I have to add that the handful of times I tried to use a recruiter, I specifically and directly asked each one not to use job boards. Each time, the recruiter ignored me and send me resumes from monster.com or careerbuilder.com.

– Eric

“However, too many companies think this can all happen without the total involvement of the executive team and every single line manager. This has been the weakest link in the chain in the past, and my prediction for the future is that it will continue to be the problem.”

… and that ladies and gentlemen is why they will continue to need us as recruiters. We DRIVE the process and help them get out of their own way!

Extremely, glad to see what you have written here in the article. We @ JobsByRef.com had similar thoughts for quite sometime now and have actually gone in and implemented a service which takes care of pretty much most of the stuff you are talking about here. The good thing is companies are already using it and are seeing the benefits. We are very passionate about bringing a change to the recruitment industry, which has been kind of static for quite sometime now, with only marginal changes happening here and there. A unified and holistic approach is needed to bring a dramatic change to this whole process of hiring. Visit and check out the site at http://www.jobsbyref.com when you have time.

Mike – this article was referring to corporate recruiting departments – not outside firms. Your view is covered in point 10 in a roundabout way.

Thank you for your thoughts, and I think most of these are happening now. Social media is the way to find people, if an organization is hiring they wnat the perfect candidate so you need to go ager passive candidate’s, job boards are not very successful in finding candidates you need to use other means.

I agree that companies need to start preparing for the upturn with their hiring plans, many people are waiting out the market before they find the next role.

Best –
Chernee

I love your vision of the near future but I’m afraid that one thing may stand in the way: the government. In particular the OFCCP and to a lesser degree the EEOC and state regulators.

In my view, the current requisition based model still exists because so many firms (especially large firms) are required to track and report on applicant activity for specific defined positions.

The hub and spoke model is beautiful. It’s dynamic, it’s robust, it’s scalable, and it allows firms to focus on quality. But as long as companies are required by law to track “applicants” to “positions”, then form will follow function and the requisition model will persist. And as long it persists, we will continue to see Applicant Tracking Systems rather than Candidate Relationship Management systems dominate the market and ERP’s will feed into an ATS rather than a CRM.

I’d much rather see your vision of 2010 come true. Please convince me in can still happen.

Our firm, and many others, have been operating sucessfully for years on the (to us) proven premise that no method is more effective and PRODUCTIVE in surfacing and attracting the largest quantities of the highest-quality type of candidate (the PASSIVE candidate) than TELEPHONE-based candidate I.D. (”Name-Generation”), followed by PROACTIVE TELEPHONE-BASED contacts with such identified prospects.

This has been the “Gold Standard” for recruiting used by the top RETAINED search firms.

We are still convinced, based on extensive ACTUAL EXPERIENCE, including “side-by-side” tests of Telephone-based methods versus INTERNET and Business/Social network methods…for the SAME SEARCHES, that internet methods do not even approach the level of productivity of prime candidates typical when using telephone-based methods.

Your article and research didn’t touch upon the future outlook for the Telephone-based approach to identifying and sourcing PASSIVE CANDIDATES. I would be interested in any impressions or research findings you have addressing that issue.

I really think the referral method will work well as social networks are now second nature to so many people it just seems natural to ask employees to attract the right people they think are best for the job. Looking forward to hearing more!

This is great stuff. And you are correct – not too tough to predict.

I do get frustrated, though, that companies are not yet recognizing that the current situation with candidates is going to turnaround very quickly, as the economy improves.

Hiring managers continue to confuse the fact that there is a high quantity of candidates with the fact that the quality candidates are still “underground” for the most part.