‘Essentially, I am advocating for imperialism of Talent Intelligence’

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Ben Zweig is the CEO of Revelio Labs, a workforce intelligence company that leverages the latest advances in AI research to create a universal HR database from public sources. Revelio Labs’ mission is to provide unique insights and uncover trends in Human Capital to empowering businesses and investors.

They index hundreds of millions of public employment records. According to Revelio Labs, their ‘universal HR database’ allows them to understand the workforce dynamics of any company. Revelio Labs’ customers include investors, corporate strategists, HR teams, and governments.

Founder Zweig works in New York, where he also teaches courses on Data Science and The Future of Work at NYU Stern. He will be a keynote speaker at the second Talent Intelligence Conference. Since one of his courses is ‘Data Bootcamp’, we can trust him to deliver the goods in ultra record time, NY-style.

Talking by Teams from his office in New York, Ben tells how the focus on workforce analytics is important, ‘because we believe organizations and people suffer from a lack of understanding of the world’s talent. Workforce data, unlike financial data, lacks the standardization necessary to develop sophisticated insights. Yet labor markets are the largest and most important markets in the world.’

Enter Revelio Labs, that aims for a more efficient, transparent and scientific workforce market, using teams of data scientist, economists and engineers.

But to understand how Ben Zweig uses Talent Intelligence at his company, he tells first about the beginning of the company. ‘I started the company back in 2018 and it’s a Talent Intelligence company. I mean, I sort of started this before even knowing that Talent Intelligence was a term.’

‘I used to run a workforce analytics group at IBM and really thought that the analyses we were doing were interesting, but very limited. Limited because we didnt really have any outside information. We always analyzed internal IBM data and we just had no context. We didn’t have any ability to get strategic and look at how we were differentiated.’

‘So I started Revelio Labs with the idea of bringing external data and benchmarking to the HR space. It turns out that was happening in parallel by other people too: Talent Intelligence in my mind is about bringing external data into HR and into the business.’ TI is progressing really fast, says Zweig, which he finds really very exciting.

‘I think I got introduced to The Talent Intelligence Collective and the podcast by Alison Ettridge and Toby Culshaw maybe two years ago, two to three. At that point, it really clicked. Wow, here’s groups within companies that are on the way to, you know, doing things the way that I had hoped that things would evolve.’

‘And I was trying to  nudge things in that direction from my perspective. For a while I really thought  the mission of Revelio was to kind of bring people analytics function to more of this external view. I realized there’s this other function that’s much more like philosophically aligned and hungry for data and really thinks in a different way.’

‘In HR, there’s a lot of organizational psychologists, and that’s sort of the mentality that permeates this kind of function. I came into that space differently: I’m a labor economist.’

‘So I had done research in labor economics. As a labor economist, I really think a little bit differently. We think more about data, more about the external market and more about the context and the applications of using data for this in a more rigorous way. The Talent Intelligence community is more like labor economists  mentally than like organizational psychologists. As a discipline, they’re very aligned to how I see the world.’

Any essential difference between labor economics and organizational psychology?

‘Talent intelligence is basically labor economics. It’s very, very similar. The data is the same, the questions are very similar, the mentality is the same. TalentIintelligence could get renamed the labor economics team…. (laughs) They just don’t know it yet.’

So what kind of questions do you answer with your company? What kind of questions do you help your customers with?

‘The questions are really varied, whereas the data set is really the same. After all, we think of what we do as like primarily constructing this universal HR database. Massive data sets of like profiles, postings, sentiment ratings, salaries, freelance platforms, layoff notices and immigration files. Anything and everything.’

‘We really want to centralize this database, curate, enrich it and make it like really easy to navigate and pull for whatever purposes. Once we have the database, the way customers use it is up to them. Most of the time they use the base to analyze companies. Where are there spikes in the attrition rates of key roles at companies? You know, like what’s happening at this company? What’s the composition of their workforce? What are the markets they’re in? Understanding companies and their competitors. So that, for instance, if you want to analyze   Java developers in Bangalore, you can have a really deep, thorough analysis because it all comes from the same data.

How do you ensure the quality of the data? They are not recorded in the same way from country to company.

Yes, workforce data is a mess. Last year I talked at the conference about all the possible problems you have with the underlying raw data. And the processing and enrichment you need to do, to get the data to be actually useful. For example: using LinkedIn profiles as a source is problematic because every person just writes in whatever they want, free text. There’s different conventions for titles, there’s different languages, company names, seniority levels, different skills. Tons and tons problems. The messiest data you can imagine. Obviously, a lot of work.’

‘But as a technology provider this is one of the justifications for our existence: getting a handle on this dat. We at Revelio Labs want to centralize that effort so that everybody can benefit. Let’s say we have a model to detect fake users, that might be like a six month project. But then it’s global, and it’s general. It would be crazy for every company to take on this six month project to solve one problem when there are 100 other problems to solve. We have a team of 60 fulltime data scientists and engineers who are just solving this kind of problems.’

So you volunteer your company to do this for the rest of the world. A monopoly for your platform.

‘90% of data analysis is cleaning data, and the other 10% is complaining about cleaning data. Somebody has got to do the cleaning process, and nobody really wants to. I think my team is excited by it, just because they’re really challenging problems. And the data are difficult to scale. So  we really want to be kind of like a Bloomberg-terminal.   Bloomberg takes in all this financial data and does the curation. At the end of the day, everyone in finance just has all this clean, nice, neat data at their fingertips, to do their day job.

And Bloomberg has a monopoly, gets very, very rich.

‘That would be a nice outcome for everybody, there’s a lot of scalability in that business model. But an important goal is also to mature the field. I’d love to see a world where everyone in HR just   does their job with data at their fingertips.’

New trends you want to talk about at the conference?

‘To go beyond geography or market level analysis, we need to do more strategic benchmarking, to support strategic workforce planning. And that’s what you really find more in competitive benchmarking.’

‘Another thing would be making a kind of tools and applications to help recruiters help themselves. So you get the Talent Intelligence function on a lower level in the organization. Not just TA-directors, also recruiters and sourcers. Granular actionable workforce insights for more people in the organization. Revelio Lab’s mission should be not only solving a problem, but also contributing to broader industry or societal progress. For a startup in this field developing a product with a clear, mission-driven purpose, it can differentiate you in a crowded market.’

