Recruitment is a high pressure job, with recruiters facing frequent rejection and sometimes coming in for heavy criticism when they can’t deliver what the clients want. As the skills shortage increases, pressure on recruiters is increasing even further.

As such, it’s not a job for the faint-hearted. A career in recruitment presents a challenge- an exciting and often lucrative one with bucket loads of potential for the ambitious- but it takes an ability to weather rejection and criticism to become a top biller in recruitment.

No wonder recruiter turnover is very high, with estimates ranging between 25% and 40%.

Turnover is a major issue today, as Gen Y employees (or Millennials), flood into the job market in ever- growing numbers. This generation, born between roughly 1980 and 2004, can sometimes struggle with the particular pressures of the recruitment industry. Why? Well, when you examine the typical motivations and characteristics of Gen Y’s, you soon see a few areas where the problem might be stemming from.

Why Gen Y’s Leave Recruitment

-Gen Y’s are famous for being quite flighty in their jobs, so it’s not all down to the pressures of recruitment itself. With a strong desire for travel and self-fulfilment, it’s not surprising that Gen Y’s move jobs very regularly until they find something that makes them feel good.

-Gen Y’s desire a good work-life balance, with lots of room for flexible working hours, weekends and holidays. Recruitment jobs in a big city with long hours can often come into conflict with their ideal of flexibility and freedom.

-Gen Y’s like money (don’t we all?) but it doesn’t drive their job-decisions to a great extent. A Gen Y would prefer to work in a place they feel valued and as if they’re contributing something important, than to work in a job they don’t like for money. As such, it’s harder to motivate Gen Y’s to say in a job with financial incentives than former generations.

-Working to strict targets often doesn’t appeal to this generation. They tend to prefer to be valued and have involvement in a process towards a common goal.

-Gen Y’s are highly sociable and find teamwork enjoyable. They love working in jobs where they have a strong team and can make friends at work. Recruitment, a sales role at heart, can be quite competitive, and this sense of competition can be harmful to forming the strong social bonds that Gen Y’s need to enjoy the workplace.

-Perhaps most importantly in the theme of this article, Gen Y’s are not very accustomed to criticism. Having grown up in what many commentators have called a ‘praise culture’, today’s younger employees are not very well accustomed to hearing blame, rejection, or criticism. This somewhat ‘sheltered’ worldview can suffer stress when faced with angry clients or frustrated candidates. Gen Y candidates will often head for the door to find an industry where they feel more valued.

How to decrease Gen Y turnover in recruitment

-Encourage a good social element in your team, from mentorships to social events and sport teams.

-Involve Gen Y employees in social corporate responsibility ventures, such as charity work.

-Where possible, allow flexible work arrangements and allow transfers or sabbaticals to travel.

-Keep an engaging social media presence to encourage loyalty and engagement.

-Work to targets, but don’t let the targets be the only focus.

-Instil a praise culture at work, to counteract the criticism or rejection in their job roles.

Above all, the key to retaining your Gen Y billers, (thereby making the most of their enthusiasm, famous tech-savviness and innovative ideas), is to understand them. While the traits described are generalisations rather than applying to each Gen Y individual, you’ll probably find that morale increases throughout your whole organisation when you take healthy steps to decrease turnover.

Until next time

Cheryl

It’s not like the old days. The new breed of star recruiters don’t just headhunt, and they don’t just throw candidates at advertised roles. They inhabit the middle, in the brave new world of recruitment- using every bit of skill, technology and charisma they have to match good candidates together with clients.

From creative talent mapping and social media use to coaxing a passive job-seeker into accepting a new challenge, the new breed of recruiters have a different skills set different to any that have gone before them.

Recruitment is a game of sales, negotiation, knowledge, drive, and charisma. Those who do it well have certain qualities that set them above the competition. As you head into 2016, perhaps it’s time to reflect: how many of these skills have you mastered already, and which ones should be on your New Year’s hit-list?

