Experienced Recruiters aren’t filling jobs because they have a "Skills Gap" in 2021

I wrote an article recently about the 3 Essential KPIs for Recruiting in 2021 (https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/3-essential-kpis-recruiting-2021-william-spengler/?trackingId=VDcF33pZTMOLa9DnlgMfkQ%3D%3D ) as well as an article about the hiring challenges of 2021 here (https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/candidate-market-2021-william-spengler/ )

If we remove market conditions and KPIs, why aren’t experienced recruiters filling jobs? We all understand the excuses of the market, but let’s talk about skills gaps and how we can identify them:

I believe the answer is experienced recruiters aren’t filling jobs because they have an outdated skillset and have not adapted to modern techniques, resulting in a recruiting skills gap in 2021.

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What makes the matter worse for experienced recruiters is they have pride and an aversion to adopting modern technology. They remember a time when they had unlimited InMail’s and were able to get coverage through a premium LinkedIn subscription account. They had some golden years from 2012-2017 and they are holding onto methods that worked in the past, that are no longer experiencing the same returns in 2021. ?Even worse the recruiting leaders that are coaching them found their success in outdated recruiting processes. These recruiting leaders arent equipped with technology nor operational understanding to arm their current recruiters properly in a highly competitive recruiting market.

This experienced recruiter "Avatar" and skillset has been declining in effectiveness since 2018, and even worse these experience recruiters remain stubborn in their approaches. They do not realize they could be a one-tricked pony and that the hiring managers they are servicing are paying the costs of their inability to adjust in modern times.

~Step one is self-awareness and step 2 is to become more like Eric Clapton~

Eric Clapton considered himself an expert until he met Jimi Hendrix and Prince. Eric Clapton was one of the best, but he studied Jimi Hendrix daily and revered him as the best guitarist of all time.

Instead of being like Eric Clapton, every recruiter thinks they Jimi Hendrix. It often isn't until they work in a recruiting agency that they find themselves in the middle or bottom of the leaderboard. The leaderboard in a modern-day recruiting agency can be quite humbling and an illuminating acid test. Every top producer wishes they could show their clients the leaderboard instead of having to use tactical words and perform the best waltz in the board room.

So what skills are these experienced recruiters lacking in 2021 and why isn't our recent recruiting hire with 20 years of recruiting experience getting us results? There could be a number of answers depending on the experienced recruiter but here is a list of things to ask them:

·???????What modern databases are you using?

·???????What niche and market did you build your original knowledge and skillset in? How are you adapting to the new markets and new niche recruiting skillsets we are asking you to produce in?

·???????What adjustments are you making to enter new markets?

·???????What changes have you made to address new audiences?

·???????Walk me through your Boolean logic and X-Ray approaches?

·???????What do you do after you have no more InMail’s left on LinkedIn Recruiter?

·???????Do you need LinkedIn Recruiter to be effective?

·???????Do you know how to scrape and mine data? What tools are you using for this?

·???????What is the difference between web scraping and automation?

·???????What creative outreach approaches do you have?

·???????What KPIs do you hold yourself accountable to?

·???????How many people have you placed this year?

·???????How much have you billed and where do you stand on the leaderboard in your agency?

·???????Have you adopted Artificial Intelligence?

·???????How many AI tools are you using?

·???????Who is cross-referencing the AI intelligence again String Building Logic?

If you start to ask these questions, you may uncover your experienced recruiter with 20 years of experience has a Skill Gap in 2021.