So, where do you see recruitment in 5 years' time?

Let's turn that age-old interview question on its head and ask where recruitment's gonna be in five years' time.

After all, five years is the Goldilocks time frame – it's just right. It's long enough that something big should've happened, just short enough that it can still be imagined (there are no Jetsons-grade predictions in this blog!).

Now, look into the LogicMelon crystal ball and see your recruitment future! *sparkly sounds*

You'll get to know candidates better

CVs and covering letters are SO last century...

Recruitment's finally about to get the memo about big data, and this'll help you get to know candidates before you've ever even met them.

Most of this will come from analysing social media profiles. We reckon you'll soon be able to:

• Be more proactive in finding candidates
• Find out more about what makes them tick
• Use new software to analyse thousands of profiles in seconds
• Dip into a bigger, international talent pool
• Estimate when a passive candidate might wanna switch jobs

Chuck in more holistic assessment and filtering methods, and you've got yourself a complete picture.

You'll make the most of every platform

Social media will also shake up employer branding.

76% of candidates already read up on companies online before applying for a vacancy. And, they're not just looking at your website. Try, your:

• Company site/careers microsite
• Employer review sites (GlassDoor et al)
• Social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn yada yada)
• Employees' social media accounts

In five years, employers will have to be much better at keeping all these plates spinning, creating a fluid cross-channel experience, and recognising which channel is right for each task.

You'll ditch those 'bleurgh' tasks

With all this extra analysis and candidates' penchant for a fast, easy process, you'll need to do more with your time.

Enter recruitment automation.

In five years, your algorithmic buddies will have to handle so many of your day-to-day bits and bobs if you're to stay afloat, like:

• Chatting with candidates over email, text or social media
• Scheduling meetings and interviews
• Prescreening applicants
• Posting multiple job ads simultaneously
• Checking qualifications and certificates

This'll turn you into more of a consultant. You'll be the expert whose brain gets picked when the software just can't make a decision.

You'll be a movie star!

Well, not quite. But, you and your candidates had better get used to appearing on video!

Face-to-face meetings take too much time, after all.

In five years, your career sites will be filled with videos telling visitors how great an employer you are.

You'll also have access to so many candidates, you'll need to set up prerecorded video interviews to shrink numbers down to a shortlist.

Candidates then record their answers to your taped questions in their own time, and you can look through at your leisure. So, yeah – get used to being on camera!

To wrap up...

We can't say for sure whether all these will come true. But, if the last five years have been anything to go by, we could probably have been even braver in our predictions!

Technology's what's changing things up. So, isn't it time you started making your recruitment a li'l more tech savvy?