A visionary in his ideas, Vikram Wadhawan is the Founder and CEO of Vasitum. A firm believer of “don’t preach if you can’t deliver”, Vikram is spearheading the business with his innovative strategies and growth-oriented skills and abilities. Vasitum is the world’s first full-stack recruitment platform automating various functions in recruitment, including sourcing, screening, assessment, interview scheduling, background check & documentation. It is built to make recruiters a lot more productive, their workflows efficient and smarter. Being the founder of the organisation, Vikram takes the responsibility of almost everything – Product, Technology, Operations, Marketing, Sales, Strategy, Finance, creation of Company Culture, Human Capital, Hiring, Compliance, etc. While he owns and manages so many functions, there are some, where he enjoys spending more time. These are – product strategy & roadmap, company’s culture, values and behaviour, building and leading cross-functional teams, and business development & marketing.
While we all have witnessed global industries displace jobs and create jobs, there are other major drivers that need focus. Here is my view of what we can expect from 2021 in the hiring segment.
New jobs will be created
Every time something big like this happens, the world is shaken up. And when the world is shaken, they start finding ways to make processes faster. The result? New needs arise, and new jobs are created. Look back 10 years ago, there were no CX engineers, no UI/UX designers, no inbound marketing specialists.
Keep an eye out for the problematic areas and start preparing yourself to solve those challenges.
Money will not rain on candidates
As I said, businesses have lost a lot of money. They are desperate to cover their losses. So, expecting a million-dollar pay package to fall right into your laps is a bit far-fetched. Also, the frequent appraisals and pay increments that were rolled out earlier will be controlled. Cost-cutting will become a problem.
Upskill yourself. Start delivering results faster and better to let your employers know that you are an indispensable resource.
Technology > Humans
A lot of technology companies are pushing hard to automate things and processes. The COVID-19 pandemic has made business owners gasping for breath (read efficiency). As a result, the technology companies have found the prey they were looking for. Make no mistake, automation is going to replace a lot of jobs.
Automation is the need of tomorrow, and the coronavirus has just accelerated the process several steps ahead. You have to be one step ahead of the game now.
Changing work environments and flexible working arrangements
Businesses who were never in favour of remote working and such arrangements were forced to implement the same due to the pandemic. And this culture is here to stay for a long time. Remote working, video meetings on Zoom, and working from home is now the way most modern businesses are going to operate.
You have to be ready to work in an environment that is dynamic and volatile. Do not be pushy of your comfort zone.
Sales = Revenue
Everyone is a salesman. When you are going for a job interview, you are selling your services to the company. When you are working as a developer, you are selling the product to the client. Directly or indirectly, you are a part of the sales process for the organisation. Recruiters are going to find employees who can sell.
Because if you are not contributing to the sales pipeline, you are of no good to the business.
Results-driven hiring
When companies have spare money to throw around, they generally hire the first likeable candidate. Then they train the hire and derive results. But now they have limited funds and little desire to spend it. Hence, they are right away going to hire the candidate who has a concrete result-based history.
Whatever be your current job, try identifying metrics and KPIs so that you can justify your results.
2021 will be the year of ease of recruitment
A lot has happened in this year, and a lot will happen in the next. But the disruptive changes and the need for a skilled workforce are going to go in only one direction – forward. Meaningless processes from the recruitment process will be eliminated, and processes will become faster than before because businesses want to pounce on good candidates as soon as they come across one.
So, make sure you have the right skill and are applying to the right jobs, and you will definitely bag a great opportunity.