PODCAST 10 Top hiring trends to watch to stand out in the job market Viewpoint careers advice blog

PODCAST 10 Top hiring trends to watch to stand out in the job market The world of recruitment is changing. Listen to this podcast episode to find out what the main recruitment and hiring trends are, and how you can stand out from the crowd in this new world. Podcast notes: The beginning of the year is a time when many people are looking to make a change in their professional lives. As such, many of our listeners will be thinking about searching for a new job. Could you start off by explaining what the main recruitment and hiring trends are likely to be for the year? I think there are a few notable recruiting and hiring trends that will dominate in 2018: Technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science, is changing the recruitment landscape. This means that active job seekers, and similarly, those not actively looking for a new job, will likely experience a more personalised service. Next, in this hyper-connected world, a job seekers online and offline personal brand will become even more important in ensuring they can find the right role. Thirdly, employers will start to experiment more with augmented reality. This will give applicants a deeper insight into the organisation they’re applying for. Also, in the year ahead we will see levels of automation in manual roles rise. Finally, the rise of technology such as automation means that there is likely to be less lower skilled jobs. Read more: 10 recruitment trends to watch out for in 2018 You mentioned that in 2018 technology will change the way recruiters and hiring managers search and hire talent â€" and active jobseekers as well as passive jobseekers will likely experience a more personalised service from large recruitment agencies and employers. Can you elaborate more on this for us please? Technology has triggered change within so many industries, and the world of recruitment is no different. Many listeners may remember the pre-internet days when searching for a job involved endlessly scouring the newspapers and applying for jobs via the post or fax. Then came the rise of the internet. This revolutionised the way the recruitment industry operated â€" job ads were then given huge exposure via online job boards, and then via social media channels. This shift to online gave job seekers the resources and tools needed to proactively market themselves to employers and apply for roles online. However, this method causes problems for both those who are hiring and those who are looking to be hired. There are multiple reasons for this. The huge swathes of applications that are generated as a result, making it difficult for recruiters and employers to find the right person among a sea of applicants. However, the good news is that if used properly by recruiters, the technology available today such as AI and data science can allow the recruitment process to be far more effective. At Hays were doing this were using data signals and technology to determine if a candidate would be open to an approach about a new opportunity, and importantly, how this opportunity would fit in with their personal career aspirations and what theyre looking for. This allows us precisely pinpoint and target the best candidate so its a much more targeted approach and allows us to make really good matches for both our clients and our candidates. Read more: Introducing the new world of recruitment But what does all of this mean for those looking for a new job? In order to make it as easy as possible for recruiters to get to know you, and your career ambitions, it’s more important than ever before to build a strong online personal brand. There are lots of elements to building a strong online personal brand, but a great starting point is taking the time to optimise your online profiles. You must ensure your profiles on professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, Xing and SEEK are fully optimised. But it doesn’t stop there, job seekers must also be actively using these tools to network, and share their experience with their networks as well. Essentially, having an active social media presence which reflects your expertise, career aspirations and passions, will provide recruiters with relevant data which they can use to approach you for suitable roles. But, an important point here is that even with all of this new technology, the human touch and one-to-one relationships still remain key to finding the right role for you. So, be receptive to building relationships with your recruiter, take time to register in person with a recruiter and have a phone conversation to let them get to know you as a person. Read more: 4 LinkedIn developments jobseekers need to know about The second trend you talked about was around the importance of having a strong online brand which we already briefly discussed. Are there any mediums or tools that job seekers can explore to enhance their brand? We talked about how technology is changing recruitment processes, giving recruiters and hiring managers real insights into job seekers priorities and aspirations. So building a strong personal brand is really important if you want to be approached for a new job This applies to building your offline reputation in your field and industry as well as having a strong online brand. There are numerous ways you can build a strong offline reputation, from attending industry events and networking with other professionals, to volunteering your skills to a cause that you care about. I’ve mentioned the importance of having an engaged social media presence, that is, liking, sharing and commenting on content. But another way to showcase your abilities is through creating content, be it blog or video content, which is an important trend that we think will continue to evolve through to 2018. So if you want to build an engaging personal brand, I’d recommend for you to consider investing in creating video content. Video is a