As we move further into the year 2017, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the recruitment industry is powering through a period of drastic change. Perhaps a better and more fitting term might be evolution.

However, there seems to be very little activity on the part of business owners and recruiters alike, towards reinventing the skill sets of their teams and modus operandi. It is absolutely vital to do so, more so today than ever before, for it is where a company will either win or lose the proverbial battle.

Perhaps some comfort can be sought from the fact that there seems to be a consensus among most experts about the future of recruitment. According to this consensus, the future lies in a harmonious blend of sophisticated technology and incredibly subtle human interaction skills. If one is to survive in this industry for long, starting now, one must hone their skills in these areas equally.

The following is a list of skills that is aimed at better equipping present and future recruiters for the task, as well as better accepting facts that have already started becoming norms:

1. Reassess Attitude on Digital

If one is not naturally inclined to embrace the digital that permeated every area of our lives today, or in other words, a ‘digital native’, then it is important for one to strive to become a ‘digital convert’, so to speak, so completely, that one comes across as an advocate for the digital rather than a sceptic of the notion. For digital is here, the individual may or may not be.

2. E-sourcing: A Must-Have Skill

One must be tremendously skilled at e-sourcing, or the ability to locate and acquire talent electronically. And this must go beyond the most obvious, such as domains like LinkedIn. There are a lot more resources out there, and unless one is prudent at using them to one’s advantage, it would be difficult, if not entirely impossible to keep up with those who are.

3. Social Media: Play the Long Term Game

The recruiters to come out on top will be the ones who play the long term game with their social media presence, and actually take the time to build their personal brand via the popular social networking sites, as well taking to the blogosphere.

4. Tomorrow’s Recruiters: A League of Their Own

Membership to this league would have nothing to do with which ‘generation’ one belongs to, but more to do with how well one builds relationships, networks, online and offline, and essentially how good a ‘natural connector’ one is.

5. ‘Talent Magnet’: Indispensible Skill for the Recruiter of Tomorrow

Many experts concur on the premonition that an era of massive talent shortages is not very far in the future. When this does become a reality, being a talent magnet is essentially going to become a requirement of the recruitment industry. To achieve this status would require a shrewd amalgamation of the old school methods and the new, while keeping sincere, consistent and unceasing candidate service as the baseline for all strategies, for that will make all the difference

Based in the City of London, Recruitment SMART is a HR tech startup on a mission to bring disruptive technology to the recruitment industry. They are developing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning based sourcing solutions. Team includes veterans from both the recruitment and tech industries and has client globally in UK, US and APAC. Feel Free to Write to us at info@recruitmentsmart.com