What Skills Do You Need to be a Top Recruiter?

With the trend of a limited supply of the most sought after candidates to a high demand of

With the trend of a limited supply of the most sought after candidates to a high demand of roles across a range of industries, the trends suggest that the focus will be on putting candidates in the driving seat for recruitment. The key will be to keep up with millennials, as Price Waterhouse Cooper’s Millennials at Work survey predicts – millennials are expected soon to represent 50% of the workforce, making it crucial to ensure that your recruiting style fits with the lifestyle and preferences of this generation.

What are millennials looking for in a recruiter?

Up to date use of technology Millennials thrive when it comes to modern technology – we’ve even seen the social media sphere fragment over the last year as millennials increasingly split their time between established channels such as Facebook to newer ones with exclusive features. It should be no surprise that candidates therefore often arrive at the start of the recruitment process with a digital skillset stronger than the existing older employees as they can typically spend an average of 96 hours a month online, and display a growing trend of digital consumption on mobiles rather than desktops.

The ability to adapt and change Events unfold quickly online. Candidates are used to digital experiences and services powered by efficient machine-led processes that results in instantaneous interactions. Recruiters that neglect to find new strategies and tools to offer a similar level of accessibility through responding faster and being on hand to provide information even outside of conventional timeframes could risk candidates losing patience and looking for another recruiter.

A brand that is reflected within the company A candidate doesn’t want to feel like a corporate drone. Your company’s unique brand and personality will be what helps you stand out and candidates are more likely to identify with and want to work for you. Consistency in the tone of voice and imagery across channels will make your brand feel more trustworthy, and support building employer branding.

The essential skills needed to be successful

Creative use of social media – As candidates are used to the way social media works through using it in their spare time, recruiters need to think of smart ways to interact with the 80% of job seekers that use social media to research and prepare for interviews. Use employee advocacy to share the positives of working for your company on their personal social media accounts that will appear more trustworthy and convincing to candidates then marketing messaging.

Ability to analyse data – It’s all very well collecting data on candidate preferences and actions online but if you can’t analyse it properly, then it’s a waste of time. When analysed and used correctly, data can help increase the speed of hire, quality of hire, candidate experience and see you meeting your recruitment targets.

Mobile marketing – The millennial generation spends a large proportion of time on their mobiles, so recruiters will benefit from optimised job ads for mobile viewing. This has an added benefit as recruiters are often measured on their ‘time to hire’ so ensuring that ads can be viewed on the move helps both parties.

Digital skills – Machine learning and automated systems are set to become a key part of recruitment within applicant tracking systems. Recruiters need to know how to use these tools in order to extract the best and most relevant information about candidates. 

Everyone will need to be a marketer – As candidates become more savvy and begin to shop around for employers, recruiters need to be able to get across their company brand in order to stand out from the crowd and attract top candidates. The key is to reflect elements of the brand in the recruitment process – if you’re a cool start up, show this with an innovative recruitment process.

Recruitment Trends

The recruitment market is set to get even more competitive and if you don’t upskill in relation to what candidates are looking for, then you are set to fall behind. Neglecting your digital skills and not interacting on the candidate’s level in terms of social media will leave them looking for another recruiter who better suits their needs. You will need to have a strong brand and make sure this is integrated on every level into your recruitment campaign.

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To up your game in 2017, get in touch with Enhance Media today by emailing [email protected] or call us on 01483 719020.

Enhance Media

“Enhance Media have… built up a great knowledge of our business… the information getting out to our potential candidates is relevant and engaging.”

Head of Recruitment and Talent, ITV plc