Listening skills: Without excellent listening skills, you will never truly succeed in recruitment. Less successful recruiters fail because they often try and manufacture a situation that doesn’t naturally exist- forcing reluctant candidates to consider roles they don’t truly want, or presenting candidates that aren’t well suited to the client. A truly great recruiter asks as many questions as they can of candidates and clients so that they can create the best match possible.

Confidence: Confidence is an immensely powerful thing. It makes clients and candidates relax and feel they’re in good hands. Your confidence is the thing that will keep the client on the books even when there’s a hiccup, and your self-confidence is what will make you rebound in the face of criticism or rejection. In the competitive sales world of recruitment, you are nothing without confidence.

Ambition: The best recruiters love a target. They can visualise breaking records, earning lots of money and climbing up the ladder.

Caring: If you don’t truly care about finding the best match for your clients or candidates, you will soon be exposed as a bit of a phony or con-man, as in any other sales role. Ambition matters, but only ambition combined with a strong understanding of the human factor will win you long-term loyalty and respect. On the one hand, an opportunity can change a candidate’s life, and on the other, a candidate can take someone’s business to great heights, or it could cause it damage.  A great recruiter understands the human element, and genuinely wants to create good matches- while making an income of course!

Emotional Intelligence: Top recruiters have excellent emotional intelligence. They are highly aware of the emotions at play in a situation- whether those emotions be their own, their candidate’s or their clients, and they can act to control or influence those emotions in a positive way.  The best recruiters don’t let their emotions get the best of them, they manage them effectively.

Time Management: This one really ‘sorts the wheat from the chaff’. Recruiters are busy and have to juggle many projects at once. The true achievers are great at using their time wisely, not getting too bogged down in one task, and are able to switch between jobs without losing too much momentum.

IT Skills: Recruiters rely heavily on technology in their databases and social media channels; those who excel understand how to make the technology work for them in a speedy and efficient way.

Networking and Communication Skills: The best recruiters definitely have ‘the gift of the gab’. They work the ‘room’ (whether virtual or physical) making people feel comfortable and confident. They understand that when opportunity strikes, they need to act fast, and they foster relationships wherever they go.

Recruitment is an exciting field, and you need a certain combination of skills to excel at it. But skills aren’t set in concrete, so start improving your talents to become one of the new breed of star recruiters.

Until next time

Cheryl

Productivity plummets in December. Full of parties, public holidays and the almost inevitable food and booze hangovers, December is a month where goals are rarely achieved and things are often allowed to slip.

This lack of productivity is not a good thing for the business, obviously, but it’s also not a good thing for you personally. After all, who wants to go back to work in January to face a whole month’s backlog of work because you spent December putting things off? What kind of start is this to a New Year- particularly if you’ve vowed to hit some career goals in 2016?

So, without being all Grinchy about it, how do we ensure that we maintain productivity in the lead-up to Christmas?       It’s not about cancelling parties and hiding the Santa hats, rather it’s about giving yourself the best fighting chance to start next year on top.

1. Make a plan. List all the things you want to get done in December. Believe me, when you hit those goals, you’ll be able to shut down your computer and go on holidays with sense of pride (and relief.) You won’t spend a second thinking about work over the break because you won’t have dug a hole for yourself for when you get back.

2. Dig into your reserves of energy. Yes, you’re tired-we all are in December- but if you can dig deep and find a last burst of energy, your dedication will serve you well. Putting effort in now will not only put you on the front foot in January, but also you’ll find you make an extremely good impression on your higher-ups if you keep working when all around you are eating mince pies and hitting the metaphorical snooze button.

3. Choose one or two events over December that you really want to have fun at. The rest, drive to so you can’t indulge too much, and vow to get away early. If you’re not driving, pre-book a taxi so you don’t waver. Use your time at work events wisely- speak to the right people and make a good impression.

