The future is now: 4 unmissable recruitment trends for 2017

January’s the perfect time to take a look at recent recruitment trends and tweak your strategy for the year ahead.

Recruitment has changed massively in recent years, and 2017’s set to rock the boat even more. These are our top four predictions for the recruitment world this year:

1. This hire is automatic, it's systematic, it's hydromatic

Savvy recruiters will bring in more automated recruitment software to log records, contact clients and cut administration time.

Job sites have made it much easier to fire off a quick application. While this means more choice for employers, recruiters now have an increasing need for specialist software that quickly filters and responds to all these new applications.

Many recruiters have already seen the benefits of automated recruitment software, but this technology will truly make a splash in 2017.

Recruiters will come to rely on automated software to do vital yet time-consuming tasks for them, freeing them up to focus more on strategy and proactive employer branding.

2. Data-driven recruitment will help hirers drill down into the details

In 2017, recruiters will stop thinking of data-driven recruitment as a fly-by-night fad and start giving it the attention it deserves.

Rather than taking the ‘human touch’ out of recruitment, recruiters will use social media analytics tools and HR technology to find candidates who fit the company culture in practice, as well as on paper.

Companies have mainly used analytics for these processes to date:

• Finding candidate sources

• Logging total time to hire

• Removing obvious obstacles from the recruitment process

But, this year, recruiters will start using analytics to understand every candidate/company interaction. They’ll use this insight to fine-tune their recruitment processes and the content that guides it.

3. Mobile-optimised recruitment will put the process in candidates’ hands

Jobseekers have been looking for jobs on mobile devices for ages. But, 2017 will see recruiters finally realise how important optimising job ads and sites for mobile really is.

It will also change how they are written. Text must become short and easily scanned with a tone of voice that reflects the types of situation readers will be in when reading (think: on their commute or lunch break).

4. Video recruitment will add colour to candidates and save recruiters time

Recruiters are only just starting to realise the whole rainbow of ways they can tie video into their recruitment practices.

2017 will see companies embracing video interviews unlike ever before. Recruiters will increasingly use video interviews as a quick way of vetting candidates en masse before traditional interviews begin.

Comments can be added to these videos, which can then be shared with hiring managers and other staff members involved in the process.

Video will also make a splash in terms of employer branding. Recruiters will tell their company’s story through videos embedded on their website and shared on social media.  

Who knows what the future might hold? But, it’s a safe bet that all of these recruitment trends will have an impact on your hiring processes in 2017.