Top Six Recruitment Trends For 2017
A positive and well-articulated employer brand, excellent candidate experience and a mobile-first approach have emerged as the top trends in recruitment for the year ahead according to Employment Office.
After analysing industry developments in 2016, Employment Office’s recruitment experts have put the spotlight on the up-and-coming areas deserving recruiter attention in 2017.
Employment Office’s managing director Tudor Marsden-Huggings explains that the unifying factor to next year’s trends is that employers need to deliver the experience candidates expect.
“Ultimately, job seekers are pressed for time, spoilt for choice and more demanding than ever, expecting potential employers to do the work for them in terms of luring them to the opportunity, communicating why they should apply via a compelling employer brand and caring for them throughout the application process,” Mr Marsden-Huggins said.
“Adhering to industry best practice next year will require employers and recruiters bring more to the table and invest in their job seekers as they do their customers.”
Here are Employment Office’s top six trends in recruitment for 2017.
- It’s All About the Experience
Today’s job seekers value user experience and personalisation more than ever so the job seeking experience will significantly influence which employers attract the best talent. Therefore, an expedited recruitment process that puts the emphasis on pre and post candidate care is more important than ever. Job seekers are also turned off by a protracted interview experience and expect job boards (and career sections of the employer’s website) to be easy to navigate, mobile optimised and personalised. Employers need to think hard about the candidate experience and put their job seeking ‘customer’ first with a convenient process facilitated by sophisticated recruitment software, skilled recruitment professionals at the helm and good candidate management.
- A Strong Employer Brand
What was once a luxury is now a crucial must-have in the fight to secure and retain great talent. How an employer is perceived by job seekers is more influential than ever, and the perception can work for or against the employer. With the rise of employer review sites like Glassdoor, an employer’s brand is more visible than ever before and in the current climate, candidates are more likely to decline a job offer from a company with a poor employer brand. Having a solid employer brand is a company’s selling point to job seekers and what helps keep good employees around for longer. Getting it right and promoting it to job seekers is the key to attracting top talent, reducing recruitment costs in the long run and retaining quality staff as positive advocates.
- Social Media Makes the Advertising Mix
Social Media is the key to getting in front of passive candidates, especially younger job seekers who resist traditional recruitment channels and methods. The use of social media in the recruitment advertising mix is expected to increase in 2017 as recruiters and employers cotton on to the visual impact, influence and targeting opportunities platforms like Instagram and Facebook provide.
- Job Ads That Stand Out
There are more avenues for job seekers to find out about vacancies than ever before and as the competition to attract quality candidates intensifies, so too does the importance of having job ads and InMail messages that cut through the noise. Personalising the message to the job seeker and outlining ‘what’s in it for them’ will be critical to attracting more applications. Spam-like communication (primarily through LinkedIn) and bland company-centric job ads won’t cut it. In 2017, the successful recruiters will be the ones who leverage the information and motivations associated with the behaviour archetype of their target candidate to create impactful and meaningful impressions via their job ads and InMail messages.
- Mobile is the New Frontier
The all-conquering mobile phone demands webpages be optimised for display on its screens, including job boards and careers pages. With more job seekers conducting their searches and applying for jobs via their mobile than ever before, recruiters should push towards a mobile-first approach in 2017 to keep pace with demand.
- The Paper Resume is Dead
In 2017, recruiters will rely less on traditional resumes as they move to using recruitment software. To aid the expedited and convenient candidate experience employers are striving to cultivate in a mobile-first environment, the duplication of resume and LinkedIn profile will need to cease. Instead, candidates will be expected to apply with links to their up to date LinkedIn profile that acts as a digital resume with tricked-out enhancements that make it superior to its two-page paper cousin.
