Recruiting is heating up as the economy shows signs of strengthening, but are you ready? Is your company ready? If not, check out the following 3 recruiting trends picking up steam in 2016:

1. The Candidate Experience

Like it or not, candidates are now able to talk about their recruiting experiences right away. Sites like Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn have given job seekers the ability to provide not only reviews of their previous employment experiences but also of their experiences during the recruiting and interview processes. This means that your company may become the target of attack if you aren’t providing candidates with a great experience, even if they don’t get hired. The Internet is the new word-of-mouth, so be careful.

2. Keywords May Be on the Way Out

Given today’s technology, it can be easy to set in place simple keyword-sniffing programs that kick out resumes and applications that don’t include direct words that apply to the position for which your company is hiring. This may seem like a good tactic at first as it filters out candidates that don’t hold certain qualifications or have direct experience. On the other hand, think about all of the qualified candidates you’re removing from consideration due to a line of code.

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Not everyone writes the same, so a candidate who refers to his or her experience in user interaction may use terms like “user experience” and “project management”, and although this applicant may be severely qualified, your company’s automated system may kick him or her out before you even have a chance to read over a resume. Keywords can help when reviewing a resume, but many companies are finding that automated systems that rely solely on keywords are hindering their searches instead of helping.

3. Flex Work is Finding a More Stable Foothold

Flex work, often referred to as remote work, is gathering a greater foothold in the workplace due to the abilities provided by the Internet. What would have required an employee to be in the office 20 years ago can now be done from home or any other location where an Internet connection is present. As a result, younger workers increasingly expect to be able to work from home or on the road, and employers are finding that such offerings are attractive recruiting tools. Cloud-based technologies are furthering this desire, so if you plan on increasing your list of candidates in 2016, it’s probably best to try to find some way to develop and implement a cloud-based technology strategy.

In the end, recruiting hasn’t really changed all that much … simply look for the most talented professionals who are the right fit for your company, its culture, and its customers. The difference now comes in the form of sorting through candidates, deciding which ones to bring in for interviews, and then which ones to hire. Take your time, but keep candidate interests in mind as well.

Will the increase of flex work increase the overall productivity of a company?