In today’s ‘gig’ economy, with an increasingly mobile workforce, the recruitment business is bigger than ever; with over 9,500 recruitment agencies each with an annual turnover of over £250,000 operating in the UK.
The industry’s value to the UK economy now exceeds £35 billion.
For recruiters, the talent pool is bigger and more diverse than ever, yet there’s still a lack of relevant skills and experience for many top jobs.
The UK’s chronic skills gap is what lead James Dyson to launch the Dyson Institute of Technology, where cutting-edge, degree-level programmes are provided for a new generation of engineers. The Minister of State for Universities, Jo Johnson, has endorsed the initiative, suggesting it will “provide employers with the skilled graduates that will drive future productivity and the economic prosperity of our country.”
Finding the best people has even resulted in such ‘students’ being handed a salary and an opportunity to work alongside experienced engineers on new product development.
In the end, with a smaller pool of experienced and talented employees, it’s becoming harder for recruiters and employers to find the right people quickly enough to meet demand.
That’s why the recruitment business itself is in a state of change. New players, such as Vidu Recruitment—the first recruitment platform to integrate pre-interview video and social with a user’s profile—are embracing new technology and delivering a more fleet-of-foot, focused and relevant offer.
Recruiters who follow traditional methods of recruiting—the job advert, compiling CVs, sifting and shortlisting for interview, the interviews themselves, and so on—are being left in the slow lane.
The real winners will be those recruiters who are prepared to lead rather than follow and respond to a fast-paced market by staying one step ahead.
And for those candidates looking to stand head-and-shoulders above their competition, the ability to create your own content to share with hiring managers is paramount. Of course, a CV is a great way of sharing the core skills you have developed during your time in the work-place, but what about who you actually are as a person?
A CV doesn’t get a person a job, the person does!
