Lessons from J.T. O’Donnell at recruitDC

As a novice recruiter on the scene, I was trying to absorb everything like a sponge. The Spring #recruitDC event was a great one for both novice and seasoned recruiters to attend. The common thread throughout the various sessions at recruitDC? Building both your personal brand and your company’s brand.

First up, J.T O’Donnell, founder and CEO of CAREEREALISM and CareerHMO, kicked off the event with a killer keynote on how the pursuit of the sophisticated job seeker can re-energize one’s recruiting career.

O’Donnell shared that the biggest problem in recruiting right now is the time-to-fill; the rate is at its highest peak in 13 years. Simply said, there are too many reqs to fill, and recruiters are not getting enough information or resources to fill the positions successfully.

So, what’s changed? O’Donnell cites both a skills gap and a shortage of talent as contributors to today’s recruiting challenges:

“The recruiting industry is essentially experiencing a perfect storm of changing demographics, vastly ranging in age and experience, right alongside technological innovations that are reshaping how recruiters do what they do.”

In a profession that has previously been based on in-person connections and making lots of phone calls, those tactics are largely unfamiliar to my generation— which is not to say that we can’t pick up traditional skills and bring with us our new-tech savvy.

The result is that it’s frustrating. The research conducted by CAREEREALISM shows that:

• 53 percent of sophisticated job seekers need to see a company’s LinkedIn career page in order to consider the company as a future employer;
• 64 percent of sophisticated job seekers need to see a Glassdoor page in order to consider a company as a future employer;
• and 60 percent of employees say that they want professional development.

Millennials make up roughly 34 percent of the workforce, and studies show that they desire ongoing professional development. O’Donnell pointed out how millennials have been coached all their lives- — in sports, how to get As, etc. — yet they don’t have someone to coach them in their careers.

How can we tackle these problems? O’Donnell provided the following tips:

• Write job stories, not job descriptions.
• Learn to leverage personas by looking at a job description to see what kind of personality fit the hiring manager is looking for.
• Build your personal and professional brands online and in-person.
• Make your introductions to emails/inMails personalized to build your recruiter brand and credibility.
• Use sponsored posts on social media platforms.

Stay tuned for more advice from a novice recruiter following the 2015 recruitDC Spring conference. Follow Evelyn on Twitter for real-time updates at @EvelynXu15 !

This post originally appeared on Scope Group’s blog. Be sure to check in with us regularly to follow along with Evelyn’s adventures as a new recruiter!