What does the new year bring in terms of sourcing strategies? As we’ve become more digital, recruitment must be approached differently, especially when keeping the future of work in mind. If you have gotten comfortable in the last year, it might be time to take a good hard look at your recruitment practices and pick up some new techniques. This can make your recruitment process more effective and results-driven as we move forward into a new year.

Digital disruption of recruitment sourcing

According to Recruiting Daily, there are several main technologies that are disrupting recruitment as we know it.  Keep in mind, this is not an exhaustive list, of course, but some ideas to consider. As the world around us changes and technology proves new solutions, recruiters need to adapt to the tools that are available to them. Some areas of the job that have seen these sort of digital disruptions include: 

Changes in aggregators

The top technology that is making recruitment more fruitful is job aggregators. These are systems that allow hiring managers or recruiters to find better suited candidates and collect data on potential interviewees. It also helps speed up the time it takes to find the right interested people searching for the right roles. The use of aggregators is on the raise and the trend shows no time of slowing anytime soon.

Changes in analytics

Gathering and analyzing data to be more responsive will continue to be a big part of what recruitment does in 2019. The Deloitte 2018 Global Human Capital Trends survey advised 84 percent of respondents viewed people analytics as important or very important. New technologies will give added insight into what’s working and what needs to go in terms of sourcing channels.

Pro-Tip: Want to see how other companies use technology? See what 500 have to say in the Global Talent Report

Changes in the candidate experience

There are also disruptions in the way recruiters create an entire experience for candidates from the moment they learn about the company to the time they are hired, onboarded and trained. Much of that transition can be seamlessly managed through integrations of various software with the HRIS. In terms of emerging technology, artificial intelligence has already changed the way recruiters screen and interact with candidates. AI can act as a support to human recruiters, even having brief conversations with candidates to keep them in the loop or answer simple questions.

Changes in marketing

Advancements in marketing technology enable recruiters to study the responses of candidates and use the right channels to post new opportunities. While this is not limited to job boards, the recent Google Jobs updates now allow internal job portals to be searchable by candidates. This can increase the likelihood that job openings will be noticed by candidates. Mobile apps are becoming the go-to way for sourcing talent and interacting with them in a variety of formats, including social networks.

Old vs. new hiring methods

In the past, recruiters created a job advertisement to be publish in a newspaper format. This took a great deal of time, planning, and was costly. Then the Internet arrived and recruiters were able to place their ads online, hoping to attract a larger number of candidates. This often backfired, creating a boatload of extra work weeding through candidates to find a handful that were qualified to do the job.

Now, recruiters can build pipelines of candidates and match them up with the right jobs before they must resort to advertisement. If they are unable to find someone who can work a traditional 9-to-5 job, there are plenty of contractors and freelancers available to take on the role. Resumes (past job histories) are becoming less useful as job portals track candidates by skills and performance on current projects. There are even systems for rating candidates, referring them to new opportunities, and creating a community of talent that’s ready to take on any challenge.

Read more: Technology can also help when it comes to monitoring employee engagement

Modern day sourcing strategies to leverage

When sourcing in today’s candidate-driven market, it’s important to know that whatever technology is used, it must still give recruiters enough of a human touch in order to appeal to candidates and guard against the bias or discrimination that a tech program may not notice. Remember, candidates are looking for a positive experience that goes above and beyond the competition. This includes being reachable and responsiveness, some of which can be supported by automated email messaging and chatbots.

Recruiters should also try hard to find technology that compliments the processes that are already in place. Social networks can be used to find and pre-screen candidates; setting up an automated message to qualified candidates inviting them to self-schedule for an interview is a great way to include simple technology. Transparency about salary and benefits, the corporate culture, and the details of the job can be handled by a human recruiter. It’s about finding the right balance between tools and human interaction, not replacing one or the other completely.

It should should also be mentioned that recruiters can build online communities of talent, made up of people who are passionate about specific industries, and this can be tapped into for future hires. While many might be passive candidates, this is still a rich source of talent and referrals. Recruiters need to position themselves well using inbound recruitment marketing techniques, and understanding what interests candidates the most can be valuable information.

Tried and true recruitment practices

Despite these technology disruptions in recruitment, there are still some tried and true methods of sourcing candidates. Employee referrals are always helpful, and can be handled internally with a simple system. When employees are referred by their peers, they are accountable for them and they are already familiar with the company — making for a better fit. Instead of merely advertising for jobs on job boards, companies should expand their talent pool by contracting with at least one reputable temporary staffing agency. This valuable resource increases the ability to fill job orders quickly with pre-screened candidates.

Nothing can replace the value of a face-to-face interview. While it can be accomplished using video technology, the same interviewing principles should apply. Recruiters should be prepared for every interview with relevant questions and activities. They should also know how to make make candidates feel comfortable, and be ready to share some insight about the company and future work opportunities. Remember, that even while technology has its place in recruitment, it’s still all about the candidate.