Staying on top of current hiring trends is one of the best ways to craft a successful hiring strategy. This is particularly relevant at the moment, as the US and global economies are trending towards an uncertain future.

The hiring landscape is constantly changing. At the same time, a range of external factors are impacting the U.S. economy and businesses’ ability to recruit. As a result, there’s more pressure on employers and staffing agencies to be on top of their game when it comes to sourcing top talent.  

A huge part of this is understanding the key trends that are shaping the market; and adapting your hiring practices accordingly. In this article, we’ll take you through what some of these trends look like, offering clear insight on how to maximize them to achieve the best results. 

1. Change in Working Patterns 

Gone are the days of the traditional 9-5; especially right now when more people are working from home than ever before due to social distancing measures. At the same time, according to the American Staffing Association, 16 million temporary and contract employees are hired throughout the course of the year; so clearly, temporary workers make up a big part of the U.S. workforce. 

There are a number of reasons why temporary staffing is getting more popular. For the most part, people want more flexibility and working part-time or on a contractual basis gives them the freedom to balance their personal and professional lives effectively. 

Alongside this, according to a study from TrueBlue and Emsi, the main reason why people take on gig work is to earn extra income; followed by a desire to get their foot in the door with a company. 

Additionally, findings from Staffing Industry Analysts show that an estimated 53 million people took on gig work in the U.S. in 2018, with 34% of all U.S. workers performing gig/contingent work last year. 

Clearly, the gig economy represents a shift in employment around the world. Professionals are opting to work on a contractual basis out of necessity and choice. Particularly as there’s little job security in the current economy. 

But what does it mean for your hiring efforts? Well, if you’re finding it difficult to hire full-time employees, it may be worth looking for gig workers instead. It all depends on what your company’s needs are. 

2. Data-Driven Recruitment 

Another trend that hiring professionals need to keep on top of is data-driven recruitment. With more pressure to hire the right people, both cost and time-effectively, many organizations have turned to data to help them make smarter hiring decisions; and avoid unconscious bias. 

It’s particularly useful if you’re working towards key metrics. For example, you may want to measure your hiring velocity to see how efficient your hiring process is; alternatively, you might look at your hiring budget to ensure that you’re not overspending on your hiring campaigns. 

Whichever metric you track, you’ll need to start gathering and analyzing data in order to do it effectively. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) make this easy to do, but there are other tools you can use such as Google Analytics. 

The type of data you might capture includes: how long it takes for people to complete your application forms, how many clicks on your job adverts convert to applications, how long it takes for your offers to be expected, how much ROI you’re getting on your recruitment tools and so on. 

Once you’ve gathered this data, you can then use it to make informed decisions. For example, if it’s taking too long for people to complete applications (or they’re abandoning them altogether), perhaps you need to cut the form down or re-consider the questions you’re asking. 

Ultimately, you’ll want to use data to make informed decisions, save time and money, and of course, to make sure you’re making quality hires. 

3. Candidate Experience 

Candidates have held the power in the U.S. job market for some time now, and considering the most recent economic data on the labor market, the candidate experience remains more important than ever.  

After all, people are more likely to accept your offers if they have a positive route to hire; and reputation matters in the current market. For that reason, this is a key hiring trend you need to be on top of. 

This is especially true as there are more avenues for candidates to air their views online than ever before. Whether it’s social media, or employee review sites; people aren’t afraid to share any negative experiences with other prospective candidates, potentially putting them off applying to your jobs, attending interviews, or accepting your job offers. 

So, what makes a positive candidate experience? Well, it all starts with your job advert. You need to write this with the candidate in mind; what do they want to know? What would make them want to apply? Use engaging language and break the copy up with bullet points so it’s easy to read. If your advert is poorly-written or doesn’t make sense, you’ll fall at the first hurdle. 

You then need to think about the application process and next steps. If they have to jump through a number of hoops just to show their interest in the role, they’ll probably abandon it altogether. Similarly, if there’s far too many rounds of interviews, they may lose interest and go with another employer who’s willing to offer them the job quicker. 

Ultimately, communication is key. See it as a relationship-building exercise. In order to get candidates interested in the role and brand, you need to put the work in. Acknowledge applications, keep them up to date throughout the hiring process and don’t wait too long to offer the job. This will speed up your hiring process and improve their experience; it’s a win-win. 

4. Machine Learning & Automation 

We couldn’t talk about hiring trends without mentioning machine learning and automaton. Both have picked up across many industries in recent years, helping to take over some of the more menial tasks and improving the overall user experience. 

