Recruitment products began with Applicant Tracking System, MIS, recruitment data bases and job portals which have all undergone a revival due to social media. Today, people are using technology to connect and pre-assess candidates so they can shorten the life-cycle of hiring. The efficiency has thus increased especially for portals and web-based recruitment business.

Today, there are three kinds of buyers of recruitment services. First kind is a buyer that is working in an end company. Second, the recruiting firm itself is a buyer that buys technology and job portal services. Lastly, the candidates themselves are also buyers of recruitment services. Prior to the year 2000, majority of the purchase was being made only by the end companies, the other two buyers were absent from the recruitment landscape. However, since the early 2000s, recruiting firms and candidates have gradually and significantly increased their presence in the marketplace. As a result of this, the competitive landscape is entirely changed. 

Also, since companies are rapidly scaling-up, hiring outside the border has becomes crucial, and there is a need to create a platform where recruiters can connect and transact online. CBR has worked toward establishing this platform, and I think it will create a huge difference in cross-border hiring which is on the rise today. In terms of some major trends, social is going to emerge as a big asset and will get very closely integrated with recruitment. However, there will definitely be some interesting tweaks on the assessment side. As of now assessment is still very old fashioned. There’s going to be a big change in the way people get assessed; traditional way of face-to-face interviews and/or tests will soon lose their relevance. Companies are already moving towards video-based recruitment. Even social rating, peer ratings are closely being looked at while recruiting. Thus, there will be different kinds of assessments going forward.