LinkedIn Changemaker and Executive Career Coach Andrew MacAskill talks to us about the recruitment landscape in 2022. Why are so many talented people still not being hired and have we really lost the human in human resources? We discuss new trends such a

Comms from the Shed: interviewing diverse voices on our present and the future.

1min - role as a LinkedIn Changemaker. "LinkedIn have recognised that they can be a platform for good...driving progressive conversation in the new world of work.”

3mins30s - The recruitment landscape in 2022 - advice for candidates now. "More advertised roles than ever before...but the challenge is that the demand and supply isn’t joining up very well. And hundreds of talented people aren’t getting hired. We need a change in behaviour on both sides.”

5mins - what are candidates saying?

“Experience overall seems to be terrible, they are being treated like a number, machines are rejecting them, with no feedback given - we’ve lost the human in Human Resources”

6mins30s - Salary trend last year for “low-balling”...still the case? “Companies are losing people at an alarming rate as a result of not looking after their people...” #showthesalary. “We advise candidates to never disclose their salary in negotiations...” but “there is a real movement for more transparency, giving power back to candidates”

9mins - Video interviews. "Video interviews are less personal, more two dimensional and flat, but candidates do have some advantages- if you’re prepared to do the prep and use the situation to your benefit. Part of the problem about face to face interviews are them being a memory test. Why I need to demonstrate an amazing memory to be a Marketing Director?”

13mins - tips for video interviews: “Fundamentally people hire emotionally and then justify logically” “the challenge we have via video is the emotional connection is hampered...and the opportunity to build trust is harder. You need to hit their head, their heart and their pocket - get that hat trick in place! Finish half your answers with a question. Put a bit of rapport in... Hide your own screen, and look directly into the camera. Create a landscape view - to give cues and keep that 2-way flow going.

15mins30s - The great resignation- what does it mean to you? “The great resignation is an American term. It’s less about people resigning and more about how people are re-addressing how their relationship is with work. A lot of people during lockdown spent a lot more time with people that they care about, exercising, just reassessing. I was getting on the 6.30am train and getting to the office for 7.30. The whole thing was a circuit breaker. Evolution of how we view work , and re-thinking how we spend our time while we’re there, which is absolutely fascinating...85% of organisations - if you believe the data - have moved to remote or hybrid structure, but we don’t have the data to know how effective it’s been."

18mins30s - “The move and trend to fractional careers is fascinating." Developing your career.

22mins - The grieving process around redundancy - is it an emotional trauma equivalent to a bereavement? “It’s always listed at number 3 in terms of personal traumatic life events. It’s the least talked about grieving process in society...I think it needs to have a spotlight on it. And the person being made redundant needs to understand that they’re going to go through a grieving cycle, so they can be kind and considerate to themselves. You will also go through periods where you’re angry, you over analyse the past, your previous employers, you meet with ex colleagues, you track the share price, and you look for cracks to prove they’re worse off with you. That will happen. What’s also therapeutic- in addition to adding structure back into your life - is to find a way to serve others. Take on mentees.”

27mins - The power of community, and forming your networks. “It shows you’re not alone, and it’s about sharing best practice, but supporting others is the best medicine. Whilst redundancies may be inevitable, they should be dealt with much better.”

28mins30s - Personal branding - what are the most important elements and what’s your advice (for the less confident)? “My advice would be that if I can do it - I’m an accountant by trade, with a big shiny head made for radio - then you can do it as well! You don’t have to be a super cool Marketer to build a personal brand. You’ve already got a personal brand! It’s what you’re known for...what you’re good at, what you stand for”

30mins - Confidence building and honing your focus - is it important to be clear? "I got a lot more intentional about what I was posting. I went through a process of personal brand values. Column 1: what are the 3 topics that I’m most passionate about and know more than the majority of LinkedIn users on? 2. What are the three values that I want to stand for, in terms of my voice and how I would like people to view me? 3. My audience - what do my audience want? + Content strategy, what kind of posts do we want to do?

34mins30s - What initiatives are you working on in 2022? “Moving from jobs focus, to career focus. Not the same pain in the market now. An increase in career clarity sessions. Also an increase in people setting up on their own.”

36mins30s - Mistakes that people make when they’re trying to build communities online? "They don’t collaborate with the competition - any other organisation that is contributing to your mission have to be taken seriously e.g. ending career based misery. Find a way to cross over with the good people in your space with the same values. People also try and monetise their communities too quickly and in a way that’s inauthentic. If you want to build a business within a community it has to be community first."

40mins - How do you see 2022? “Cautious optimism, but there is still a lot of uncertainty. We can’t predict how it’s going to be in 6 months. And we don’t know what the new hybrid world of work will be...so many variables out there. Need new skills, agility, resilience, dealing with ambiguity - technology and automation will mean that soft skills will become the hard skills.”

43mins - Who has the upper hand now: the candidate or the recruiting company? “Companies are flexing their muscles - but the talent has the upper hand right now. Companies are moving from traditional hierarchies, through the matrix model, to more of an ecosystem model in a more tailored way. Companies will sit in the middle of a more fluid ecosystem.”

46mins30s - Focusing on sleep: the first domino in the wellbeing race.