision.

THE PERSONAL TOUCH

No matter what changes one thing will remain the same in the recruitment sector and that is the ability to personally engage with a candidate. Technology will make the bureaucratic parts easier, but the more you use tech, the more you lose in the human factor. It will always be necessary to engage on a human level – we aren’t robots and therefore will want to be able to converse, person to person at some stage. And the ability to recall personal and personable information will remain significant and necessary.