I have been reading so many articles on trends for 2008, my thoughts are to do it a little differently. Most of what I have read promotes that certain areas will be strong for recruiting, others a bit weaker, specific functional areas will be strong and others not so strong.. yadayada...

Here’s my perspective garnered from what our teams are experiencing and hearing in our marketplace: many firms are taking recruiting in-house and limiting outside recruiting efforts. More teams are being built internally, with more emphasis on looking at internal talent and shifting people internally. Other companies are hiring at the same rate companies did over the last few years, volume hiring.

With the internet we have our fingers on the pulse of information, sometimes this can be information overload and overkill. I see this influencing the way some people are positioning themselves and giving trend theories. I like to have this type of information come straight from our customers through surveys and conversations we have every day.

Bottom line is: I believe no “trends” have emerged yet. We just have companies taking a look at where they are talent-wise, evaluating what they did over the last few years, and doing what is specifically right for them and their business environment... period, end of sentence.

I close with saying, “it is what it is”. Hiring is specific to each company.

Yes, some of this may include specific industries or functional areas, but I truly believe a company will just look at themselves and evaluate “what do WE need”. As recruiters we need to be where the money is, but also, as consultants we need to work with our clients right along side them and be nimble enough to “zig” as they “zag”.