4 things every smart Talent Acquisition professional should be doing in 2018

With recruitment practices evolving and new Talent Acquisition (TA) technologies being introduced to the market at an increasing pace, TA professionals can be forgiven for feeling dazed and perhaps a little frustrated at all the changes that are happening. In a future where candidates have more control than ever before, what should you be looking out for and how can you adapt to these developments?
One of the issues discussed extensively in the TA space currently is Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and how it is revolutionising recruitment as you know it. With 95 percent of companies set to incorporate some form of A.I. in their function within two years, the role of the human recruiter will change. But not to worry, TA as a function won’t disappear – aspects of it will be atomised and there will be less to do in some areas and more in others.
So what can you do to ensure that you continue to stay ahead of the curve in the New Year? Here are four things every smart TA professional should be doing in 2018:

 Elevate your communication skills

With A.I.-powered recruitment tools such as Mya and Hiretual coming into the market, robots are set to take on a bigger role in the sourcing, scheduling and communication with candidates. You will need to step up your game and be able to do more than what these machines are able to do.
Start honing your candidate engagement skills and focus on the human elements of communications such as advising and influencing. Move away from generic, bullet-point ridden sales pitches and selling using job ads – learn to juggle genuine human relationships instead. Talk to your candidates about the compelling challenge they get to tackle in the job and paint a picture of success for them. Let them envision themselves thriving in the role as they speak with you.

 Seeing beyond the data

A well-known skills shift that Talent professional will need to undergo is into the role of data analyst. As A.I. begin to develop huge swaths of relevant data in their day to day recruitment operations, someone is going to need to draw important information from it, and that person should be you. But even more important that deciphering data is translating it for others.
Make sure to build up two skills: analytics, and storytelling, and you will become the focal point of future-forward planning in your organisation. With the ability to interpret data, and bring other people in on your know-how and you might just become indispensable to any business.

 Becoming a human capital developer

Move up the food chain to a trusted advisor level. The best thing you can offer your client, and your candidates, is no longer your ability to source, organise interviews, and juggle multiple people through a pipeline – you will have a computer for that, and so will everyone else.

As a new age TA professional, you will need to stop identifying so much as a ‘recruiter’, and start taking on the role of advisor, researcher, career coach  – basically a human capital developer. You will need to manage relationships in an authentic and transparent manner, stay up-to-date on the latest developments in your industry so that you are able to offer your candidates solid advice that can help them progress in their careers.
The same goes for how you manage your hiring managers. If you are simply moving candidates through the pipeline and filling bums on seats without so much as providing any strategic advice or demonstrating your ability to see beyond the data, be prepared to kiss your job goodbye. And that is the mark of a future-fit recruiter – demonstrating your ability to add intrinsic value to the TA process.

 Build your networks

Of course, you’re not the only one going through this transition, all your peers are. It really is a revolution, and that means that there’s no real consensus on how to move forward, so build those connections and get a group of people around you who are stress testing the same kind of career moves you are. A trusted group of peers can turn to each other and help solve problems – it takes a village. Do you have one?
This is an exciting time to be a TA professional, on the cusp of an industry paradigm shift. Will you be the one to define how the industry looks going forward?
Image: Shutterstock

Get yourself future-fit at the upcoming Australasian Talent Conference 2018 and learn more about how can you thrive in a post-A.I. recruitment world. Find out more here.