3 learnings from the diary of a modern-day recruiter

With the ever-evolving personalities of modern-day job applicants and recruiters, it becomes almost impossible to keep up with the changing trends and expectations of the job market. After having detailed discussions about the dynamic shift in the talent acquisition market – Cutshort brings you the 3 broad learnings of the modern-day industry leaders.

We spoke to

While talking to them, our goals were simple:

• To understand the candidate’s personas
• And keeping that in mind – what can you do as a recruiter

The backdrop: New age candidate goals are shifting fast

While talking to these 3 experts, we uncovered the fundamental shift that is changing the context of modern-day recruitment.

The candidate goals have undoubtedly evolved over the last decade. An increase in their drive to excel and contribute is an important contributor to this evolution.

• Candidates today are fearless. They don’t operate from a space of survival and in fact, are constantly looking for jobs that are an extension of their personality. They aspire for better challenges, more money, and are willing to contribute to society.
• Candidates demand good candidate experience. Candidates don’t want to be dealt with impersonally. The fact that the gratitude factor for being given the job doesn’t really exist anymore.
• Candidates don’t want just a job, they are looking for a more enriching experience.
• A deeper understanding of company values. Professionals today are inquisitive! They want to know more about their company’s leadership and values. Employees choose to work well for the company out of their free will and so their expectation from the employer is to deliver on the promise of better employee benefits and having competent and visible reporting managers.
• They want to be in positions where they get to learn more, explore innovative work processes, and upskill in their career – All the while growing in their preferred domain.

Employees today understand a whole gamut of things, but are steadily building expertise in one narrow thing.

Madri Prasad, Vice President – Human Capital, Stockal

3 learnings for modern recruiters

Hiring has evolved. It’s no more a transaction of how much you pay to get what you want. It’s a transparent engagement. To that intent, companies are under increased pressure to bring transparency to their compensation model.

The hiring process in itself has to become less impersonal and more holistic to hold more value for both the candidates and recruiters. Further, with candidates attuned to the fact that companies today are responsible for their growth, modern-day recruiters should be able to improvise and understand how to deal with the talent pool they come across every day.

Candidate experience didn’t exist a decade ago. Now the talent you hire will represent you across social media, in their personal beliefs and thoughts too. Talent acquisition is becoming more holistic today”

Vignesh Paramasivam, Lead executive – TA, Bounteous

• Deeply understand the role you’re taking interviews for. Before you assess a candidate, you should have a clear understanding of what the role demands and what is expected from the candidate. Maybe go a step ahead and help them visualize how the role will unfold for them as they progress in the organization. Lying about the job role or the work pressure in order to lure the candidate is only going to work against you. Honesty is the best policy.
  
• Understand the candidate beyond their resumes and past work profiles. The magic happens when you actually gauge the true personality of the candidate. It helps shed some light on their fitment and retention in the organization. Try to accommodate questions to check the motivation and ground-level reality of the candidate, like
  • What is their take on the dynamic work environment and ad hoc situations?
  • When have they worked the hardest and what is their takeaway/reward?
  • What is their leadership style and how would they like to be led?
  • How much are they willing to learn/adapt/unlearn?

Recruiters today, with all the technology at their disposal could as well embed NPS (net promoter score) scoring into their process as it’s always imporant to know if the quality of hire in the organization is increasing or not.

Aditi Pandya, SmartCow

• Always be aware. As a recruiter, you should read/listen to what the world is doing. You should be constantly learning and be able to hold a conversation beyond just the job description and roles. That makes an awesome HR!

Also read: Your context is unique. So should be your interview process.

Furthermore, it’s always a good idea to spend more time with internal stakeholders to understand their mindset and what soft skills they are looking for in an ideal candidate. Perfect (well, almost) hiring is a game o teamwork, after all. Do remember, even a potential candidate is going to carry the impression of your organization. So, your approach matters!

Also read: The Modern Recruiter series: One small step that may transform your hiring process