Since the job market has changed wildly over the past decade, in this new decade, we expect to see more progress when it comes to hiring, specifically in the following ways.
“If you want to attract the best talent in this competitive, candidate-driven market, then you need to meet the candidate on their terms. Create a mobile friendly portal and develop a culture your employees love and future candidates would love to be a part of,” says Stephanie Staiano, Sales Director for CSS ProSearch.
Making Applications Mobile Friendly
With the ubiquity of smartphones, it may not come as a surprise that 72.6% of people that use the internet access it through their smartphones—after all, why would you dig around for your laptop, turn it on, sign in, and then surf the web when you have a tiny computer in your pocket that allows you to get online instantly?
Despite the amount of people using the internet through their smartphones, a lot of job ads and job boards aren’t optimized for mobile use.
Job seekers are irked by applications asking them to upload their resume only to have to manually fill in the information that should have been parsed from the resume, and for mobile users, this issue is typically just one of many—leading to candidate drop off.
In 2020, we expect employers to make their website, job boards, and job ads more effective for mobile users. One way we are already seeing this is through the collaboration of job boards and LinkedIn: many jobs are letting candidates apply sans resume by allowing them to connect their LinkedIn accounts. Because of this, and because of the prevalence of employers checking LinkedIn profiles, jobseekers should make sure that their profile is as up to date as possible.
Focusing on Referrals and Hiring for Retention
In this candidate-driven market, many employers may feel like they are scrambling for new employees. However, in 2020, we will start to see a shift from just hiring people to fill positions to hiring great people who are dedicated to growing within a company. Turnover can be costly, and retention is the easiest way for employers to keep costs down. Likewise, candidates too are weighing prospective positions based on career growth, considering options in a more long-term, career-minded mindset.
Expect to see more hiring through referrals from top employees and through an interview process that assesses candidates’ skills, trainability, and long-term goals.
Strengthening Company Culture
Company culture has become increasingly important to candidates and we don’t expect this to stop. More and more, candidates are researching companies online prior to applying and interviewing and favoring companies with cultures that align with their values and lifestyles—something that would have been impossible to do 20 years ago.
According to Glassdoor, there are three main factors that contribute to employee satisfaction:
- A clear mission and purpose
- Great, empathetic leaders
- A defined, upward career path
“Understanding that a strong culture is mission critical to both hiring and retention. This year, companies will compete harder than ever in the war for talent through the development and branding of company culture,” says Abby Prince, Managing Director of CSS ProSearch.
In turn, by hiring employees that embody a company’s core values, employers will bolster their company culture and thus increase job satisfaction for employees.
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence
Our reliance on smart technology and artificial intelligence is growing rapidly. For example, in 2017, U.S. households owned approximately 67 million smart speakers (such as the Amazon Echo/Dot and Google Home), which has since skyrocketed to 157 million smart speakers in 2019.
The use of artificial intelligence to optimize processes has also transferred over to recruiting and will only pick up in 2020. Many recruiters are already using sourcing tools like LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter, but more companies are stepping up to make the entire recruiting process easier. In her piece on Forbes, Falon Fatemi discusses AI tools that make your ATS work for you and AI tools that blind resumes/applicants to decrease bias and make it easier for recruiters to find quality candidates.
If you’re looking to transform your company and build a winning sales team, CSS ProSearch can help. CSS ProSearch is a recruiting firm that places top sales and marketing talent for growing businesses in the healthcare, technology, and consulting verticals.
Our sales recruiters take a consultative approach to recruiting, acting as a true partner in the success of both our clients and our talent. With over 50 years of combined experience, our team combines best-in-class recruiting practices, technology, research and innovative approaches to deliver exceptional service with every engagement.