4. Bear in mind that losing momentum on a project is hugely counter-productive. You may think it’s just a matter of putting things off and doing them in January instead, but it’s not as simple as that. It actually takes much longer to restart a project than it does to keep going- this is why multi-tasking really doesn’t work. When we stop working on a project, our brains then have to re-familiarise with it later, taking time to ‘warm up’. By ‘dropping’ a project for a few weeks over December, you’ll waste valuable time later getting back into the project. Not only that, but if this project involved clients or new business, then you have lost that valuable sense of immediacy, and possibly even damaged your professional reputation by letting things slide.

5. Wrap things up where you can, but don’t fret over it. I mentioned that if you let things drop over December, your clients may think poorly of you. But that’s not taking into account the very frequent problem of struggling to get clients- or managers and colleagues- to get things done in December! It can be frustrating when you’re wanting to hit goals but everyone else is already mentally on vacation and might not be interested in that proposal/query/email you sent them. You can only do what you can. Get as much as you can done- but as they say…if you can’t beat them, grab a champers, put on the silly hat, and join them.

Merry Christmas!

Cheryl and the GSR2R Team

In today’s market there’s a real shortage of candidates, meaning that recruiters sometimes find themselves desperate to fill roles for their clients. Of course, this shortage of quality talent leads to an obvious problem, by forcing recruiters to consider more ‘difficult’ candidates: ones that they might not normally consider. This is not to say the candidates in question don’t have the necessary skills- good recruiters won’t represent incompetent candidates- but rather that the candidate exhibits certain behaviours that make them difficult for the recruiter to manage.

Dealing with ‘difficult’ candidates is something we’d probably all prefer not to do, but there are some basic skills and principles that can help recruiters navigate this tricky area, thereby delivering a high level of service to both clients and candidates.

Managing Demanding Candidates

When it comes to difficult candidates, the most common one recruiters tend to encounter is the ‘overly demanding’ type. In lean times, this kind of candidate simply doesn’t find employment and so has to lower their demands, but it times of plenty like the current job market, this type of candidate often starts ‘turning the screws’. Most often, this behaviour will take the form of demands for unreasonably high salaries, benefits and working conditions.

In this scenario, the recruiter finds themselves in a very delicate situation. They need to supply skilled candidates to the client, yet the candidate is being pushy and perhaps overstating their worth. The client may not be able, or want to meet those demands for high salaries or benefits, but the recruiter may not have any other highly skilled candidates to offer them.

The recruiter then needs to manage both the client’s and candidate’s expectations, while also considering whether the candidate’s behaviour might damage the recruiter’s reputation in the long run if they are hired and then continue to be pushy in the role. An employee that you place who becomes toxic down the line is not exactly going to reflect well on your reputation, so you have to balance out whether the placement fee is worth the potential damage.

Some tips for negotiating with demanding candidates

1. Demanding candidates are often just ‘seeing what happens if they ask’. They’ve been told it’s a candidate’s market, and may be bluffing to an extent. It’s worth probing to see how serious they are about these demands.

2. Try to get the client to meet one of the smaller demands to see what happens. Oftentimes this produces a win-win situation, with the candidate feeling they’ve gained something, while the client feels they’ve gained something by only having to accede to one of the smaller requests.

3. If the candidate is proving unwilling to budge on their demands, it’s time to run through their resume, asking them to prove their case for the higher salary or whatever the case may be. Here, industry salary averages etc will be necessary weapons in your arsenal. If they are overstating their worth, then it is up to you to tactfully explain this. However, if they are a good candidate and prove they are worth the higher demands, then you are able to present this new information in the negotiations with the client.

4. Of course, if the role is offering below-benchmark compensation, your job becomes trickier! If (and only if) you have the client’s permission, explain why the requested salary/benefits aren’t possible. For example, if the candidate requests a high salary, a company car and 2 days working from home, it is reasonable to explain why these demands can’t be met. Perhaps the office set-up doesn’t allow for remote working, perhaps there are no company cars available, or perhaps their salary figure would outstrip valued existing team members and threaten morale if it’s discovered. Make sure you find out from the client if and when these requests might be re-considered.

