Top 6 Recruitment Skills for 2021 & How You Can Master Them

Get a brush up on skills you’ll need for success this 2021

Maryann Superlano
Recrooit
7 min readJan 20, 2021

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Recruitment represents an essential part of HR. It incorporates everything from accurately identifying a hiring need to successfully filling a position and onboarding new hires. Recruiters are in charge of attracting, interviewing, selecting, and hiring candidates. To do so, every recruiter needs a particular skill set.

Before we proceed with the new recruitment skills for 2021, some key recruitment skills include:

And more.

With the continuously evolving market and numerous global occurrences reshaping recruitment as we know it, new trends and requirements are about to emerge. The list of top 6 recruitment skills for 2021 you should learn involves a slight switch in recruiters’ focus. Here’s the ultimate recruiting skills checklist for the year ahead of us.

The List of Essential Recruitment Skills

Being a recruiter comes with a great deal of responsibility. To become a recruitment specialist implies adopting, developing, and adjusting certain abilities and masteries.

The most important recruitment skills every great staffing expert must learn are:

  • Marketing skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Excellent interpersonal skills
  • Organization and time-management skills
  • Multitasking
  • Prioritizing
  • Teamwork
  • Tech skills

The last one is particularly significant for present-day hiring necessities and for the years to come. Technical skills for recruiters are becoming mandatory. And while checking out the list of the top 6 recruitment skills for 2021, we’ll mention some of the trends and tendencies in the tech industry.

Top 6 Recruitment Skills for 2021

We faced some changes in 2020 that will permanently alter the business sphere as we once knew it. New necessary recruitment skills for 2021 are merely the logical response to the global reshuffling going on.

So, given the new circumstances that require quick adaptation, here’s what recruiters should know.

The new trends in recruiting & mandatory recruitment skills for 2021 they drive include:

Remote Work & Related Recruitment Skills for 2021

Tech recruiters know that the vast majority of their top candidates inarguably enjoy remote work. However, this employment type is nowadays more of a necessity (rather than a benefit). With everyone everywhere advocating remote positions, it is only reasonable to assume that new recruitment skills for 2021 will be required to match the situation and respond adequately to it.

Remote Interviews

One of the most important recruitment skills for 2021 will unquestionably be the ability to conduct remote interviews. The interview strategy has moved to the virtual world. Recruiters will be urged to learn about various online platforms that will enable them to interview job applicants efficiently and effectively. Remote work-related recruitment skills for 2021 are at the top of the list of new modifications in recruiters’ roles and responsibilities and will affect everything regarding the hiring process.

Much like with typical onsite job interviews, recruitment skills for 2021 needed for successful conduction of online interviews are:

  • Careful preparation
  • Personalization
  • Company and industry knowledge
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Thoroughness (while remaining concise)
  • Proper time-management skills

Other recruitment skills for 2021 could involve familiarity with one or more of these communication platforms:

  • Zoom
  • GoogleMeets
  • Skype
  • GoToMeeting
  • VidCruiter
  • Spark Hire

In addition to it, recruiters should use interview scheduling tools like Calendly and should use an ATS to track their candidates’ progress through the pipeline. Even though the usage of some HR software and similar tools goes way beyond the recruitment skills for 2021, this type of knowledge should be regularly amplified and adjusted to the remote working conditions.

Obtaining New Tech Knowledge

Tech recruiters are bound to relive the infamous turbulent LinkedIn-based relationship with their candidates. Tech talent often feel like their fellow recruiters lack in some relevant hard-skills. Or, at least — in some basic understanding of the terms. That being said, tech knowledge should become an integral part of the list of recruitment skills for 2021.

The predictions for 2021 tech trends and tendencies suggest that employers and tech talent will be focused on these areas:

  • Cloud computing
  • Cybersecurity
  • AI and Machine learning
  • Data science
  • IoT

So, if you’re an aspiring tech recruiter, and you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering — how on Earth should I learn about these in the next few months?

Mandatory tech recruitment skills for 2021 only contain bits and pieces of information regarding these complex topics. What you should do to grow your skillset as a recruiter is to read often & stay up to date.

The crucial thing to do to enhance your recruitment skills for 2021 is to develop a curious mind and a healthy, uninterrupted learning habit.