powerful way to showcase your personality, convey your motivations, and create an authentic and credible personal brand. Many social networks now allow uploading video content directly to the platform. LinkedIn, for example, allows its users to record video from the mobile app or upload pre-recorded videos from user’s phone camera roll. This is a great opportunity for job seekers, as it gives them medium to share professional knowledge and insights. Read more: Get found on LinkedIn: make these changes to your profile Another trend you mentioned was around virtual and augmented reality and how these can provide jobseekers with an insight into the organisation they’re applying for. Could you elaborate on this please? Both virtual and augmented reality are becoming more mainstream in the workplace. For example, Volkswagen, invested in augmented technology to create high-quality car holograms and allow its engineers to work on a virtual vehicle, they were able to change the equipment as they wanted and were able to see the results of their work immediately. When it comes to hiring and recruitment, virtual reality, which is a computer-generated simulation, is already used by some organisations. PwC, for example, provides virtual reality tours to give candidates a feel for their culture. In comparison to virtual reality, augmented reality provides a real-world environment with a computer-generated input. As AR takes off, organisations will experiment with interactive candidate experiences, for example asking candidates to participate in a mock client meeting or talking with an employee about their typical day. Over the next couple of years, job seekers should be prepared to familiarise themselves with virtual and augmented reality technologies as these will only become more and more prevalent and will soon be part of the wider recruitment process, and probably become quite mainstream. Read more: 6 ways to use technology more effectively in your job search At the beginning of our conversation, you mentioned that 2018 will continue to see an increased demand for temporary and contract roles. Does this mean that job seekers should be prepared to switch from permanent to contract job sometime in the future? Well, we have seen a lot in the news about how technological advances will eliminate some lower skilled roles, but we believe new ones will be created in their place. In the year ahead itll be that process continuing where these highly skilled roles will keep evolving. We think temporary and contract roles will continue to a big part of that. For instance, last year alone we helped nearly a quarter of a million people globally find their next temporary or contractor role. Many people who try out contracting know that it is an excellent way to refine your skillset, build your CV and sample different opportunities that are available out there. If, as a job seeker, you have always been employed on a permanent contract then going into a temporary job or a contract role can be nerve-racking. However, there are many benefits to temporary assignments. For example, every temporary assignment will expose you to a new workplace, where you get to experience first-hand different management styles, structures and company cultures. In addition, you may also gain experience working in different sized organisations with varying levels of resources and may even work in numerous departments. This can be very useful especially if you’re trying to understand what works best for you. So, to answer your initial question job seekers should be prepared to see more temporary or contract opportunities over the next twelve months. If a temporary or a contract role comes up that is really of interest to you and is relevant to your expertise, you shouldn’t be afraid of grabbing it. Read more: Podcast 7: Is contracting right for you? As for the last trend, you talked about upskilling and how it should remain a focus for many professionals. Why is that so? Given the current rate of technological change knowledge and skills have a shorter use-by date. Job seekers should keep track of the new skills they have learnt and make it a habit to update their CV/resume and online profiles on a regular basis. Candidates should always consider investing in their professional development, whether that’s through extra responsibilities, working on projects outside their original scope or attending conferences or webinars. There are also many ways to upskill yourself outside of the working environment too. There are a host of online courses, live events or even teach-yourself podcasts. Ultimately, you should never allow yourself to stop learning and continuous upskilling should feel like a habit, rather than a chore. If you dedicate half an hour a week to learning something new, it will help you in the long run and its an investment in your future. Read more: Nine ways to upskill yourself outside of the office Lastly, this is the question we ask all our guests and would like to know your answer too. What is the best piece is of careers advice that you have ever been given? I think being yourself and believing in yourself is really important. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to continue to learn and develop. And grasp any opportunity that comes your way, be proactive with this. Don’t be afraid to put your best foot forward. Be confident and show the world what you can do. Read more: 4 extracurricular activities that will help you land a digital tech job Looking for more careers advice? Then you may find some of our previous podcasts and blogs  useful: 10 recruitment trends to watch in 2018 Introducing the new world of recruitment 4 LinkedIn developments jobseekers need to know about The biggest social media mistakes job seekers make How to develop a winning job search strategy Subscribe to the HaysWorldwide podcast Did you enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the Hays Worldwide podcast on SoundCloud and download it on Apple Podcasts.