By Kirstie McDermott
HR staff and recruiters have been disproportionately affected by the swathe of layoffs across the tech and financial services industries over the past 18 months.
Where other areas, such as sales, within tech companies saw headcount reductions of between 10% and 20%, it was
This presents a double challenge for companies and organizations. Not only have many let the very people go who are experts at getting the right talent into the right role, but there is a widening skills gap at play too. This makes recruiting for hard-to-fill positions even more difficult.
The global talent shortage is at a 16-year-high and 43% of
Recruitment and human resources professionals are in another double-bind. Not only are many looking for new opportunities, but they are also keenly aware of the skills gap.
But it is not all about hard tech skills, which is good news for those who work in non-technical fields. In fact, The World Economic Forum's
They include critical thinking and analysis, as well as problem-solving, and self-management skills like active learning, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility.
Key soft skills
These are skills that will be familiar and demonstrable for many HR and recruitment professionals. If you can show that you've already got this mix in the bag, you will be ahead of the competition––not to mention future-proofing your own career.
In particular, it is worth highlighting your communication and negotiation skills. As generative AI comes to the fore, emphasizing human-centric talents is extremely valuable. Showing you are good at collaboration, decision making, mentoring or managing teams are all skills that cannot be automated.
Candidates who have great emotional intelligence are also valued because they are able to perceive, reason with, understand and manage not only their own emotions, but those of the people around them.
Creativity matters too, especially in the face of rising AI adoption. Being able to think in an agile way, come up with innovative and creative solutions to issues and apply new thinking to old problems are great traits to have.
Finesse your resume
Job hunters should make the most out of their soft skill set on their resumes to help them stand out. If you're ready to look for a new role now, where you can emphasize the abilities you'll bring to the job, then the
It contains thousands of open roles, such as the three below.
Senior Talent Business Partner, Technology, Airbnb, San Francisco
Airbnb is seeking an experienced
Recruiter, NASCAR, Charlotte
Experience with Workday is highly preferred for this
People Coordinator, Trala, Chicago
Trala is a tech-powered online music school, currently looking for a
