There’s been a lot of market commentary in recent times about the changing nature of recruitment and how the power of digital technology, data science and personalised communications at scale have created a complex new model.

This remodelling of the recruitment world is a fundamental shift. Reassuringly though for today’s jobseekers, it’s one that still provides a clear path to job search success, albeit along a slightly different path than before.

This new road to job search success starts with being aware of the changed recruitment landscape. In essence, employers now look to proactively “find and engage” talent rather than passively wait for the right applicant to apply for an advertised job.

The latter, more traditional approach, is the model of recruitment most of us are familiar with. But employers no longer find it effective in today’s digital world. Instead, organisations are turning to digital technology and data science analytics to reach deep into candidate pools to prepare shortlists of the most suitable people (which span far wider than those jobseekers actively looking for their next role at that point in time), extrapolate meaningful patterns and gauge how open to new job opportunities a potential candidate is.

Given this, you must take steps to stand out and sell yourself online in order to be found. How? Firstly, update your LinkedIn profile (or create one if you haven’t already), know your unique selling point (USP) and use the right keywords to ensure your profile appears in a recruiter’s search results. Not sure what keywords to include? Look at job descriptions for your ideal role and note those commonly used.

Then, add facts, statistics and links to your online profile and CV as proof you did your previous jobs well. One trick is to combine keywords with an action verb. For example, “I united and motivated a team of five underperformers. After one year our customer service scores had increased 55%.”

It’s perfectly acceptable to ask for endorsements and testimonials from former employers and colleagues, which will appear on your LinkedIn profile. You should also search for and join relevant LinkedIn groups – and participate. Start by liking relevant content then, once you are more confident, consider sharing or even contributing a post.

You’re then ready to search for and connect with relevant recruiters on LinkedIn – although given the power of digital technology and data science they may have already found you thanks to your above online activity and actions! And that’s the real power of “find and engage” – positioning yourself to be ‘found’ rather than applying for tens if not hundreds of roles throughout the course of your job search.

Remember, with a profile that establishes your expertise, a recruiter will want to engage with you (the second element of the “find and engage” equation) to build a trusted relationship and work on prospective new roles.

Recruitment truly has been remodelled since you were last in the market, and these tips will ensure your job search evolves appropriately in response for a successful outcome.

Good luck.

About this author

Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director, began working at Hays in 1993 and since then he has held a variety of consulting and management roles across the business. In 2004 he was appointed to the Hays Board of Directors. He was made Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand in 2012.

Prior to joining Hays, he had a background in human resource management and marketing, and has formal qualifications in Psychology.

Follow Nick on LinkedIn