In the staffing industry, machine learning may not be something you implement yourself. Indeed, it’s something that industry suppliers are investing in to improve results for users. At Resume-Library, we’ve used machine learning to improve the relevancy of job matches for candidates, ultimately driving more applications to our clients’ vacancies. 

To do this, we manually rated the relevancy of hundreds of thousands of job postings against specific search terms, before feeding this information into a “machine.” The machine is then able to apply this logic to all jobs on our site, ensuring candidates are presented with the most relevant results. 

Another popular way that companies use machine learning and automation in their hiring practices is through resume screening. There are lots of areas of the hiring process that take up time and effort; with screening being one of them. ATS’s like SmartRecruiters are great for this and can help you to make effective, data-driven hiring decisions. 

There are plenty of other areas that can be automated or that can benefit from machine learning. For example, assessment tools can help you understand how well someone will fit in your company and team, and whether they have the ability to do the job. 

Alongside this, there are tools that can help with candidate engagement efforts. Chatbots, for example, are useful for answering any questions applicants might have and/or keeping them up to date on the progress of their application. Interview scheduling tools can help too and save a lot of back and forth between employers and candidates. 

It’s worth considering what areas of your process need streamlining and how you can do this; it might require you to invest in some new technologies. 

Stay on Top of These Trends 

Unfortunately, there are a range of external factors impacting companies’ ability to hire right now. But that’s why it’s more important than ever to stay on top of the latest trends and ensure your hiring process is fit for purpose. 

Take this time to look at its efficiency; are there areas that are slowing it down? Are you spending too much, or too little money? What do candidate say about your brand online and how can you improve this? These are all questions you should be asking yourself. 

Alongside this, it’s worth speaking to your suppliers to see whether they’re staying on top of these trends and how they can help you meet your goals. At Resume-Library, we work in partnership with SmartRecruiters to enable its users to post jobs onto our site directly from their platform; and we’re launching a Resume Search integration very soon.  

Both help to streamline the process and make it a lot smoother for candidates and hiring professionals. 

With so much focus on how machines will automate recruiting, one researcher argues we cannot overlook the importance of human psychology as a crucial machine learning tool.

Given the amount of sci-fi films released in the last three decades involving robot uprisings, it’s clear that humans often cower in the face of machines’ intellectual superiority. However, the crux of many of these movies is that humans often win against Artificial Intelligence (AI) thanks to our creative problem solving and empathy. We point to this distinction to reinforce the idea that human labor is more valuable than robotic automation, particularly for tasks that require emotional intelligence.

This logic applies to make the argument why recruiters are indispensable to the hiring process. Whereas machines are capable of carrying out defined tasks, humans can differentiate nuances between candidates, allowing them to determine the best fit for any given role. Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped the rise of AI technology within talent acquisition.

Industrial psychologist Dr. Charles Handler believes that organizations will fully automate, and enhance, the applicant selection and screening process by combining deep learning AI with the science of psychology. Dr. Handler sees greater potential for machines and humans after combining forces. “While a computer can beat any human at chess 100 percent of the time,” he says, “a computer and a human playing together can beat even the most advanced chess computer.”

Experts like Dr. Handler believe that automated predictive hiring decisions will soon be able to achieve near 100 percent accuracy. This means that an AI assistant or chatbot will choose candidates with infinitesimal margins of error.

In theory, this could replace an entire recruiting staff and automate the majority of HR functions, leading to billions, if not trillions, in bottom-line savings. AI assessment software like SmartAssistant, Zoom.ai, Textio, and Ideal are already in use at many forward-thinking companies. What’s more, high-impact teams are 6x more likely to use AI, predictive analytics, and other tech solutions to make data-driven decisions over their lower-performing counterparts. Research indicates that top performers see 18 percent higher revenue and 30 percent greater profitability compared to those that don’t use these tools.

In some ways, current AI technology is reminiscent of the droids in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Much like the simple robots themselves, basic AI can complete programmatic tasks like keyword or image recognition, but fall short when facing certain, more complex operations. The droids have no problem volleying lasers in gigantic battles, but once an enemy gets up close, these droids struggle to hit the broadside of a barn.

Currently, recruiting AI can scan a resume to identify patterns and compare against pre-programmed “high-performing employee” profiles. The model then predicts if the candidate will be successful based on the amount of matching criteria. Today’s AI models are still leagues away from watching and evaluating candidates through video interviews or more traditional face-to-face interactions.