‘Essentially, I am advocating for imperialism of Talent Intelligence. I’m really advocating for expanding the scope of TI to get both broader, you know, in terms of planning and, and deeper in terms of helping recruiters. Maybe you’re going to be stepping on people’s toes. Challenges are: it’s more work to take on and it’s just going to require more resources and time. Another challenge is organizational friction. Maybe you’d be getting in the way of computer and people analytics and  other groups that consider this their turf.’

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Acquisition of Textkernel by Bullhorn Puts Staffing Industry on High Alert

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Bullhorn’s recent acquisition of Dutch company Textkernel for – reportedly – 300 million euros is likely the kickoff for a further round of mergers and acquisitions in tech, data, and AI within the HR and recruitment industry. By purchasing Textkernel, Bullhorn has acquired one of the largest global AI and data players and dealt a massive blow to the competition.

With the purchase of Textkernel, Bullhorn has dealt a massive blow to the competition.

Since many staffing agencies and dozens of ATS and HR tech systems rely on Textkernel’s parsing and matching technology, they are now suddenly dealing with Bullhorn technologies. The leverage that Textkernel provides Bullhorn access to all these customers is enormous, given that the staffing market is worth between 350 and 600 billion dollars annually (depending on the source), and Textkernel serves the top of this market. This doesn’t even consider the damage/impact on other HR and recruitment tech systems now that the AI, data, and matching technology they heavily rely on is in the hands of one of their main competitors.

The leverage of Textkernel

Of the 10 largest staffing companies in the world, 8 use Textkernel’s data, matching, and AI technology, whether integrated into their ATS systems or called via APIs. In total, about 2,000 intermediaries worldwide use Dutch technology. This gives Textkernel a firm lock-in on everything essential for the industry to generate future returns. Very smart of Bullhorn, but also the selling party, Main Capital, because on a global level, Textkernel remains unmatched, especially after the purchase of the American Sovren in 2021.

Textkernel has a firm lock-in on everything essential for the industry to generate future returns.

The footprint of Textkernel is enormous within the staffing industry. At a time when automation, (big) data, and AI are key to leverage in this industry, partnering with Textkernel means a massive accelerator. Not many others can do this as well and globally as they can. The exciting part will be Bullhorn’s strategic choice since Textkernel is also the parsing, data, and matching engine in many of Bullhorn’s competing products.

Will Textkernel become an exclusive offering?

Will Bullhorn phase out Textkernel in these products, or even ‘cold turkey’ cut it off? Will Textkernel be offered exclusively, forcing many customers to switch to Bullhorn? And do Bullhorn’s competitors want an AI and matching engine ‘powered by the competitor’ in their system, which then collects an incredible amount of user data and knowledge? These are just a few questions that will undoubtedly be answered in the coming months (although if I were Randstad or the owner of SuccessFactors, I wouldn’t want to wait for that).

Do Bullhorn’s competitors want an AI and matching engine ‘powered by the competitor’ in their system?

In any case, I think the market has been shaken up by this brilliant move from Bullhorn, and companies like Taleo, iCIMS, Workday, Personio, and Greenhouse will be forced to rethink their strategic options. This has suddenly made all remaining competitors of Textkernel very interesting M&A candidates.

Who will buy Daxtra or Eightfold?

The purchase of Textkernel also shows the value of exclusive access to data, AI, and technology. It may not be the x-factor EBITA that determines value but unlocking thousands of new customers and taking technology off the market before the competition does. In that case, the next question is… who will buy Daxtra? However, companies like Actonomy, Techwolf, and Eightfold have suddenly become much more valuable due to this move.

No one wants to depend on their competitor or technology that the rest of the market can also buy.

Local players like Jobdigger, theMatchbox, SkillsCV, and 8vance could also benefit. Bullhorn’s strategic choices and how the rest of the market reacts will play a role in the short term. But one thing has become clear: no one wants to depend on their competitor or technology that the rest of the market can buy.

Red alert for the staffing industry

Virtually all global staffing agencies – except for Recruit Holdings – like Randstad, Manpower, AMS, Adecco, and GI Group have almost completely missed the transition in (big) data and technology, and thus also in AI. It’s even crazier. Because the staffing industry is struggling, the large agencies are more likely to be divesting in data and tech rather than investing and innovating. However, this only makes them more dependent on Textkernel and related companies.

Because the staffing industry is struggling, large agencies are more likely divesting than investing.

Now that Bullhorn has the dominant matching technology within the industry and there are virtually no alternatives, staffing companies are even more backed into a corner. And a company like Indeed (which presents itself as a matching company) has noticed this very well. Indeed, part of Recruit Holdings (the fifth-largest staffing company in the world) is increasingly claiming billions from the staffing industry. They make no secret of it.

Who will win, who will lose?

And Bullhorn has now seen this as well. It is certainly not out of the question that large brokers and/or staffing agencies will now set their sights on the remaining data and technology players with many customers. In addition to the previously mentioned parties, smaller VMS players or platforms could be interesting, giving them relatively cheap access to markets already attached to or even locked into that technology. This creates a new M&A dynamic, where some large players could suddenly find themselves at a significant disadvantage. Bullhorn has struck the first blow. I am curious whether it will now turn into a war in the staffing industry and who will win and who will lose.

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Will the new Monster and Indeed arise?

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Indeed is now announcing a new generation of job boards, namely labour market platforms where candidates will be matched more through AI, and employers will increasingly place their recruitment and vacancies in the hands of Indeed. While the entire market is in turmoil over the strategic choices Indeed is making and the impact this has on the Staffing industry and ATSs, candidates are dealing with a completely different generation of ‘job boards’, namely AI.

Indeed, its AI matching and labour market platform will remain decisive and maintain control of the job board industry in the coming years. But the new game changer is ready in the wings. Instead of job seekers searching for and reading vacancies, AI will do that for you. AI will also apply for you and ensure your CV matches the required vacancies perfectly. Only when an employer is interested will you, as a job seeker, consider if it’s something for you. AI is going to change the game.

Below, I have listed the potential new Monsters or Indeeds. But more than 80 are already lurking in these wings (mainly found within TikTok).

Sonora

Sonara is an AI-driven tool that optimizes your CV and matches you with suitable vacancies. It analyzes your skills and experience to help you stand out to recruiters.

AIApply

AIApply automates your application process by finding vacancies, personalizing CVs, and sending applications. Integrates with popular job boards.

GetHired.com

EasyApply/ GetHired.com simplifies your application by allowing you to apply to multiple vacancies with one click. It supports various job boards and company sites.

Careerflow

Careerflow is an AI platform that assists with job research, CV and cover letter optimization, and interview preparation.

