Since 2008 the corporate recruiting industry has lost about 45% of its workforce. But as the economy picks up, the industry outlook is improving — and so is competition for top candidates.
BY LINDA BAKER
Since 2008 the corporate recruiting industry has lost about 45% of its workforce. But as the economy picks up, the industry outlook is improving — and so is competition for top candidates. We spoke with a couple of local headhunters about a few trends in the recruiting space: emerging social sourcing tools, the value of company branding and the enduring power of referrals.
Social media sourcing. LinkedIn is probably the most powerful tool on the web for identifying the right candidates. The flip side is virtually everyone is using LinkedIn: Hence the growing demand for new social networking programs aimed at helping recruiters dig even deeper. Peter Monsantofils, a partner with Management Recruiters of Portland, is in conversation with a company he says has figured out how to “scrub” hidden information from LinkedIn — i.e., a person’s company website, email address and phone number — from internet sources. The goal is to connect more closely with top candidates.
“As recruiters, we have to convince passive and active candidates that the position we have is better than the one they currently have,” Monsantofils observes. The scrubbing mechanism “is just another way to reach out to people, speak in a language they know and say, ‘Hey, we have this great opportunity; give us a call.’”
Company branding. The big challenge for recruiters used to be locating talent. Now that employees are constantly being recruited via social media, employers have to step up their own branding efforts. “With social media being so prevalent, candidates can research whether they want to work for a firm,” says Suzanne Hanifin, a partner with Acumen Executive Search in Portland. “We have candidates who say, ‘No, we don’t want to work for them.’”
Companies need to do more than create their own LinkedIn profile; they need to create a full-on “employment brand” promoted on the company website and not just in the careers section. There is also a growing emphasis on the employer’s culture and values as a recruitment tool. “The company has to make the company look attractive,” Hanifin says.
Niche hiring. If today’s job candidates have more resources at their fingertips to research companies, employers are also getting pickier, especially for executive searches. Before the downturn, companies were willing to hire executives with transferable skills from other industry sectors, says Hanifin. “Now the searches we do for clients are very, very specific, very niche-y.”
Employers are more demanding about who and what they want in a candidate, agrees Gina Chiotti-Hovey, Hanifin’s business partner. “Companies are very rigid; they do not want a candidate who does not have the specific requirements they are looking for.”
Referrals are still king. New technologies may be changing the way the recruiting business works. “But the bottom line is about how we get to the right people,” Hanifin says. “Referrals,” agrees Monsantofils, “are the lifeblood of what we do.”