5. If the candidate still won’t play ball or make the slightest concession, then you have to decide whether this candidate is the right one for the role. Take into account whether you think they will continue being pushy in the role, and have an honest discussion with your client about their expectations and whether they’d like you to keep searching for alternative candidates. They will respect you more for withdrawing the candidate than saddling them with a problematic employee.

6. If they do agree a figure, make sure to determine when the next pay appraisal will be, and communicate to the candidate that requests for salary or benefit increases will not be welcomed before that date. This will create a ‘safe period’ of time, both for the client’s wage bill and your professional reputation.

Negotiating with demanding candidates is a walking a tightrope of delicacy and tact. It involves deciding how much ‘hard truth’ you want to deliver to a candidate who is perhaps overstating their worth, and how you can get the best deal for a client who wants the job filled, but doesn’t want to be robbed blind by a pushy candidate in doing it. Luckily, recruiters specialise in delicate situations where they need to keep competing parties happy!

Until next time

Cheryl

With the end of the year looming, many recruiters will be facing their annual performance appraisal. Very few people look forward to this exercise- from either side of the table!

From an employee perspective, appraisals often make them feel vulnerable as it opens them up to criticism they sometimes feel has been ‘saved up all year’.

For the billing manager, conducting performance reviews can also be a nerve-wracking experience, as they fear that the recruiter will react badly to any negative feedback.

This atmosphere of nerves and uncertainty from both parties often really derails the appraisal process, as the recruiter often reacts defensively and the manager offensively. In haste to get the experience ‘over with’, managers often rush to the ‘bad bits’ before covering all the good stuff, and employees race to defend themselves with excuses before properly digesting what was said.

Yet performance appraisals don’t have to be nearly this difficult! After all, they are designed to improve employees’ performance, not to break employees’ spirits or to make the manager look and feel ‘mean’.

The good news is that as a recruiter, you can really make the most of your unique skill set to ace your annual appraisal. After all, you understand a job description and employer expectations better than most!

Here are our top 5 tips to ace your annual appraisal

1. Go back to your job description and any expectations that you were expected to meet in your role. (These need to have been discussed with your manager rather than inferred or assumed.) List these duties and performance expectations, and then write a parallel list of where you have met these targets and fulfilled your duties.

2. Identify ‘mission creep’. Mission creep is a military expression for when an operation becomes much bigger than it was originally intended. This often happens in jobs too, as you take on extra responsibilities, often without formal discussion or recognition. It’s worth assessing how your job has changed over the year so that you can perhaps redefine your role with your manager during the discussion and take these added responsibilities into account.

3. Assess your flaws, but kindly. Look at your performance, and try and perceive it as your manager would. Where do you think you need to improve? What have you learnt from any failures? Accept that no-one is perfect and that you now have the chance to improve.

4. Prepare some questions for your assessor. Make it clear that you’re open to feedback, and that you genuinely wish to use it to improve your performance. It’s important to ask them how they think you could improve- and this has the added benefit of putting their mind at ease. Yes, I know it’s your performance appraisal, not theirs, but your manager will find it much easier to give you good advice if they’re not nervous about your reaction. This is also your chance to clarify your expectations and experiences of the role.

5. Boost your confidence. Get yourself in a good mood before the performance appraisal by doing something you enjoy, and then boost your confidence further by reviewing some past successes in your life. This will give you an emotional ‘buffer’ during the review, allowing you to examine any perceived failures less defensively.

By preparing well for a performance appraisal and setting the tone of being willing to listen, you can easily transform performance appraisals from something that most people dread, to something that you can genuinely see as a helpful process.  Remember, it’s not only their opportunity to examine your performance: it’s also your opportunity to discuss your place in the company and your future.

Until next time

Cheryl

With just a couple of weeks till Santa arrives we thought it was time for some fun and our Christmas Quiz.