Use massive

Massive is an AI-driven job search engine that finds vacancies based on your skills and experience. Personalizes search results and offers salary insights.

Underdog

Underdog is a platform focused on connecting people with non-traditional backgrounds to jobs in the tech industry. It also provides mentoring and career support.

Jobscan

Jobscan analyzes your CV based on the job description and provides feedback to increase your chances. It checks for keywords and ATS compatibility.

Huntr

Huntr helps find and organize vacancies, track applications, and network with other job seekers.

Resume worded

Resume worded is an AI tool that rewrites and optimizes your CV for specific vacancies. Provides improvement suggestions and helps you stand out.

Kickresume

Kickresume is an AI-driven CV and cover letter builder with professional templates and tips. Helps you make a compelling first impression.

Rezi

Rezi is an AI-powered CV builder that optimizes your CV for ATS systems. Helps you get past the initial screening and in front of recruiters.

Skillroads

Skillroads is an AI platform that matches you with vacancies based on your skills and interests. It also provides personalized recommendations and career insights.

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How Indeed Is Increasingly Becoming the Booking.com of the Job Market

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Could Indeed become Booking.com in the global job market? Chris Hyams, CEO of Indeed’s job platform, seems to think so. During the Recruit Holding Investor Update, he gave a remarkably interesting insight into his vision for the future (see the transcript and enclosed slides). He explains that in recruitment, the real money is earned in placement, where the ‘take rate’ is calculated as a percentage of the cost per hire divided by the candidate’s first-year salary. In the staffing industry, this typically ranges around 20%; for placement, it’s between 20-25%, and for executive recruitment, it can go up to 40%.

 

Chris Hyams, CEO of Indeed

Indeed’s fees are well below 1%, while it is often responsible for more than 50% of hires. As the undisputed market leader in an industry that many agencies and employers rely on (just as they do on LinkedIn, Meta, and Google), Hyams has observed that they are leaving a lot of money on the table. Indeed has looked closely at platforms like Booking.com and Eat Takeaway, which charge commission rates of 13% to 30% of their suppliers’ revenue.

Indeed Could Charge Up to 10 Times More

Translating this to the job market, Indeed could charge up to 10 times more than it currently does. With its reach and new platform technology, candidates are increasingly finding Indeed. Indeed, it is better at binding and servicing them than employers and agencies. Moreover, on the vacancies with the highest margins (those with the highest salaries), Indeed earns hardly any money—while they are often decisive for success.

‘Indeed makes very little money on the vacancies with the highest margins – even though these are often the most crucial for success..’

It seems like a very sound idea from Indeed – as long as they continue to deliver value to candidates – that they should charge a higher success fee. Why not? If one sector has been able to push its prices up in recent years of scarcity, it’s the staffing industry. And after all, there’s still over 250 billion left over each year. With its new strategy and by contributing to success, Indeed is only looking to take a small slice of the pie. So why is the staffing industry reacting so indignantly?

The staffing industry is crying bloody murder

In the Chad & Cheese Podcast does Europe (and also in a previous podcast), the recent price adjustment of Indeed was discussed extensively. Whereas the company initially provided the entire market with free applicants, it has now started to charge more money year after year and provide fewer free services. Staffing agencies and the recruitment industry have continued to advertise and cooperate with Indeed year after year because alternatives (read: job boards) deliver fewer (good) candidates and add value.

And, of course, also because the summary costs do not outweigh the generous returns received from Indeed. Certainly, in Europe, where programmatic advertising still has to gain real traction, Indeed is a real winner in the labour market. It is no surprise to anyone in this industry that Indeed, just like LinkedIn, now wants to further capitalize on its market dominance. This could have been seen coming for years. Lieven van Nieuwenhuyze also agrees. Recruit Holdings, Indeed’s parent company, is also the fourth-largest staffing company in the world.

Crocodile tears

It may be especially painful for Van Nieuwenhuyze’s House of HR that their reliance on Indeed has become so great. After all, more than 50% of their inflow now comes from Indeed. And even then, House of HR is even less dependent on Indeed than average. That’s why I see the complaints about Indeed’s move as mostly crocodile tears. The industry has failed to develop alternatives or failed miserably in developing alternatives (such as Randstad with Monster). And now that the sector is on its knees with no manpower or budget to innovate, let alone the vision to respond or the trust to work together, Indeed is seizing its chance.

De wereldwijde staffing-industrie verdient veel geld met de vele kandidaten die het via Indeed binnenkrijgt, constateert CEO Chris Hyams. Tijd om dat om te draaien, zegt hij. Wordt Indeed hiermee het hongerige Booking.com van de arbeidsmarkt?

‘It is particularly painful for staffing agencies that their reliance on Indeed has become so great on average..’

One of the biggest problems staffing agencies ‘feel’ is that Indeed, through its platform strategy, is scooping up ‘the’ candidates who respond to ‘their’ vacancies. However, they overlook that a candidate always owns himself or herself and never belongs to an agency. Moreover, the average agency treats them very poorly as well. And they also forget that the vacancies belong to the employers they represent. So it’s borrowed content they’re making money from, not even their brand or ‘go-to-market’ strategy.

What options do recruitment agencies have?

I dare say that Indeed can increase its prices without any problem as long as it keeps the candidates engaged. Do I like this? No. Is it fair? Yes. So the question should not be: can we stop this? But rather, how do we respond to this? First of all, it won’t stop there. Booking.com also didn’t start at 30% commission. The screws are being tightened slowly. But that also gives enough time to react. Think:

  • Collaborate with the entire industry, for example, to breathe new life into the 30-year-old Monster. The name is still strong, and new technology can be placed underneath it easily. But a new marketplace—with a different name—can also be a good option.
  • Invest in own/joint talent pools and exchange talent (transfer system) between agencies. The set-up of thetalentpoolcommunity.nl offers an interesting approach to this, but also building on the collaboration in the Belgian work-id.be
  • Go all-in on programmatic advertising and recruitment marketing automation.

Making Recruitment More Efficient

The rapid rise of fraud, fake agencies, fake recruiters, and fake job postings could signal the industry’s acceleration of development on HR Open Standards or its embrace of the global Velocity Network Foundation. This platform was founded by a consortium of large companies to improve interoperability between different HR systems and facilitate the exchange of HR data. This should make the application and recruitment process more efficient for employers and job seekers.

