The Most Popular Talent Blog Stories of 2021
This has been the year of flexibility, 12 months during which everyone was clamoring for flexible work, flexible schedules, and even flexible benefits.
But no one has been as flexible as recruiters.
You have rebounded, heroically, from a year where you were laid off by the thousands to a year in which you were asked — and begged and entreated — to come back and start hiring at a pace and scale that exceeds anything in the recent imagination.
It was a tumultuous year for you and your colleagues as you confronted a topsy-turvy talent market in which wages have soared and candidates have nonetheless been difficult to find. More and more professionals simply walked away from their current roles with their next position entirely up in the air.
Much of this upheaval is reflected in the top 10 most-read Talent Blog posts of the year, posts that touched on new roles recruiters are looking to fill, the Great Resignation (aka Great Reshuffle), diversity and inclusion, and even the difficult time recruiters are having finding . . . more recruiters.
This year’s top 10 most-read articles on the LinkedIn Talent Blog:
1. These Are the Fastest-Growing Jobs Around the World
As 2021 started, everything was up in the air for recruiters, including where they worked (home) and where they recruited (everywhere). The roles they were filling were in wild flux too. LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise lists highlighted the fastest-growing job trends from 2020 in 18 different countries.
2. How a Teenager's Viral Post Points to a Huge Hiring Opportunity
Ryan Lowry, a 19-year-old Virginian, posted a hand-written letter on LinkedIn with an appeal to potential employers, explaining that “you will have to take a chance on me,” because, even though he’s “gifted at math, really good with technology, and a really quick learner,” Ryan is autistic. We offer some tips on how to tap into the largely overlooked pool of highly qualified talent that is neurodivergent. Like Ryan.
3. The Interview Questions Women Are More Likely to Be Asked Than Men, and Vice Versa
Research conducted by Savanta and Resume.io showed that women and men have significantly different experiences when sitting down for job interviews. Rather than ask every candidate the same set of questions, which is widely considered a best practice, companies have certain questions they’re much more likely to pose to women and another set they save for men.
4. 5 Things You Can Do to Avoid the 'Great Resignation' at Your Company
The upheaval in the global talent market — aka the Great Resignation or Great Reshuffle — touched nearly every business. We shared some best thinking about the most important steps companies could take to slow the exodus.
5. The Critical Hybrid Work Issue That Companies Should Tackle Now
Most employees (87%) want to continue to do some or all of their work remotely, according to the Glint data cited in this post. But Glint’s research pointed to a surprising potential stumbling block: Employees at remote-friendly organizations were 32% more likely to struggle with work-life balance than others.
6. New Data Shows a Soaring Demand for Recruiters and Where You Can Find More of Them
It’s good to be in demand and, without question, recruiters were a hot item for most of 2021. LinkedIn research underscored the fact that the demand for recruiters was happening (and continues to happen) at scale, across industries, and around the world.
7. We Can All Learn Something from the Viral Response to an Intern’s Very Public Mistake
An HBO intern’s mistake went viral. And because the entertainment company was open and honest about it, people lined up to share their own early-career blunders. The heartwarming response was a powerful reminder that company culture will thrive where errors are embraced as an opportunity to learn.
8. 'She/They' and Other Pronouns You Might See on Candidate Profiles
More and more professionals are sharing their pronouns at meetings, on name tags, and on LinkedIn profiles. We look at some pronoun combinations beyond he/him and she/her and share some ideas about what they usually mean.
9. Why Millennials and Gen Zers Are Rejecting the Current Model of Work
Professionals of all ages are reconsidering their relationship with work, but it turns out that the Great Reshuffle is being led by the youngest members of the global workforce — millennials and Gen Zers. They are simply burnt out and ready to move to another company that offers a better work-life balance. We share three tips to keep them refreshed and on your team.
10. Recruiters Share Their Top Priorities for 2021
To find out what was really going on with recruiters, John Vlastelica and his team at Recruiting Toolbox asked their networks: “What are your top priorities for 2021?” In many ways, the responses they received sounded like a 2022 to-do list: recruiting more diverse teams, building sustainable remote and hybrid workforce models, tweaking employer branding to reflect emerging realities, and optimizing efficiency as hiring accelerates. Sound familiar?
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