It’s safe to say that 2020 was a tough year for everyone. And while all industries were impacted to a certain extent, it was particularly hard on the world of early talent. It entirely upended the primary way recruiters engage with emerging leaders and professionals. Tried and tested practices, such as campus events, career fairs, internship and graduate programs, were suddenly no longer viable in their current form. It had us scrambling. Who could have expected this? Everybody in the industry did things differently in the face of this upheaval. In fact, some of us, whether intentionally or unintentionally, ended up entirely innovating standard practices and finding more effective ways to engage with exceptional early talent.
With a new phase upon us, it’s time to say goodbye to the baggage and embrace the transition away from long-existing frameworks that no longer serve us. Without further adieu, and with utter good riddance, here are the top 10 things we want to leave behind:
- Using on-campus recruiting as the main driver to identify and access early talent—including swag.
- Travelling to the same universities each year after year, after year.
- Using resumes as the best signal of candidate performance. Who hasn’t ‘elaborated’ in their resumes before?
- Using interviews as the best indicator of workplace and cultural fit.
- Intentionally or unintentionally finding cookie-cutter candidate profiles, and unintentionally stifling diversity of thought along the way.
- Focusing on only attracting juniors and seniors at university and forgetting those earlier in their career journey who need the most guidance and support.
- Expecting universities to provide practical workplace-ready students and shift from their fundamental premise as the primary source of theoretical teachings.
- Continuing to struggle to meet and effectively fulfill diversity and inclusion initiatives.
- Losing the wonderful art of genuine communication through the recruiting process while hiding behind chatbots, ATS frameworks, and automated auto-culling candidate tools.
- Unintentionally creating barriers to entry to the workplace by not appreciating just how closed our doors are and just how uneven the playing field is.
We should have these things behind years ago. But, sometimes we need a push to drive us to make the inevitable change. By eliminating these practices, we can all make a significant leap to the future of emerging talent.