De wereldwijde staffing-industrie verdient veel geld met de vele kandidaten die het via Indeed binnenkrijgt, constateert CEO Chris Hyams. Tijd om dat om te draaien, zegt hij. Wordt Indeed hiermee het hongerige Booking.com van de arbeidsmarkt?

‘Once the crocodile tears have dried up, I think Indeed will simply continue to build on its leading position..’

But personally, I think that once the crocodile tears have dried up, Indeed will simply continue to build on its leading position. The only ones who can change this are candidates who find platforms outdated and use AI and Search 3.0 to find their new jobs. This development will again bring about a whole new dynamic and further drive the standardization of CVs/profiles. The question is whether Indeed has already thought about this… I wouldn’t be surprised if they have.

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Nis 2, Also Known as the Cybersecurity Act, Will Have a Significant Impact on (IT) Recruitment

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What is NIS2?

NIS2, formally known as Directive (EU) 2022/0857 and referred to as the Cybersecurity Act in the Netherlands, entails measures to ensure a high cybersecurity standard across the European Union. The objective of this law is to strengthen cybersecurity in all member states. Unlike previous legislation (NIS1), NIS2 covers a broader range of sectors and organisations, meaning that more entities must comply with cybersecurity requirements.

To determine whether your organisation must comply with NIS2, you can complete the NIS2 self-assessment NL. However, it is safe to say that any organisation in the Netherlands with more than 250 employees and those vital to Dutch society and the economy will fall under this directive. In short, it would be unusual for a Dutch company with a recruitment department not to be affected by this.

NIS2 implies that organisations must implement stricter security measures to protect their network and information systems. These measures include technical security controls, awareness programs, and incident reporting. Additionally, there will be an increased focus on the supply chain, meaning staffing agencies and brokers must demonstrate that they are attentive to all new and additional cybersecurity requirements.

A New Hot Skill and Target Audience

With the advent of the new cybersecurity act, the demand for knowledge of the NIS2 skill will increase significantly (see the explosive growth in the number of job vacancies mentioning NIS2).

The roles include:

  • Cyber Security Engineer
  • IT Security Consultant
  • Security Analyst
  • Head of Information Management
  • Security Officer
  • ICT Security Coordinator
  • Risk Manager

This is a growing market and opportunity for recruiters and recruitment agencies. At the same time, it is also a domain where recruiters need to know much more because they are the ‘gatekeepers’ in attracting these individuals. Moreover, they also play a crucial role in keeping out cyber criminals, infiltrators, moles, and individuals with high-integrity risks. Recruiters themselves will also need to pass such tests. Besides signing the recruiter code and completing recruitment training, a Certificate of Good Conduct and screening of recruiters and those in the supply chain will increasingly become required. This creates an initial shift at the gate but will only be partially watertight.

Consequences of NIS2 for Candidate Screening and Recruitment Processes

In addition to training, educating, and monitoring their employees on cybersecurity awareness, everyone involved must be much more aware of cybersecurity threats. For recruiters, NIS2 entails:

  • Stricter Background Checks and Antecedent Investigations: Recruiters must conduct rigorous background checks to ensure candidates do not have a criminal record related to cyber-related crimes.
  • Verification of Cybersecurity Background: A candidate’s cybersecurity background, including education, work experience, and certifications, must be verified.
  • Increased Focus on Cybersecurity Awareness in Interviews: Recruiters must ask more questions about candidates’ cybersecurity awareness and how they handle cyber threats.
  • Training on NIS2 Guidelines: All staff involved in the recruitment process must be trained in NIS2 guidelines and how to adhere to them.

Furthermore, recruiters must ensure that all IT systems used during the recruitment process are secure and comply with NIS2 requirements for their IT systems and partners. This is essential to protecting candidates’ privacy and ensuring their data is securely stored and processed.

NIS2 represents a significant shift in how cybersecurity is integrated into recruitment practices. It demands more diligence and expertise from recruiters to safeguard against cybercriminals, infiltrators, and individuals with high integrity risks. As recruiters navigate these new requirements, ensuring compliance will strengthen their cybersecurity posture and enhance trust with candidates and clients.

Implications of NIS2 for Recruitment

The high demand for cyber and risk specialists will see explosive growth, leading to significant scarcity and an increase in salaries, the number of freelancers, and their hourly rates. This scarcity and the necessary screening and controls will result in longer recruitment processes and higher costs.

Everyone reading this already knew that recruitment was a severe profession. However, with the surge in fraud surrounding recruitment and now with NIS2, it is clear to everyone that professional recruitment and a robust recruitment process are crucial for keeping out individuals who jeopardise business and societal continuity, especially those who may interact with vital systems or sensitive data. Therefore, it is essential for recruitment professionals to carefully consider the specific impact of NIS2 on hiring, candidate screening, and recruitment processes, as this will vary by organisation. It depends on the sector they operate in, the scale of their IT infrastructure, and the number of cybersecurity professionals they require. Ultimately, this threat presents a significant opportunity for the profession.

Where to Start?

Are you looking to gain more insight into ensuring security in hiring and recruitment? The Masterclass on Integrity, Security, and Risk Management in Recruitment and Hiring provides in-depth knowledge and practical skills. Learn more about the masterclass by clicking the button below:

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Why Matt Alder still believes in the skills revolution

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We’ve been hearing for quite some time that skills will dominate in recruitment. That future selection will purely be based on skills. That it can help solve the structural labour market shortages. And even that A.I.-driven skills-based hiring will make everything easier. But in reality, progress has been slow. Research shows that in practice, only a handful of companies have abandoned traditional diploma requirements in favour of skills tests.

Yet many remain optimistic about the numerous possibilities of skills as a means of communication in the labour market. Take, for instance, Matt Alder, known from The Recruiting Future Podcast and recently a guest on another podcast, Psych Tech @Work, specifically discussing this topic. He did so in response to research by Vector, a TA software company that examined the gap between theory and practice through 11 qualitative interviews and two focus groups with Heads of Talent Acquisition, collectively responsible for over 1 million employees.

Pain Point: the Hiring Manager

According to the research, skills-based hiring still holds great promise for organizational agility, workforce diversity, and competitive advantage, as indicated by the respondents. However, there is also a strong need for better definitions that apply across different functions and industries. Current approaches often fail to align closely with the specific needs and goals of organizations. Additionally, the research identifies a significant pain point: the hiring manager. Many hiring managers still prefer to see traditional diplomas and are not fully embracing the revolution, as noted by the respondents.

The hiring manager appears to not fully embrace the skills revolution yet.