Embracing Innovation in Recruitment Strategies

When we say “innovation,” it most likely sounds like more tech stuff recruiters will have to learn. However, innovation in recruitment strategies doesn’t solely apply to the purely technical aspects of it.

Some recruitment skills for 2021 you should learn are crucial for building fresh and efficient recruiting tactics. Old ways of enticing talent are far behind. Welcome to the futuristic recruitment present.

Brace Yourselves — AI is coming

Fine, you’ve got us — we’ll start by mentioning more tech stuff recruiters should get familiarized with in 2021. AI represents the revolution itself, and it has undoubtedly revolutionized recruitment. So, there’s no big surprise when we include AI into the list of vital recruitment skills for 2021.

Before we merge Spielberg’s vision with every other take on the topic IMBG has offered, let’s make one thing clear — recruiters can, should, and will use AI only as their sidekick.

Why should we adopt new recruitment skills for 2021 in the AI domain?

Take your time and explore the possibilities. These skills matter for recruiters and their results.

Non-tech Recruitment Skills for 2021 That Will Boost Your Strategies

Building an efficient recruitment strategy was always a tricky business. There are several aspects you must count on to make it work. Still, some good recruitment practices are here to stay.

And this is what you should learn about and focus on in 2021:

  • The first step is to create your candidate persona; once you’ve established who you’re looking for, adjust your approach (starting with your pitch)
  • With pretty much everyone working remotely, you will need to reorganize the list of benefits you offer
  • Work-life balance and mutual support matters more than ever
  • Diversity and inclusion are becoming more relevant for the company culture
  • Remote jobs imply the need for better soft skills (in both recruiters and prospective candidates)

The insights on these areas and the relevant recruitment skills for 2021 will help you reach your targets.

Developing strong leadership skills

Developing and refining leadership abilities makes it into the top 6 recruitment skills for 2021 you should master.

Leadership skills connected to recruitment success imply:

You don’t need to officially become a leader to put these valuable recruitment skills for 2021 into good use. Practice these skills daily, and you’ll see the results in no time.

Enhancing Candidate Experience

Those who aim to possess excellent recruitment skills for 2021 should always keep the candidate experience in mind.

To obtain the extraordinary candidate experience, you should:

  • Make sure you’re understanding and meeting the actual hiring need
  • Master the writing of clear and precise job descriptions
  • Learn how to ease the application process
  • Boost your communication skills
  • Check-in with candidates regularly
  • Extend your company knowledge and industry knowledge
  • Learn about your competition
  • Learn how to ask for feedback (and how to receive it)
  • Practice active listening
  • Perfect your approach in the interviews
  • Learn about the properly structured interview (while remaining open for adjustments; practice adaptability)
  • Learn as much as possible about employer branding and its influence on recruitment

Recruitment skills for 2021 that will set your company apart from its competitors and help it build lasting relationships with the applicants are essential. Boosting your recruitment skills related to enhancing candidate experience should be among your top priorities.

Keeping Track of the Data

The foundation of the HR universe lies in data. Obtaining (and improving) your recruitment skills for 2021 that will enable you to make data-driven decisions will work like magic. Your analytical skills will need brushing up. Here’s what you should know.

Recruitment Metrics

Knowledge of hiring metrics represents the peak of the obligatory recruitment skills for the 2021 list.

Essential recruitment metrics you ought to master & track are:

  • source of hire
  • time to hire
  • how long a job has been open
  • offer acceptance rate
  • cost per hire
  • quality of hire
  • vacancy cost

Once predictive analytics enters the list of your recruitment skills for 2021, you’ll be opening the doors to new recruitment trends.

Get Ready for the Future: Master the Top 6 Recruitment Skills for 2021 & Enjoy the Outcome

With the entire business world migrating from traditional operating methods into the online territory, we need to modify our ways and knowledge. Recruiters will have more on their agenda than ever before. Still, once they grasp the essential recruitment skills for 2021, their achievements will be undisputable.

What else does the future of recruitment hold? Find out.

https://recrooit.com/

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Maryann Superlano
Recrooit

I help companies create a tone of voice, and give their audiences quality content they can find a use for and connect with the brand