Early Talent Recruiting Trends and Strategies You Should Implement

Plum CEO Caitlin MacGregor Meets with Industry Leaders to Discuss Evolving Early Talent Recruiting Trends

Talent acquisition and management are among the most challenging aspects of running an organization, and with the ever-changing dynamics of early talent recruiting trends, they aren’t getting any easier. From concerns about shrinking talent pools and growing candidate expectations to the increasing popularity of making frequent career shifts, companies have their hands full trying to juggle it all. Therefore, it’s no surprise that many companies are turning to tools, such as psychometric assessments, to provide their Human Resource departments with the assistance they so desperately need.

In partnership with the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Plum's CEO and Co-founder, Caitlin MacGregor, recently met with Doug Haaland, VP of Talent Management at Whirlpool, James Spearing, VP of Global Talent Acquisition at Scotiabank, and Etienne Vazquez, Head of Entry Business Recruitment at Bloomberg to discuss the challenges that their organizations have faced while navigating emerging early talent recruiting trends, and how they’ve risen to meet them with the help of Plum.

Candidate Quality with Whirlpool

For Whirlpool, the ability to select high-quality candidates while simultaneously improving the efficiency of their selection process was paramount, particularly in light of the early talent recruitment trends towards data-driven hiring. Haaland emphasized Whirlpool's strategic focus on adopting an assessment tool that accurately predicted candidates' future performance and alleviated the burden on their overwhelmed HR team. Plum's impact on this endeavor was clear. In a blind study, Whirlpool found a strong correlation between the Plum Match Score of their campus hires and the likelihood that they would have been asked to return to work with Whirlpool full-time.

"When we use [Plum] to hire people who score higher on the assessment, you're going to have a stronger team," said Haaland. "You're going to have people that are going to perform higher." 

Haaland advises that if an organization implements psychometric assessments into their hiring process, they must consider whether it has been backed by science and ensure that it has no adverse impact on any groups. Candidates must also have a positive experience, as they will have many opportunities in the future to purchase products from Whirlpool. Whirlpool knows that they have succeeded in this. Their completion rate is 8% higher than the industry average for psychometric assessments, and many of their applicants have publicly thanked them for the opportunity to receive their Plum Profile. This underscores Whirlpool's adaptability to changing early talent recruiting trends and its commitment to efficiently securing top-performing talent. 

Going Resumeless with Scotiabank

Scotiabank faced a similar challenge in balancing an overwhelming number of early talent applicants and ensuring that each student was given a fair shot, regardless of their academic background. “The Scotiabank purpose is for every future,” said Spearing, “but [were] we really providing that opportunity for really everyone?” Scotiabank addressed this challenge by going resumeless for all campus recruiting and early entrants in 2020 – and Plum was a crucial player in this decision.

Plum helped Scotiabank expand its hiring in more universities and colleges, which has given them a more diverse candidate pool and provided thousands of high-performing students, who previously may have been overlooked, with the career-changing opportunity to work at Scotiabank. Plum also improved the applicants’ experience by giving each candidate a personalized report of their Top Talents and a chance to learn about themselves – whether they land a role with Scotiabank or not. This is particularly critical to capitalizing on the early talent recruitment trends of personalizing the candidate experience and showing applicants that you care about them as a human, not just a potential employee. By providing candidates with a Plum Profile, Scotiabank demonstrates its commitment to fostering the growth and development of early talent.

“We’ll get people who apply to roles, and they may or may not really understand what that role entails,” said Spearing, “or the roles that would really align to them in terms of them thriving in the role and doing great things.” Plum has been invaluable to them in this area, as hiring managers can quickly view an applicant’s Match Score across various roles and identify which ones they have the talents to excel in. 

Organizations hoping to emulate this success must ensure they have data-driven and scientifically backed processes to support resume removal within recruiting. Candidates should also be given personalized, detailed feedback on their results, enabling them to grasp the intricacies of the hiring process and recognize its value in their career progression. 

Campus Recruiting with Bloomberg

Finally, Bloomberg has successfully implemented Plum for its campus recruitment programs. “When we think about hiring for entry-level,” Vazquez states, “some of the challenges are not having experience... It’s not what has this person done. It’s really what could this person do in the future.” Plum has helped Bloomberg overcome this challenge by scientifically and accurately articulating a person’s capabilities using data four times more predictive of job success than a traditional resume.
  
By leveraging these insights, Plum has helped Bloomberg manage the volume of their applicants by focusing on talent that best fits the roles they need to fill. Looking beyond resumes levels the playing field, ensuring that great candidates are not taken out of the running simply because they have not had the same opportunities as their peers. Each candidate is matched to a position where they have the innate potential to flourish, regardless of their experience level.

Varquez also highlighted the value of Bloomberg’s strong relationship with Plum. Together, the companies have ensured Plum is used to its full potential through numerous extensive calls and case studies.  “We’ve placed a high importance on this being placed in a process that is changing people’s lives, getting people jobs, that we need to make sure there’s quality here.” says Vazquez, “but to get there, you need a good partner.”

Leveraging Early Talent Recruiting Trends 

Throughout this discussion, it became clear that Plum helps companies navigate the problematic area of early talent recruiting trends and dramatically improves the candidates' experience. Finding students a position where they can thrive and leverage their natural talents will benefit them for the rest of their careers. For the companies, their student hires are engaged in their positions, do great work, and are more likely to return. 

Want to bring these early talent recruiting trends to your organization? Book a demo today!