“The role of the hiring manager is crucial in recruitment, but all too often, a lack of skills and poor practices undermine an organization’s ability to attract talent,” as Vector CEO Neil Kelly puts it. Therefore, if organizations want to transition towards more skills-based hiring, they must at least guide and train the hiring managers in this direction, according to the respondents. They believe hiring managers should also play a significant role in identifying the required skills. Otherwise, the transition will fail.

What is hard? And what is a soft skill?

What complicates skills-based hiring in practice is the sometimes unclear distinction between hard and soft skills, and the taxonomy of all these skills. “One vendor had as many as 50,000 skills in their taxonomy!” the researchers exclaimed with great surprise. However, because of the significant demand for new skills and the structural scarcity, they remain optimistic about its opportunities in the labour market. “Although there is little evidence for it, most respondents see the principles of skills-based hiring as a chance to democratize the job market and provide more people with access.”

There is hardly any evidence to be found of the flexibility that skills-based hiring was supposed to bring.

In practice, they still encounter numerous obstacles. For instance, companies barely measure which skills are needed for which positions and how they can bridge the gap between demand and supply. There is also scant evidence in practice of the assumed flexibility that skills-based hiring was supposed to offer, nor of the (presumed) financial benefits such an approach might bring. Moreover, many organizations often lack targeted training when hiring based on skills rather than experience.

Great promise

The conclusion of the research is clear: skills-based hiring still holds great promise. However, if one aims to turn that promise into tangible benefits, there’s still a long way to go. “Skills-based hiring challenges many ingrained beliefs and behaviours. Therefore, an evidence-based approach and providing appropriate training are necessary for successful implementation within the organization.” According to the researchers, clear metrics are also crucial, not only concerning company performance but also in terms of employee engagement and actual diversity.

‘Skills-based hiring challenges many ingrained beliefs and behaviors.’

This aligns with Matt Alder’s prediction, who anticipates that by 2034, recruitment and selection will be heavily data-driven, with AI and automation playing a central role. “While it presents a challenge, skills-based hiring can lead to a fairer and more effective recruitment process, enabling organizations to find and retain the right talent. Organizations need to look beyond current processes and explore how technology can fundamentally transform their operations.”

Read the entire study

Read the entire study here: ‘Skills-Based Hiring Report, The Gap Between Theory and Practice‘.

Skills Based Hiring

 

 

AI: Hype or the Real Deal? Give Everyone a Monthly AI Budget to Declare

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But the phase of structural adoption by the general public is still a long way off. In other words, we humans don’t change that quickly, and perhaps we are not yet fully convinced of the added value. For example, a personal AI budget of €100 per month that people can expense for AI they use to become more productive could lower the barrier. More on this at the end of the article.

The Status of AI as of June 2024

Richard Fletcher and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (Oxford and Reuters) have conducted an extensive study in six countries—Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, England, and America—on the adoption of AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and CoPilot, as well as the impact AI has on ‘the news’ and our perception of what we read. Below, I have highlighted some of the most excting findings.

Proportion that have heard of each generative AI tool

  • About a quarter of the people in the surveyed countries have still never heard of ChatGPT or any of the other frequently mentioned AIs in the media, such as Gemini, Claude, CoPilot, or Perplexity.
  • Younger generations commonly use AI to obtain information (24%) and create different media types, including text, audio, code, images, and video (28%). Only 5% of people use AI to find “the latest news”.
  • People feel more comfortable with news written by humans (like this article!). However, this also depends on the topic. For topics such as sports and fashion, AI may be more acceptable, but not for politics or international affairs.

How frequently people use ChatgGPT, Gemini and Copilot

We’re Overestimating the Short-Term Impact and Underestimating the Long-Term Impact

These figures show that there is still a long way to go before AI is widely known and adopted. As the saying goes, we tend to overestimate the impact of AI in the short term and underestimate it in the long term. Another saying is that “everyone is talking about teenage sex, but nobody is doing it.” This could give the impression that ChatGPT and all other AIs are just hype, but nothing could be further from the truth. The current impact on businesses is already enormous, and we are only just at the beginning of what is to come regarding transformation and reorganization. People will start to adopt AI when they realize that Gemini and ChatGPT can provide them with the answers to their questions, including the relevant references. This is much faster and more pleasant than the answers that Bing or Google gives us now. The good news is that Google and Bing are also improving by implementing OpenAI and Gemini. It’s great that you no longer have to wade through all the ads and then open all the links with optimized answers for Google (and not necessarily for the searcher). Steven van Belleghem’s Search 3.0 principle is accelerating the AI revolution for the general public.

Image of google search

AI as a Driver of Productivity and Innovation

AIwill not going to take over your job, at least not all of it. However, the person who masters AI will. A software developer who uses AI in their development activities is, on average, 2.3 times more productive. If there is a reorganization, I know who will keep their job. This, of course, also applies to recruiters. Those who work with AI, such as RecruitAgent.ai, ChatGPT, In2Dialog, Carv, etc., or those who stick to their old ways.

Fortunately, recruiters are always curious, even if they are not necessarily the innovators. The latter group is much more the (recruitment) marketers. Recruiters and many other professions use ChatGPT or another AI. However, there is a big difference between using AI occasionally and using AI’s full potential structurally, namely $20 per month. Now, $20 per month might not seem like much, but still, this money often isn’t spent.

In many cases, they believe the organization they work for should pay for it. In that case, $20 per month is preventing them from doing it. It’s a combination of ‘principled resistance’ and a ‘responsibility issue,’ where people believe that driving productivity and innovation should be initiated by the employer. It’s somewhat comparable to training opportunities that people want, but mainly if they are offered by the employer. It’s a strange phenomenon (there’s not a name for it, and I asked ChatGPT about it), but something that has a simple solution.

Give everyone within the organization the freedom to spend up to 100 euros or dollars per month on (safe) AI and allow them to expense this without any questions. This removes the financial barrier and immediately identifies the innovators within the company. They will hopefully not only be the ones to grow in productivity but also be able to point out how the organization can be successful in the changing market dynamics, including the implications of Search 3.0.

 

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How you can better accommodate neurodiversity in your job interviews

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In recent years, it has been increasingly recognized that a job interview is not suitable for everyone. Consequently, the ‘winner’ of a selection round is often the one who can conduct the best interviews, which may not necessarily be the most suitable candidate for the position. Additionally, many selection procedures hardly accommodate neurodiversity, people with disabilities, or individuals with different learning styles. How can you better respond to this, in order to offer everyone a fair chance, and for yourself as a recruiter: to ultimately choose the best candidate?