Dr. Handler believes that these shortcomings could be solved if engineers were able to develop deep learning AI with an advanced understanding of human psychology. He argues that machines currently follow guidelines much more efficiently than humans, but cannot make value judgements about their decisions. By somehow “teaching” machines elements of human psychology (i.e. empathy) and assigning meaning to their behaviors, automated processes like candidate selection would look, and feel, more human.

“For hire-bots to be able to do their job as well, or better, than humans, they are going to have to understand individual differences the same way that humans do,” says Dr. Handler. “In other words, to be truly game-changing, hiring assessment AIs are going to have to think like psychologists.”

In this sense, “thinking like a psychologist” means the bots must base their analysis on psychometrics, clinical measurements of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits that determine an individual’s true self. Hypothetically, by combining this measurement criteria with programmed professional judgment, an AI model could spot individual differences between candidate profiles without ever looking at resumes and decide which candidate would be the best match for an open position.

Counter to these utopian ideas are ethical arguments criticizing recruitment AI tech. One argument warns how genetic data could factor into hiring decisions, introducing a previously unfathomable bias. Another fear from critics is the idea of AI “cyber-snooping” on social media to create potential candidate profiles for a position. Despite these concerns, Dr. Handler appears confident in the future of recruitment AI.

“There is a lot to be gained by using AI to help psychologists to better understand individual differences,” he argues. “So, when creating the hire bots of tomorrow, don’t forget to include good old-fashioned psychology into the mix.”

This ecommerce giant made its billions by automating shopping service, but when it came to recruiting it made three crucial mistakes that lead to bias.

According to sources close to the project, it was obvious from the first year that AMZN.O – Amazon’s Recruiting AI – did not like women… like, at all!

The classified project quietly started in 2014, the Seattle company sought to create in-house computer programs to review and score candidates, sources told Reuters. “Everyone wanted this Holy Grail,” one source shared. “They literally wanted it to be an engine where I’m going to give you 100 resumes, it will spit out the top five, and we’ll hire those.”

In much the same way that customers rate products, AMZN.O rated candidates from one to five stars. However, a year into the experiment a gender bias became apparent, especially for software developers and technical posts.

The problem was in the data – the algorithm was feeding on a decade of almost all male resumes and concluding that the ideal candidate is a man, or rather, not a woman. AMZN.O would dock points from graduates of all women’s colleges and downgrade resumes with the word woman/women like “women’s chess club captain.”

Sources say that the algorithm was edited to be neutral to these specific terms, but there was still the fear that the program would teach itself new ways to detect femme resumes and continue to grade them lower.

And though Amazon owes most of its success to its ability to automate everything from warehouse management to pricing, the project was scrapped last year as executives lost hope that AMZN.O could ever be functional. The sources, who only agreed to speak with Reuters a year after the project ended — and under complete anonymity — maintain that no hiring decisions were made using the bias AI.

For some, this story is proof that we aren’t ready for AI in recruiting, and indeed there is still much to learn. Computer scientists like Nihar Shah, who teaches machine learning at Carnegie Mellon University, warn that an algorithm is easier to make than to control.

“How to ensure that the algorithm is fair, how to make sure the algorithm is really interpretable and explainable – that’s still quite far off.”

However, according to 2017 CareerBuilder survey, 55 percent of US HR managers said that AI will be a regular part of their work within the next five years. So is the solution really to avoid artificial intelligence in recruiting all together, or are there some lessons we can glean from this AI debacle? For further insight, we talked to the director of product for SmartRecruiters, Hessam Lavi.

“Developers of this type of systems have an enormous responsibility to prevent negative biases to shape the artificial intelligence they want to produce,” says Lavi. “So, proper training needs to take place to learn not just the technical and process effects of artificial intelligence, but how AI will affect natural beings as well.”

Lavi, who recently headed the team in building SmartAssistant, the first recruiting AI native to an ATS, sees three crucial mistakes when it comes to AMZN.O

1. Thinking the bias is coming from the machine: Negative biases are unfortunately part of the recruiting trade, whether from humans or machines – only it’s much harder to detect in people. So, having a system that makes biases apparent is valuable in itself. The AI learns from the data you feed it, so it’s not the program that’s biased so much as the people who made the decisions that the computer is now analyzing. Eliminating the program is not tantamount to eliminating bias.
2. Limiting the data set: The dataset from one company, even one as big as Amazon, just isn’t enough. A singular company may be using bias paradigms unintentionally. The bottom line is, the more data the better.
3. Deriving future predictions from past events: Past-predicts-future AI can work great for domains such as medical imaging that have a very narrow focus, for example, forecasting the growth of a tumor where an AI can be trained to make clear-cut decisions and act as an expert. However, in hiring which involves a wide range of factors, this type of assumptive AI tends to emphasize biases of the past. If you only had men hired in the past, the algorithm may assume it’s because they are the best people for the job and will continue prioritizing them for future positions.

