The recruiting landscape has changed. Maybe not as much if you are searching for a CEO or an entry level role, but at the professional and mid-level management roles, the landscape has changed dramatically. Without diving into the reasons for the changes or speculation on future state, let’s focus on the realities of today – specifically, the current tools that internal talent teams and external search firms need to be successful in the new landscape.

In years gone by, it was a much simpler process – newspaper advertisements, networking, and cold-calling were the core tools of the trade. Today, recruiters need to utilize many tools and different appr
oaches to consistently find top talent. While internal talent teams and external search professionals both look for the new magic bullet, the reality is that effective and efficient recruiting relies on using all of the following approaches, all of the time:

• Job Postings – Regardless of the site, data shows that the majority of roles are not filled by postings. However, when one does work, it’s enough to justify the cost and time to keep postings as part of an overall talent acquisition strategy.

• Talent Engagement – What happens when you search for something on the internet? You immediately start to get ads that pop up around the searches that you were running. The same is true with job hunting. As a candidate searches for potential opportunities, data and preferences are silently being compiled behind the scenes so that when the system finds a potential match, it alerts the job seeker. Probably the fastest growing source of identifying top candidates, this process allows the job seeker to get the information they want, without having to share their resume.

• Candidate Database – It’s imperative that talent acquisition professionals utilize a good database system with strong candidate contact management tools. Being able to just capture and warehouse candidate data isn’t enough anymore.
• Personal Networking – This is one of those areas that hasn’t changed much over time with the exception of having new social media tools that makes it easier than ever to stay connected. It falls back to the old adage of ‘it’s all about who you know.’ A strong personal network can still do things that none of the other approaches can.
• Research – When starting a search from scratch, especially when it’s a highly targeted search within a specific discipline/industry/skills, you need to have dedicated tools and resources that are well directed and trained.
• Social Media – LinkedIn is the clear winner currently but over the next five years that may change. Disruptive technologies always change the game. Social media has increased the ability for recruiters to personally reach out to many candidates but it can also be a great waste of time and lost productivity if not used effectively.

Job seekers of today are much more savvy and selective in terms of who, when and how they want to engage on a search. Good luck to those firms who expect candidates to blindly send resumes into a black hole process while requiring them to complete 20 pages of information and expecting them to wait four to six weeks to hopefully hear back from someone. Today, there is a new level of branding or marketing for which recruiting and search professionals must be aware. Candidates will do their due diligence and choose not to engage if they perceive the person/process not to be effective for them.

We have seen this first hand in our industry. We have had multiple new clients who had engaged other search firms, only to fail because those firms relied on one or two tools exclusively. We were engaged to take over the search, filled it successfully because we had the expertise utilizing all the channels necessary to attract top talent.