‘The next step is to assist candidates in considering what types of accommodations are feasible.’

To find answers to those questions, journalist Rebecca Knight cites two experts in Harvard Business Review: Ludmila Praslova, a Russian professor of organizational psychology at Vanguard University, and Katie Bach, former nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Both believe that it’s a good idea to adapt traditional procedures to candidates. “What I see as the next step is not just asking if someone needs accommodations, but helping candidates think about what accommodations are possible,” says Bach.

No mention of a level playing field

An accessible, inclusive application process where individuals with disabilities or neurodiversity can showcase their strengths expands the talent pool and fosters a more equitable workplace, according to both experts. However, in practice, such a ‘level playing field‘ is still far from reality, they observe. “We’ve been using the same methods for years without considering what is truly needed for a specific job and how we can identify the right candidate,” says Praslova.

‘We’ve been using the same methods for years without considering how to identify the right candidate.’

According to Bach, the first step is mainly about breaking free from your biases. “Many of us still have a certain image of what a disability looks like and assume that we haven’t worked with many people with disabilities.” But that doesn’t quite align with reality, she also states. For example, an estimated one in four Americans live with a disability, and it’s also found that approximately 9% of Americans have a learning disability. Many of these differences and disabilities are hidden or invisible.

The limitations of empathy

For job interviews, this primarily means “listening without judgment and not assuming that someone is pretending, lazy, or requires a lot of attention,” asserts Bach. Acknowledge that people may need accommodations and that strict adherence to traditional interview methods can perpetuate biases, adds Praslova. Empathy is important, but even empathy has its limitations, she notes. “It’s not about you, but about the other person. And their reality can be very different from yours.”

Praslova also advises taking a close look at your current interview practices. “Sometimes job interviews are designed to deceive people, make them emotional, and throw them off balance to see how they perform under pressure,” she says. However, these tactics can disproportionately disadvantage candidates with social anxiety or neurodivergent thinking, placing them in greater challenges in these situations. This often puts them at an unfair disadvantage, she adds. “Because you usually aren’t interviewing for the secret service.”

Don’t turn it into a marathon

Therefore, she recommends examining your current recruitment practices and techniques and identifying unnecessary obstacles that do not align with the job requirements. Bach agrees with this. So, look at “physically and psychologically demanding practices,” she says, and adjust them where possible. Do job interviews really need to be day-long marathons? Should they involve 90-minute case studies? And should they even be in-person? “If it’s not part of the job, you have to ask yourself: are we creating an environment where everyone can thrive? Or are we artificially making it difficult?”

‘If it’s not part of the job, you have to ask yourself: are we artificially making it difficult?’

She doesn’t have a ready-made solution to make job interviews more inclusive. “Even people with the same disability can have different symptoms and severity, so you have to work with individual candidates to determine what they need,” says Bach. Therefore, she suggests creating “a menu of possible accommodations” with examples from the past. Consider: giving extra time for certain tasks or interview questions, presenting questions in different formats to address different learning styles, or conducting remote interviews for candidates with mobility issues.

Ensure safety

Praslova recommends sharing this menu of options with all candidates and encouraging them to ask for additional support if needed. “Make it clear that it’s safe to ask questions and that it won’t be held against them,” she says, pointing to research showing that disclosing a disability at work is often a fraught experience. Praslova advocates for the platinum rule – an evolved version of the golden rule: “Treat others as they want to be treated,” she says. Because: “It’s not about what you want, but what the other person wants.”

‘It’s not about what you want, it’s about what the other person wants.’

Praslova also recommends providing all candidates with interview questions in advance. This not only gives them time to prepare thoughtful answers but also alleviates some of the psychological stress associated with job interviews. Otherwise, she says, you might unintentionally place more value on their confidence rather than their skills and abilities. “If you’re measuring how quickly people are, sometimes you get overconfidence.” Additionally, she advises not to let the conversation be influenced by factors such as what someone is wearing, how nervous they appear, or how easily they engage in small talk.

SeekOut’s Workforce Reduction. Changing of recruitment time and opportunities

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SeekOut’s losing the unicorn status

SeekOut’s leadership, CEO Anoop Gupta, and CTO Aravind Bala, articulated the rationale behind this decisive step in a letter to the employees. Acknowledging recent fiscal challenges, they emphasized the necessity of realignment to ensure the company’s long-term viability. This reduction isn’t the first time had to lay-off people; in October 2023, it adjusted its workforce by trimming approximately 7% of its staff. Seekout, once valued at 1,2 billion after their 115M series C funding in January 2022, is now worth far less and losing it’s unicorn status. While there is no shortage of cash in the short term, is there perspective?

Changing of the market dynamics

Insights gained from industry experts like Serge and Shelly from the Recruitment Flex, and Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman form the Chad and Cheese podcast, offer additional perspectives on SeekOut’s cut-offs and c-level blabla. Chad and Cheese specifically pointed to LinkedIn’s restrictions on data access (X-Ray) as a significant hurdle for companies like SeekOut. Despite denials at SourceCon from SeekOut that the LinkedIn data restrictions have no effect on their data collecting, it appears that they do. Therefore, the recruitment technology landscape is increasingly challenging for firms that rely on external data sources, as LinkedIn has tightened its control over user data, making it difficult for third-party platforms to operate effectively. This impacts all people aggregator firms and the companies that build business on those API’s. Businesses that provide access to ‘talent pools’ of 750M to 1 billion records are more and selling ‘death pools’.

Besides the difficulties that LinkedIn imposes, discussions within GDPR are also raising concerns about using these data pools. With the explosion of fraud, identity theft, and criminal activity within the recruitment space, there are increasing reasons to worry that this kind of business will be prohibited in the coming years to protect the safety of candidates and people with online profiles.

Another reason could be that the market might not yet be mature enough for the advanced technology SeekOut offers, and recruiters are too addicted to their LinkedIn Recruiter Seats. Other companies in similar spaces, such as Restless Bandit and HiringSolved, have already failed. Companies like Eightfold are not turning out to be the unicorns everyone thought they would be. Meanwhile, companies like Textkernel, Daxtra and Intelligence Group are offering more stable and trustworthy talent intelligence solutions that are gaining ground.

Furthermore, the entire recruitment industry, especially the staffing sector, has been experiencing a rough time since 2023. This pain is also being felt by companies like SeekOut. However, the real danger lies in access to fresh data and legislation. These developments are life-threatening. The impact of emerging technologies, such as ChatGPT 5, remains to be seen.