His best advice? Avoid the black box!

“When we built SmartAssistant we split up the decision processing into smaller, distinct components,” says Lavi. “For example, one component would analyze candidates’ industry experience, one would examine education, one would evaluate soft skills, and so on. Through creating these stand-alone units, we can trace negative outcomes back to their origin and understand why they are happening.”

“We believe the final decision in the recruiting process will be made by humans for the foreseeable future,” Lavi affirms. “But, AI has the ability to automate many of the repetitive tasks and winnow down the stacks of resumes that overwhelm recruiters and cause them to lean on their negative biases. AI technology is much more than just automating tasks and it can teach us about how we make decisions and point out shortcomings in our abilities.”

Technophobic no longer, recruiters are embracing the potential of AI to positively impact their workflow.

Fairly or not, the recruiting industry is often branded as tech-averse. However, recent survey findings concerning the future of technology in HR are helping shed this negative stereotype, ushering in an era where TA becomes the poster child for early adoption.

According to Korn Ferry’s latest survey, 63 percent of TA professionals report AI having changed the way their organizations recruit. Not only that, but 87 percent say they’re excited about increasing their AI interaction in the future.

While these integrations are exciting sometimes it’s difficult to get past buzzwords to decipher the real concepts behind them.To gain a better understanding of the possibilities of tech when it comes to recruiting, we did the unpacking for you. Here are four main types of AI and automation technologies and how they’re being implemented in recruiting.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the ability of a machine or computer program to simulate human capacities such as learning, problem-solving, planning, and perception.

AI for recruiting is the application of artificial intelligence in recruitment designed to automate or streamline some part of the workflow, especially repetitive, high-volume tasks.

Let’s get specific.

In recruiting, there are three subdomains of AI techniques being applied:

• Machine learning is a type of algorithm that has the ability to teach itself by analyzing data and automatically improving its solutions through experience. Machine learning is being used to automate sourcing and resume screening as well as analyze candidate fit during digitized interviews.

An example of an innovative organization using AI for their screening is Indigo, a leading retailer that receives more than 2200 applications every week. Using AI to automate manual resume screening, Indigo has been able to reduce their cost per hire by 71 percent, triple their qualified candidates, and improve recruiter efficiency by 3.7x.

• Natural language processing is the ability of a computer program to understand spoken or written human language. One major way natural language processing is being used in recruitment is through chatbots that provide answers to FAQs and feedback to candidates in real time.
  
• Sentiment analysis is the ability of a computer program to determine the subjective opinion, emotional state, or intended emotional effect of spoken or written word. Sentiment analysis is being used to improve job descriptions by suggesting alternative adjectives, for example.

Recruitment chatbot

A chatbot is defined as ‘a computer program designed to stimulate conversation with human users.’

Randstad found that 82 percent of job seekers believe the ideal recruiting interaction is a mix between innovative technology and personal, human connection. According to Allegis, with 66 percent of candidates comfortable interacting with a chatbot, the market seems ready for mainstream adoption.

In recruiting, chatbots are being used to ask candidates qualifying questions, answer FAQs, and even schedule an interview with a human recruiter. A major advantage of using a chatbot in recruiting is its ability to answer thousands of candidates’ questions simultaneously in real time. Information collected by the chatbot is then fed into an ATS or sent directly to a human recruiter for follow up.

Robotic Process Automation

Hand in hand with AI is automation, or more specifically, robotic process automation (RPA).

The Institute of Robotic Process Automation defines robotic process automation as the application of technology that allows employees to use computer software or a machine to capture and interpret existing applications for processing transactions, analyzing data, triggering automatic responses, and communicating with other systems.

RPA is being applied in recruiting in two main ways:

• Candidate outreach such as automated emails or texts to maintain speedy and consistent contact. This outreach can be scheduled as a DRIP campaign for passive candidates, for example.
  
• Interview scheduling is being automated by software that offer time slots when a recruiter is free that candidates can then select without a back-and-forth email, text, or telephone exchange.

Blockchain technology

While blockchain is still in the beta stages, it’s gaining more and more attention this year.

