A couple of weeks ago, we polled recruiters from all across the country, and the question that we posed to them was this one: “Is it tougher to be a recruiter now than it was five years ago?”
The recruiters who participated in our poll indicated that overall, it is indeed tougher to be a recruiter now than it was five years ago. (Click here to see the results of that poll.)
However, we didn’t ask WHY being a recruiter is tougher now. Well, we decided to remedy that oversight by conducting another poll.
In that poll, we asked the following question:
If you believe it’s tougher to be a recruiter today than it was five years ago, which of the reasons below would you cite?
The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each one:
- The economic downturn—58.1%
- Fewer recruiting tools—0.0%
- More competition—8.6%
- I’m burnt out—11.8%
- Other reason—21.5%
Just as it probably wasn’t surprising that the majority of recruiting network members who responded to our previous poll believe that it’s tougher to be a recruiter now, the majority of respondents to our recent poll indicated the main reason for this is the economy. In fact, nearly 60% chose “The economic downturn” as their answer.
That means other answers were also chosen. Among them were “I’m burnt out” at 11.8% and “More competition” at 8.6%. One of the choices, “Fewer recruiting tools,” didn’t receive any votes. In this technological age of social media, recruiters apparently feel that there are plenty of tools and recruiting software options at their disposal. (In fact, depending upon who you talk to, some might feel that there are TOO many tools available to recruiters.)
Interestingly enough, the answer “Other reason” received 21.5% of the vote, indicating that there are other factors at work in the marketplace that are affecting recruiters and their firms.
Once again, we’d like to know what YOU think. Is it tougher to be a recruiter now than it was five years ago? If so, are any of the reasons we listed in our most recent poll applicable to your situation? What other factors besides those listed are applicable? Do you expect recruiting to get easier during the next five years? Or even tougher?