Don't Judge...

With the rise of platforms like LinkedIn Recruiter, Facebook and SEEK Talent Finder we are seeing a greater importance and emphasis on social networking, connection, public profiles and head hunting. From a recruitment perspective, this has had a huge impact on our talent resourcing strategies and supposedly creates ‘limitless’ opportunities to connect with your ideal talent.

Fuelling this shift from traditional recruitment is the rise of Gen Y in an increasingly agile workplace. With this change, we have seen seen the increasing importance placed on position titles. Interestingly, of the talent we surveyed in 2016, 68% rated position title in their top 5 motivational factors when applying for a role.

We are seeing the emergence of creative titles; intended to entice potential talent to organisations and a movement away from traditional titles which have previously ruled the marketplace. For example, a traditional Personal Assistant may now be called an Executive PA, Team Assistant, Secretary, Lifestyle Manager, the list goes on. Similarly, many of you may have seen the traditional Receptionist revived as a Director of First Impressions.

The prevailing title-driven recruitment trend makes it impossible to understand the exact extent of skills a potential talent has – increasingly one cannot make assumptions based on the job titles listed on a resume or social media profile.

Talent finding functions are further exacerbating the problem on some technological platforms. Whilst these social media tools offer extensive exposure to talent and employers alike, they tend to be rather hit and miss or limiting when talent resourcing. Not only can we not get genuine insight into a candidate’s skills and experience when searching for a ‘receptionist’, we are potentially missing an enormous pool of suitable talent, who have the skills we desire but an alternative title.

The moral to the story is double sided:

Talent:

We really need to think about the titles and use of words we employ on our profiles and in our CVs.

HR and Recruiters: Pick up the phone to truly understand a talent’s role and skillset. Take the opportunity to capture the best talent in the market and ensure that we are not misguided by the everchanging title .

Simply, don’t judge a talent by their title.