A blockchain is a system of record keeping using an open, distributed digital ledger that records transactions between two parties. Each transaction in the ledger is verified and then recorded permanently across a peer-to-peer network of users. One advantage of blockchain technology is its speed of use — everyone has access to the most up-to-date information regardless of how many people are using it.

For recruiting, the main application of blockchain technology so far is candidate background checks; for example, on their educational or work history. For blockchain technology to work as a tamper-proof record of candidate history, it’s crucial that a credible and reliable source verifies the data in each block. For educational institutions, this is pretty straightforward, but it becomes more ambiguous when it comes to work history.

Even with all this technology making the recruiting process smarter, it remains to be seen how these elements will ultimately affect the business of managing human capital.

Ji-A Min is the Head Data Scientist at Ideal, AI recruiting software that automates time-consuming tasks such as sourcing, screening, and messaging. She has a Master’s in Industrial­-Organizational Psychology and her interests include data-based recruitment, HR tech, and diversity. Find out more about Ideal in the SmartRecruiters marketplace here.

Fed up with human inefficiencies, this former recruiter used her math skills to automate a very human process, and save a ton of time in doing so.

Aida Fazylova used her background in mathematics and data science to sketch out a new approach to automate as much of the recruiting workflow as possible using artificial intelligence, automation and chatbot technology. The result, XOR.ai, is a customizable AI chatbot and workflow automation to engage, screen and hire candidates 33 percent faster than the normal hiring process, providing extended analytics about the candidates, including predicted employee lifetime value. With XOR, the recruitment process is completely automated, from the moment the candidate engages, right up to making a job offer.

Now, headquartered in Austin, Texas, with major customers in 15 countries around the world, XOR is the emerging leader in Human Resource/ Talent Acquisition process automation, and we sat down with Founder and CEO Aida Fayzlova (picture below explaining her amazing product at Hiring Success 18 Europe), to hear why this is so important.

Why is your product a necessary tool for any SmartRecruiters customer?

Our product combines the latest in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, automation, and chatbot capabilities, eliminating the most time-intensive parts of the recruitment process. It’s available on your website 24/7, and can communicate in over 100 languages. XOR moves candidates through the funnel even while you sleep. Our AI will learn from your recruiters, hiring managers and candidates who come to your site, answering questions and gathering information, all to offer predictive analytics regarding future candidates and employees.

Briefly, on the back of a cocktail napkin, how does your product work?

Your candidate experience journey is elevated. XOR is with your candidates every step of the way, communicating conversations and data back to your hiring team in the ATS.

What does your product do that can’t be replicated?

Currently, XOR supports 103 languages and has global hiring capabilities. Our product is also known for its sophisticated scheduling functions.

How does your product help make the hiring process as easy as possible?

XOR automates 60 percent of repetitive administrative tasks that your recruiters are handling every day, which allows more free time for your team to focus on more imperative, strategic tasks.  

At what stage of growth are you, and where is that relative to how big you want to be?

We’re at a healthy stage of growth with a great headquarters in Austin, and major customers in over 15 countries around the world.

How does your product compliment the SmartRecruiters TAS – philosophically and technologically?

XOR is considered a one-stop solution for candidate experience. Providing self-scheduled meetings with recruiters, it’s available 24/7 to answer questions for candidates and walks applicants step-by-step through the entire application process. XOR will keep your candidates continuously engaged and send status updates until the position has been filled. Our software works the front end of the ATS for your candidates, automating a great deal of work for your recruiters and is proven to recruit 33 percent faster.

What led you to partner with SmartRecruiters?

SmartRecruiters has the same sweet spot we do. Most SmartRecruiters clients are enterprise customers and high-volume recruiters, which is really interesting for us. The simplicity and the beauty of the ATS is elegant and modern. Designing products and platforms in that same vein is why we chose to partner with SmartRecruiters.

How long did it take to become integrated into the SR marketplace, and what were the obstacles or adjustments in that process?

Our integration into the marketplace only took about a week, with one person, which was a pretty quick turnaround. We avoided any obstacles through preparation and research. There are some obstacles in getting the API to speak to each other but once we integrated it’s been working great.

How long would it take for the average SR user to implement and take full advantage of your product?

Set up will take about 3-6 weeks, most of this time will be spent with XOR’s customer success team, working closely with TA pros, learning the knowledge piece of the chatbot, going over screening scenarios and linking calendars to chatbots to self-schedule candidates. Our team wants to ensure your chatbot is customized to your recruiters’ needs and goals to be as successful as possible in their recruiting efforts.

What would you say to a company unsure about joining the SR marketplace?

