Trends come and go in the world of recruitment. As a job seeker, it would be best if you keep up with all the latest trends since they can work to your advantage.
If you’re hunting for a job right now, here are the top recruitment trends you should be aware of and tips on how to use them to your advantage:
Passive hiring is on the rise
To fill in certain vacancies, many recruiters are now getting in touch with candidates who are currently not looking for a new job or those that have not applied directly to them.
Many hiring specialists prefer this strategy since finding top talent from the start can save them a lot of time than merely waiting for applicants to come to them. It is also a technique that is easy to do since social media makes it easy for recruiters to search for and research potential candidates.
To use this trend to your advantage, make sure you have an interesting online profile that showcases your best skills and achievements. Ensure that all your contact details are up-to-date and correct so that recruiters can get in touch with you easily.
Lastly, turn on your notifications as well and check them immediately to know if a company is interested in you.
Recruiters will get in touch with you through text messages
Many recruitment specialists have grown tired of repeatedly calling up candidates who never answer their calls.
Since various studies show that more people, particularly millennials, prefer to text rather than talk by phone, a lot of recruiters are now using texting as a way to schedule and confirm interviews. They also use texting to communicate information to applicants in between interviews.
As a job seeker, immediately respond to any text messages you receive from any interested company whether you applied to them or not. Be professional with your responses. This means avoiding the use of non-standard abbreviations or slang.
And if you receive calls from an unknown number, if you can answer it, do so. The caller may just have the dream offer you’ve been waiting for.
Employers are now more flexible
This trend simply means that more and more companies are now more open to “wooing” qualified candidates. They are amenable to customizing job offers to include benefits and work arrangements that will make it hard for the candidates to turn them down.
As a job hunter, you can prepare for this by knowing what other companies are doing to attract and retain candidates. Find out what compensation package, benefits, and development opportunities companies in the same industry as your potential employer are offering.
Once you reach the negotiation stage, use the competitors’ employee experience programs to bolster your demands. However, be reasonable with your demands. This means not including on your list getting the latest and most expensive smartphone or a chauffeured car to bring you to and from work every day.
Hiring boomerang employees is a thing
Boomerang employees or applicants are people who resigned from a particular company and want to work again for this same company after several months or years.
Numerous companies now prefer to hire their former employees since they are sure that these workers already know what they will be doing and are familiar with the company culture. In addition, boomerang employees can inject new additional insights from their time outside of the company.
If you’re currently looking for a job, you can start by calling up or sending an email to your boss or your contact in the past companies you worked for. One or more will be happy to have you back for certain.
In case some of them seem skeptical at first, don’t give up so easily. Give it one more shot and pitch yourself as someone who knows how everything works in the company. Remind them that you have already proven yourself a good fit for the company culture before, and that you will be bringing in new knowledge and skills to the organization. All these will make you appear as a valuable asset to your former employer.
As a job seeker, researching about the latest recruitment trends is always time well-spent. You will be able to use the information you have to attract the attention of recruiters. You will have better chances of landing your dream job faster, too.
David Mackenzie
A recruitment professional with over twenty years’ experience in the field and a record of entrepreneurial accomplishment, David is Managing Director and Head of HR at Mackenzie Jones.