Don’t worry it’s easy!

All you have to do is email zoe@gsr2r.com with your answers to the quiz about significant events in 2015.

The correct answers will be placed in a hat and drawn on Monday the 14^th of December at lunchtime and the prize is a gorgeous Chocolate Hamper, which you can see below.

Good luck guys and here is that quiz………………..

1. Who did Britain beat in the Final of the Davis Cup?

2. What is Adele’s new CD called?

3. Who won the FA cup final in May 2015?

4. What is the name of William and Kate’s baby girl born this year?

5. Which country legalised Gay Marriage on June 26^th?

6. What was the GSR2R Mega referral prize in October this year?

7. What day is Christmas day this year?

8. What Radio 1 DJ became an Xfactor judge in July?

Remember email zoe@gsr2r.com  with your answers before 11.30am on Monday December 14^{th to win this fab hamper.}

Best wishes

Cheryl and the GSR2R Team

Many jobs, and a skills shortage normally spells a lack of candidates for recruiters.

We are in the grip of a massive skills shortage so great candidates aren’t always as easy to find

The truth is skill shortages for recruiters, means that you often have a harder time convincing candidates to accept opportunities. Rejections of your clients offers are rising in the current climate, and perhaps you’re having a hard time keeping clients appeased as to why the candidates you’re putting forward are not accepting the role.

So, you can’t just put your hands up in the air and tell the client that what they’re offering isn’t attractive enough (although a tactful word might be in order if they really are falling short on salary or benefits.)

You need to fill this role. You need to keep the client happy. So how do you go about reframing it so that your candidate appreciates the value and opportunity in the offer?

Often, the job on offer is a good offer, so the key is getting the candidate to see that, or at least understand why they think it’s not for them so that you can find a more suitable role for them. (This is where an in-depth, honest chat at the beginning of your recruiter-candidate relationship can certainly save you time and frustration later!)

Managing expectations is important. In this day and age, progressive corporations are well-known for their ‘great culture’ ‘amazing perks’ and sending their employees off to save orang-utans, or whatever the newest corporate responsibility venture is. These very well-publicised employee engagement initiatives by Google et al are creating a perhaps distorted impression of working life for Millennials, who are becoming increasingly selective (some might say demanding) about their working conditions and benefits package.

Problem is, your client might not have the capacity or the inclination to change their incentive schemes, which leaves the top talent going elsewhere.

So, how do you do it? How do you inspire your candidate to take the job?

a. Go back to your notes about the candidate and what they want, and scour the job description for matching elements that they might not have appreciated.

b. Paint a visual picture for the employee about all the good things about the job.

c. Focus heavily on the opportunities the role offers. Potential for promotion is the most obvious, but pull out all and any potential opportunities, from access to certain individuals they might admire, to training opportunities. Get them to look at LinkedIn for people they’ll be working with, or what past successful employees of the company are doing now.

d. When a salary is the sticking point, find or negotiate alternative plus-points of the job. Perhaps it’s working from home one day a week, or a great team culture.

e. Get them to imagine the future and how this job could shape their career long into the future. Paint a picture of what kind of jobs they could apply for when they have a couple of years at this company under their belt.

Of course, if the candidate is still not convinced, there’s no point whatsoever in pushing the point- this article is about inspiration, not coercion!  If you lean too heavily on someone to take a job that they have serious doubts about, then you’ll almost face an embarrassing situation when they leave after six months- and you’ll have a less-than-pleased client and a less than pleased candidate to deal with.  And we don’t want that!

Successful inspiration relies on creating a positive picture in a candidate’s mind, one that reassures them that this is a clever option for their future and gets them excited about what lies ahead.

Until next time

Cheryl

With each passing year we set ourselves targets, yet we don’t need to wait for an arbitrary date like New Year’s Eve to begin. Why waste time? You can choose to reset your year at any moment with a strategy for success.