SmartRecruiters marketplace is one of the best on the market. It’s full of incredible partners which gives you a great reach to SmartRecruiters customer base and vice versa. Great events like Hiring Success are organized to focus on bringing as much business to their partners as possible, and during those events, you are able to start building relationships with businesses and close a lot of deals.

What do you see as the future of Talent Acquisition and where do you fit into it?

We see it as a rise in conversational interface. Right now, most web interactions are form based. Forms are great, but there are better, more customer-friendly interfaces. Your friends meet you and they want to have a conversation, not fill forms, right? The same thing happens online. Users want to engage, ask questions, and have a personalized experience, not be stuck with one-size-fits-all forms.

70% of job searches begin with Google. Now that the search giant has put their job search algorithm into the hands of candidates, will they end there, too?

Following last summer’s release of the employer-focused Google for jobs (GJ), as part of the Cloud Jobs API, Google has now made GJ, complete with AI matching technology to surface job postings on every board they’re advertised, available to American job seekers.

With GJ, candidates can enter a search query like “jobs near me”, or “retail jobs”, and filter the results by location, specialty, company rating, or working hours – with more filters to come for ultra-personalized results. Think Google Flights, but for jobs.

It’s a big deal for both job boards and employers, for very different reasons. Job boards will have to rethink their value proposition to businesses and candidates, and while employers don’t really care whether job boards live or die, but missing out on GJ would mean missing out on candidates…

For candidates, GJ’s appeal is obvious: job boards are usually little different than their newspaper classified predecessors, as in broad, hard to search, and riddled with expired ads. Now, Google’s powerful creepy crawlies aggregate job data from around the internet to make sure posts are both relevant and up to date.

GJ does this by evolving matching technology. The idea being that enormous banks of data surface smarter matches through algorithms powered by AI and machine learning, thus eliminating the hassle of inconsistent job titling from company to company that has plagued candidates in the past.

“If I were Indeed, I would be scared; if I were an ATS that focuses on small- to medium-sized businesses, I would be scared,” says Jonathan Kestenbaum, recruiting tech expert and managing director for Talent Tech Labs. “If I were a Talent Acquisition enthusiast, I would be excited that such a large organization is taking interest in helping innovate within the space.”

Indeed has chosen not to make their jobs crawlable by Google. Rather, they are relying on the strength of their own brand, and the fact that, unlike most job boards, they are already using AI in their matching algorithms. Plus, for now, GJ with the added AI is only up and running in one country, the US, and in one language, English.

Photo Credit: Google Blog

Google may have the advantage of controlling the search engine where 70 percent of job hunts begin, But there’s still the matter of trust to consider. Facebook ran into trouble recently with their job advertising algorithm, when it was found to favor men. (Read why here) The candidate needs to know the AI underlying the search results is not so much a Harry Potter sorting hat, but more a summoning charm.

An accounting recruiter with over a decade of experience, Adam Karpiak says it may be a while before GJ really changes anything. “To the average candidate, job postings are job postings are job postings. These platforms actually make the recruiters look better because we specialize in people, NOT job postings. I’m sure GJ will be [a leg up], for the one percent of companies that understand what’s going on. It’ll take so long to trickle down to most companies, the ones that jump on it will definitely have an advantage.”

Google staunchly insists their new tech isn’t a replacement for job boards. The data giant is, in fact, partnering with LinkedIn, Monster, WayUp, DirectEmployers, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor and Facebook, to surface the best opportunities tailored to candidate specifications, hoping their foray into recruiting will push the industry forward in terms of tech innovation.

With more opportunities coming their way, job seekers are going to expect a quick and seamless process. So, recruiters, how can you make sure Google sees, and likes you? First off, make sure your job ad is compatible with Google search – you can check that by clicking here! – and be sure to follow this easy checklist, making sure your ad is:

1. Mobile friendly: Make sure your career site and job posting are easy to navigate on mobile devices, so you don’t miss the casual scrollers!
2. Informative: Adding details like office location, work hours, and flexible work options will make it easy for candidates to surface your job posting.
3. Well Branded: Reviews and content about your company will be more visible than ever, so it’s a great time to make sure everything is up to date. You may even consider branching into new media, like making that career video you’ve been dreaming of.
4. One-click–Apply Ready: Lowers candidate drop out rates, and strengthens your brand in the digital age.
5. Efficient: The influx of candidates means that process becomes extremely important. Make sure your ATS is supporting quick and organized communication for your team, so candidates have a great experience.

Read more about SmartRecruiters Google Job Search functionalities here!