The biggest trends set to change how recruiters hire this year are diversity, reinventing the interview process, data and artificial intelligence. Contributor Jon Addison, Head of Talent Solutions – LinkedIn UK. The annual report surveyed over 8,800 recruiters and hiring managers from 39 countries to understand these trends and help recruitment teams prepare for 2018. This is According to LinkedIn’s latest Global Recruiting Trends report.

Diversity is the mindset
The report revealed the most important trend is diversity, inclusion and belonging, with 82 percent of UK hiring managers saying this is the key issue impacting how they hire. The data shows that companies now see having a diverse workforce directly correlating with improved culture (78 percent) and a boosted company performance (62 percent). Despite attention on the subject, many companies are still coming up against barriers, with nearly two-fifths (38 percent) globally struggling to find diverse candidates to interview and 27 percent finding it difficult to retain diverse employees.

Reinventing the job interview
Traditional job interviews have been a standard for decades, but there is a shift coming. Half (49 percent) of UK respondents said that changes to interview techniques are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ important to the future of hiring, making way for a new-age interview process. The biggest problems for talent leaders are assessing a candidate’s soft skills (63 percent), understanding their weaknesses (57 percent) and interviewer bias (42 percent).

In 2018, new tools set to emerge will help to revolutionise the process, including virtual reality assessments (28 percent), meeting in casual settings (53 percent) and job auditions (54 percent). This will make it harder for candidates to embellish skills and means they get to try a job for fit first.

Data continues to be key
Most professionals in the industry use data in their jobs now, but this is set to accelerate in 2018 with nearly two-fifths (38 percent) seeing it as one of the most important factors in the hiring process. Over two thirds (64 percent) are currently making use of data for things like increased retention, evaluating skills and building better offers – but within the next two years, 79 percent are likely to be using data in their hiring process, suggesting an even greater reliance on it.

AI will become the secret assistant
The term artificial intelligence is often seen as threatening when it comes to jobs, but for recruiters who can receive hundreds of CVs a day it’s set to become the secret workhouse that helps them do their jobs better. Over a quarter (28 percent) of UK respondents said AI is the most important trend for 2018, helping them source, screen and nurture candidates – saving time and helping to remove any human bias. While AI can replace some processes, only 14 percent think it will eliminate the recruiter’s job altogether; building relationships, seeing candidate potential and judging culture fit are amongst the top skills AI is least likely to replace.

Jon Addison, Head of Talent Solutions at LinkedIn UK, commented “Over the past few years, hiring talent has become a repetitive, and sometimes transactional, process. But there is a shift happening, and these emerging trends are helping to elevate recruitment to a more strategic profession that focuses on the most important and gratifying parts of the job – the human part and thinking critically about how to win the right talent. It’ll be a keen finger on the pulse with these trends that will help recruiters stay alive in our ever-evolving market.”