Perhaps you’ve had a decent year but want to become the firm’s top biller, or you’ve had a bit of a poor run and want to revitalise your recruitment career with a string of successes.

Either way, it all starts with a plan, and some effective tactics for growing your client list.

a. Make sure that after you place a candidate you remain a presence in the client’s mind. Even if they don’t have more placements for you right now, they may know of others that do. You certainly don’t want them forgetting you after the deal has been done, so ensure you follow up and stay in contact.

b. Go to networking events- but don’t limit yourself to networking events in your particular industry. More general events, such as ‘young professional’ or ‘women in business’    groups in your area can be a great boost for expanding your client list in new and exciting directions. Not to mention that you’re sending an extremely positive image to anyone from your industry who does attend such events.

c. Research a potential key client’s company thoroughly, and then find out what their specific recruitment goals are. What does their ideal workforce look like? Are they young and innovative, or is the organisation more traditional in structure? The more you find out, the more information you have to deliver on your promises and impress the client. Not only that, but the client sees that you are invested in listening to exactly what they want, and this keen interest will pay dividends.

d. Start your own talent map so that you don’t lose track of your candidates and potential new talent. Clients will be extremely impressed when you have a talent pipeline feeding constantly into their business.

e. Keep abreast of HR trends and stay well-informed about the challenges of the industry. Attend events, subscribe to industry blogs, and get involved. This will raise your profile and stand you in good stead when you have new information and strategies to share with new clients.

f. Surround yourself with achievers. When you’re trying to reach goals, it’s vital to surround yourself with people that make success seem eminently possible. These don’t have to be high-flying billers in recruiting, as long as they’re people who are dynamic and confident, for this sense of ‘can-do’ will rub off on you.

g. Don’t be held back by doubters or jealous people. Even if your billing manager doesn’t believe in you fully, that’s none of your concern. Set your goals higher than everyone around you, and then chase like mad. People will change their perception soon enough.

h. Don’t view setbacks as failures, reframe your perspective and see them what they really are: learning opportunities. In the same vein, when something goes wrong, train your mind to view it as an opportunity to rise to rather than a problem.

i. Constantly be learning. If you a regular visitor here we now have over 120 blog posts to help you develop your skill set and career-start reading!

Above all, don’t forget about the clients who have turned your services down in the past. Recruiters, like all salespeople, should view these customers as people to return to, as the job’s of winning them over is already half-done.

Until next time

Cheryl

So, you’ve got a tyrant for a boss.   Perhaps they’re the bullying type that puts people down, perhaps they drive you too hard and take you for granted, or perhaps they dismiss all your hard work and never say thanks.   Whatever it is, their bad management techniques are impacting negatively on your professional and personal life.

Yet, rather than resigning and running for the hills, here you are on the internet, seeking out advice on how to deal with your difficult boss. Well done. That kind of determination in seeking out solutions is extremely powerful- and will stand you in good stead throughout your billing career.

1. First thing first. Do you actually have a difficult boss?

The first thing you need to assess is whether the situation is actually as bad as you think it is. An extremely common factor destroying boss-employee relationships is a thing called confirmation bias. What it means is that your brain, thinking that the boss doesn’t like you or appreciate you, actively seeks out proof that this is true. This is generally done completely subconsciously.

For example, when you receive an email without a thank you on it, do you instantly take this as a reason to be angry- ‘just another example of how little he values me’? There’s an excellent chance you’re falling into confirmation bias here, so think to yourself- does he thank anyone else? And consider this:   would you be this offended if a friend at work didn’t sign off an email with thank you? You’d probably just assume they were busy.

Remember, confirmation bias goes both ways, and your boss may also seize on instances where you’ve messed up, because its suits his or her preconceptions. It’s a right old muddle- a self perpetuating cycle, and often only a discussion with the people in question requesting a ‘clean slate’ can work to reset the situation.

2. Ok, so they yell at you. Probably not confirmation bias then. What can you do?

It’s time to come up with a battle plan.