New opportunities

Altogether, SeekOut’s situation and these market developments underscore broader trends and imperatives within the recruitment industry. On one hand, LinkedIn is becoming more protective while also losing sympathy and ground in the market. There is an increasing focus on data protection, GDPR, and risk management among companies. On the other hand, opportunities are emerging in the growing importance of recruitment marketing automation and talent intelligence. The shift from aggregated profiles of people to building relationships with talent and gaining deep insights into behavior will be more sustainable and beneficial for training the LLMs that help you win the war for talent. There might still be a bright future for SeekOut.

 

What can recruitment in Central Eastern Europe learn from recruitment trends in Western Europe

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Market inefficiencies as profit engines

One of the striking observations in the Western European recruitment market is the pervasive inefficiency, which paradoxically acts as a profit generator. This inefficiency stems from the sheer number of job boards, agencies, and niche sites entering the market to address talent shortages. With over 30,000 job boards and more than 500 platforms for freelance assignments in Europe, the market becomes increasingly more intransparency.

For instance, in the Netherlands, there is one agency for every 500 workers, translating to 20,000 staffing agencies in total. The UK also sees a high density of agencies, with 36,000 agencies serving 33 million people. This proliferation of intermediaries underscores the complexity and inefficiency in the labor market, where recruiters spend a significant portion of their time on unproductive activities. Recruiters often spend up to 80% of their workweek on tasks that do not lead to successful placements, such as engaging with non-responsive candidates or handling administrative burdens. But it seems they don’t mind. It even looks that recruiters love inefficiency.

Rising threat of fraud and the need for new CV standards

The issue of fraudulent CVs and cybercriminal activities in the recruitment sector is another growing concern, which is been much written about on Totalent.eu. Skill shortages are exacerbated by the presence of fake CVs, which have become prevalent due to cost-per-applicant models that prioritize quantity over quality. This problem was highlighted with data showing that a significant number of applicants lack the necessary qualifications, contributing to skill shortages across Europe.

Recruitment fraud often involves fake recruiters who use CV databases to scam candidates into providing additional personal information, such as copies of passports. This fraudulent activity has led to a push for more secure and verifiable CV standards. Initiatives like CV Wallet in the UK and SkillsCV in the Netherlands are emerging to ensure the authenticity of candidate information, potentially leading to a standardized CV across Europe within a few years, like the Europass.

Dominance of agencies and the growing importance of sourcing

The trend of sourcing and the role of agencies in the recruitment process is becoming increasingly prominent. In tight labor markets, where talent is scarce, sourcing pressure increases, meaning recruiters frequently approach potential candidates. This approach is more prevalent in countries with scarce labor markets like Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Interestingly, there is a strong correlation between a candidate’s job-seeking activity and their likelihood of being sourced. Candidates actively seeking jobs often make their profiles more accessible, thus increasing their chances of being approached by recruiters. This trend highlights the importance of agencies and sourcing platforms, which now often dominate the initial stages of the recruitment process.

Agencies are also increasingly acquiring job boards to gain direct access to candidate pools. For example, Indeed is owned by Recruit Holdings, the third-largest staffing agency globally, while Monster is owned by Randstad. This consolidation gives agencies a strategic advantage by controlling both the job postings and the candidate databases, making them pivotal players in the recruitment market.

Candidate-driven market changes

The behavior and preferences of candidates are driving significant changes in the recruitment landscape. Candidates are increasingly using AI tools to streamline their job search processes. AI applications like AIapply and Sonora help candidates create and optimize their CVs, apply to multiple job postings simultaneously, and even prepare for interviews.

Mobile-first strategies are becoming crucial as candidates rely more on their smartphones for job searches. The rise of platforms like TikTok as a job search tool, especially among younger demographics, indicates a shift towards more interactive and visually engaging recruitment methods. This trend is not limited to Western Europe; it is also gaining traction in Eastern Europe, emphasizing the need for mobile-friendly recruitment platforms.

The homepage of Sonara

The future of recruitment technology

The integration of AI and advanced recruitment technologies is set to revolutionize the industry further. AI-powered tools that aggregate and analyze candidate data from various sources, including social media and job boards, are becoming more prevalent, like Seekout, Gem, Avature. These tools not only enhance the efficiency of the recruitment process but also help in creating targeted marketing campaigns to attract top talent.

Equal opportunities and compliance

Equal opportunities in the workplace are gaining more attention, driven by new European regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). This directive mandates companies to report on equal pay and opportunities, ensuring that all employees, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or disability, have fair access to career advancements and benefits. The emphasis on equal opportunities is not just a regulatory requirement but also a strategic imperative for companies looking to build a diverse and inclusive workforce. By focusing on equal pay and eliminating biases in the recruitment process, organizations can enhance their employer brand and attract a wider range of talent.

Conclusion: Learning from Western Europe

Central and Eastern Europe can learn much from the trends and best practices observed in Western Europe. As the market in Eastern Europe continues to evolve, it is likely to experience similar inefficiencies and challenges. However, by adopting advanced recruitment technologies, focusing on talent intelligence and candidates, and ensuring compliance with equal opportunity regulations, recruiters in Eastern Europe can stay ahead of the curve.

Scamming with fake recruiters is exploding

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In 2023, scamming with fake job postings and fake recruiters was already the most common form of fraud. With the advent of AI and LLM, this form of deception exploded in 2024, as criminals can easily approach tens of thousands of people simultaneously if they have access to personal data related to the job market. This includes CV databases from websites like werk.nl, LinkedIn, and Indeed. CVs and social media profiles such as LinkedIn are an unprecedented, large, legitimate, and public source for identity fraud and scamming.

All major employers and agencies, from Kelly Services to Randstad, are now issuing warnings about this. It’s not just dozens, but now hundreds of thousands of companies and recruiters worldwide dealing with this issue. It puts immense pressure on the recruitment industry to quickly protect candidates who make their CVs available via CV databases, including anonymizing CVs and allowing only validated employers and agencies restricted access to CV databases.

Extremely concerning development

Fake job postings from fake companies can be prevented by only using recruitment sites that take responsibility for the authenticity of companies and vacancies posted (supply chain responsibility). They should provide job seekers with a guarantee of the reliability of the companies and vacancies. This is a practice that has been common in Asia for years, such as with Fastjobs. Free job boards and aggregators have a significant chance of spreading fake job postings, and they too should take on this responsibility. This step would significantly pressure their business model but make the job market much safer.

