The pandemic and the year 2020 overall had a substantial impact on the recruiting industry. Here are seven trends your recruiting strategy will continue to be impacted in 2021 and beyond.

Virtual Recruiting

Virtual recruiting and hiring are here to stay. The pandemic opened the door to forcing many companies to expand their technology to allow existing and new employees the ability to work from home. With that ability came the need to find and hire employees remotely. According to LinkedIn, remote jobs result in over 20% more geographical diversity in job applicants. The benefit many companies are gaining from virtual recruiting and hiring far outweigh any hassle experienced by remote issues.

Internal Hiring

Internal hiring is experiencing an increase beginning in 2020 when many companies were at first unable to hire and onboard remotely. Since then, companies have continued to return to internal talent pools. Dating back to the 50s and 60s when Americans would hold one job for their lifetime, although certainly not there yet, we are starting to see a shift with candidates spending more time with one organization.

Diversity

Recruiters will need to pay attention to diversity for multiple reasons when enlisting new candidates. In a survey by Togglhire, 70% of respondents said diversity hiring would be “very important” in 2021. The majority of companies are looking for a pool of talent focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Therefore, the best recruiters will look at the candidates’ skills, resumes, and experience and consider the candidate’s diversity in the current work environment. However, it’s essential to reduce hiring bias as well.

Social Media

Using social media for recruiting new jobs is no longer an option or a “nice to have.” 85% of companies say they use social media successfully to fill jobs. Some companies, especially smaller companies, only use social media. The upside to using social media for recruiting is that companies have found the candidates that apply tend to be true “followers.” Meaning, these candidates love and care for their company and tend to perform better. Additionally, the perks include no cost to post the ad, no recruiter cost, increased job visibility, increased employer brand awareness, opens the door to engagement, and can easily screen your candidates because they most likely have a social media profile.

ATS

The screening process is expected to be automated. With the help of new recruitment tools such as Breezy HR or CEIPAL, the steps to process and evaluate potential candidates can be automated and consistent throughout the entire recruiting team. Additionally, with the help of online video conferencing software, recruiters can record pre-interviews for management staff, allowing for less time spent in interviews for candidates and management. Consolidating similar job profiles and posting one job instead of multiple is another way to reduce time and effort on both the recruiter and candidate.

Speedier Feedback

This automation improves the candidate experience and leads to another trend that candidates are increasingly expecting more and more: quicker feedback. Whether it’s feedback from an interview or their resume, using AI from applicant tracking systems to match requisitions to candidates along with other gains from technology discussed above will all help provide candidates with feedback faster.

Positive Brand Awareness

Lastly, a trend that is expanding since the pandemic is the perception of a company’s brand. Potential employees want to be reassured a company’s brand stands for diversity, safety, and empathy. Where does your company stand on the issues of today? How is your company taking care of the employees? How did your company take care of the employees during the pandemic? Potential employees want to feel safe and protected in today’s uncertain work environment. A recruiter will need to be able to speak to the company’s brand in these essential areas.