Assess his or her triggers and then avoid them. Mimic their styles of communication: if they’re short and sharp and don’t like chatting, don’t send long, waffly emails with a smiley face on the end. Speak their language in order not to draw their fire. Watch the people in the office who don’t have a problem with the boss and see how they do things differently.

Keep smiling and remain polite- this will transmit a sense of confidence and coolness.   If the boss is a true bully, they may temporarily increase their attacks on you, but they will soon give up when they realise they can’t bother you. They’ll move off to a new target.

Document everything. Whether it’s a job task, query or criticism, keep a record. If their orders are given verbally, pop them in an email and send it to them to prevent them coming back and contradicting you.

Beat deadlines. Don’t just meet them, beat them. Also pre-empt their demands where possible. There’s no better sign of competency than having done things early- and it completely takes the wind out of their sails if they’re hoping to reprimand you for something you haven’t done.

Don’t let your standards drop at work. If the boss really doesn’t like you and you stop performing out of spite, you’ve just handed them a reason to fire you on a silver platter. Even if you’re thinking of leaving, it needs to be on your terms. Don’t give them the power, or the satisfaction, of firing you.   Be as efficient, if not even more efficient than ever.

3. So, you have tried, but things haven’t got any better. What now?

It’s time to find greener pastures, so quietly start looking for something better. You’ve tried your best. And no, this is not running for the hills, merely a strategic career stroll to somewhere with a better view.

Until next time

Cheryl

The world of work is changing at a terrific pace which means that recruiters need to keep up to date with industry trends or risk being left behind.

Technology and new employment structures are spurring major changes in the workplace, but even more importantly, the way that Millennials view work is rapidly changing the way candidates seek, pursue and carry out their roles. Remember millennials #GenY will soon make up the majority of our workforce.

Here are 5 of the most important trends that have shaken the recruitment world in recent years.

1. Technology. In this brave new world of work, technology is king-and one of the overwhelming recruitment trends is a desire for tech-savvy employees who can move the business through the digital revolution. The best recruiters hunt out the ‘tech natives’ and encourage their other, less digitally inclined candidates to develop their tech skills.
2. The changing face(s) of jobs. Not so long ago, a workplace was a relatively static human environment, often full of the same faces serving out their years until their gold watch. The modern work landscape, on the other hand, is an ever-changing mix of permanents and part-timers, freelancers and temps, consultants and remote workers. It’s extremely dynamic, and requires recruiters to be extremely dynamic in return.

3. Continuous, proactive recruitment. Because there is a skill-shortage and so much movement between jobs, a ‘permanent recruitment’ mindset is developing. When companies don’t have candidates lined up in advance, they risk being short-staffed if someone leaves- driving a need for a constant talent pipeline. This need for fresh, available candidates keeps recruiters busy sourcing new talent- and has led to the rise of Talent Mapping.

4. The rise of the Millennials. As Millennials become the dominant group in the workforce, a new desire for meaningful work and flexible work hours increasingly drive candidate’s decisions on which job roles they wish to pursue and accept. This is creating a strong emphasis on benefits, initiatives and engagement, as well as a company’s corporate responsibility or image. For example, a job with a high salary yet an authoritarian culture, or a job with a major company with a poor public image is not likely to attract the number of high-calibre candidates it would have in the past. There’s a higher rejection rate at play, presenting new challenges for recruiters who need to inspire candidates to take roles in more traditional companies.

5. CV’s matter a little less. A CV is still the most important tool at a candidate’s disposal, yet interviewers are increasingly looking past the dot-points of past experience and focussing more on potential, attitude and cultural fit. This is another opportunity for the most talented recruiters-the ones that know both the client and the candidate well- to place candidates with high potential in exciting roles.

With so many changes taking place, the modern workplace is a recruiter’s playground of opportunities. By staying abreast of the newest HR trends and adapting their practices accordingly, the top recruiters will excel.

Until next time

Cheryl