The fact that fraud, integrity, security, and risk management are now top priorities for the industry is evident from LinkedIn’s abrupt introduction of “recruiter verification” with little explanation. So far, it’s not a very well-thought-out way to ensure the “authenticity” of recruiter profiles. It’s a feature in recruiter profiles that was launched out of nowhere two months ago. Perhaps prompted by the fact that LinkedIn itself has been hacked, including by a party that managed to create 400,000 fake profiles on LinkedIn by the end of 2023.

Voice cloning

In the next 12 to 18 months, AI will not only revolutionize the recruitment industry but also the profession of recruitment and HR in unprecedented ways. However, not in the way we recently thought, such as with the use of ChatGPT or AIapply. Criminals are using the job market as a gold mine to defraud people. They will use information from CVs, ATS systems, HR systems, and CV databases, with or without voice cloning and deepfake, to exploit other forms of fraud.

It’s not unlikely that very strict guidelines will be introduced in the short term for CV databases, recruiters, job boards, (recruitment) agencies, and the like to protect the privacy of users, both employers and employees. It seems wise for the job board industry, ABU, Bovib, and NBBU to take swift action in the very short term to protect their business model. What we’re seeing and knowing now is just the tip of the iceberg…

12 tactics to write recruitment messages that candidates can’t resist

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1. Employer Brand Impact

Let’s face it, the brand behind the sender matters, a lot. Candidates are more likely to respond if the message comes from a prestigious company like Amazon or Google.

It’s like being invited to the cool kids’ table at lunch…everyone wants in. So, building a strong employer brand isn’t just about name recognition. It’s about cultivating a reputation that resonates with potential candidates. You can highlight unique aspects of your company culture, values, and opportunities for growth. This can significantly increase your appeal to top talent.

2. Sender Identity

Who’s sending the message matters too. A CEO is bound to grab more attention than a recruiter. Even professional peers and functional leaders have more pull than your average recruiter. Think about decentralizing outreach to take your response game up a notch.

While the sender’s title carries weight, it’s also essential to consider their experience with potential candidates. A well-respected leader who actively engages with their team and industry peers is more likely to elicit a positive response than someone with a fancy title but little ability to make personal connections.

3. Timing is Key

Ever wonder if the timing of your message makes a difference? Well, it does. While some think specific times of the day work best, like Sunday mornings as per Hung Lee, you can always experiment and find what works best for your target audience. Beyond just the time of day, consider broader timing factors such as industry events, company milestones, or even personal achievements of the candidate if you have knowledge of those based on your research. Tailoring your outreach to align with these timings can increase the likelihood of a favorable response.

4. Choosing the Right Channel

The channel you use can make or break your outreach efforts. Email is great for full-time workers, while LinkedIn works for some but not all. Avoid reaching out to candidates on Facebook or Instagram DMs. It can feel like an invasion of privacy. Understanding your candidate’s preferred communication channels is crucial if indicated on a resume or any prior application. Some may prefer the professionalism of email, while others respond better to the familiarity of LinkedIn. By meeting candidates where they are, you can increase the chances of capturing their attention.

5. Factors for Channel Selection

Understand your audience and choose the right channel accordingly. While texting might work wonders with some candidates, especially those who are already in your company database, LinkedIn is a better fit for others. Tailor your approach to match your audience’s preferences. Beyond channel preferences, consider the stage of the candidate’s journey and the nature of your message. For initial outreach, a professional platform like LinkedIn may be more appropriate, while follow-up communication could benefit from the immediacy of text or messaging apps.

6. Crafting the Perfect Subject Line

Keep it short and sweet. With limited characters, aim for 30-40 characters max. Using the recipient’s first name in the subject line can work wonders, but it’s not always feasible with mail merges. In addition to personalization, consider incorporating elements that evoke curiosity or urgency in your subject lines. A well-crafted subject line should entice the recipient to open the message while also providing a clear indication of its relevance.

7. Message Length Matters

Less is more. Aim for fewer than 400 characters for optimal response rates, especially for InMail messages. Cut the fluff and get straight to the point. Avoid bombarding candidates with lengthy job descriptions. Quite frankly, nobody has time for that. Craft a well-worded, thoughtful message for maximum impact. Also, focus on clarity and relevance in your messaging. Every word should serve a purpose, guiding the candidate toward a specific action or outcome. By respecting their time and attention, you increase the likelihood of a positive response. A short message not only respects the recipient’s time but also increases the likelihood of a response.

8. Mastering Message Structure

Follow the classic hook, explainer, and call-to-action (CTA) formula. Start with a hook tailored to the recipient, provide context in the explainer, and end with a clear CTA.

While the structure provides a framework, don’t be afraid to inject personality and authenticity into your messages. Striking the right balance between professionalism and genuine interest can significantly impact response rates.

9. Embrace BLUF

We are not talking about “Bluff” here. Yeah, never bluff in front of candidates. But here, we are talking about the BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) technique. When it’s not possible to send a short message, use BLUF. Put the most important information in bold at the top of the message to ensure clarity and focus. BLUF isn’t just about delivering information. It’s about respecting the recipient’s time and attention. By prioritizing the most critical details upfront, you demonstrate transparency and streamline communication.

10. Make a Reasonable Ask

Avoid putting candidates on the spot with tough questions right off the bat. Instead, offer more information in a follow-up email or during a phone call. Consider framing your ask as an opportunity for further exploration or collaboration rather than a definitive decision. If you invite candidates to engage in a dialogue, you can create a more inclusive and empowering communication dynamic.

11. Personalization vs. Mass Outreach

While personalization is key for executive roles, high-volume hiring might not benefit as much. Save time by focusing personalization efforts where they’ll have the most impact.

Personalization isn’t just about customization. It’s about demonstrating genuine interest and understanding of the candidate’s unique needs and aspirations. Even in high-volume scenarios, finding opportunities to tailor your message can bring about significant returns.

12. Follow Up (Patiently)

Persistence pays off, but don’t overdo it. Research shows it usually takes around three messages to get a response. After that, more messages won’t necessarily help.

Beyond just frequency, focus on the quality of your follow-up messages. Each interaction should provide additional value or context. It should also politely reinforce your commitment to building a meaningful relationship with the candidate.

Bottomline

In a world flooded with recruitment messages, standing out from the crowd is not easy. By leveraging these 12 tactics, you, as a recruiter, can increase your chances of capturing the attention of candidates and ultimately securing responses. So go ahead, put these strategies to the test, and watch your candidate engagement reach new heights.