I spent last Thursday hanging out with a few dozens recruiting peeps at the HRTX event. Small events like these are great because you can make personal connections and get a deep dive into topics that relate to the everyday recruiter. Some pics are below but here are some things I jotted down I thought were interesting.

• Some recruiters from a large online retailer were there. They said their ATS contains 12 million resumes. Imagine having to search that big data!
• Wish lists: recruiters in the room wanted ATS vendors to better help them find older candidates that may have been rejected once...like that recent grad who wasn't qualified but may be now.
• They also want better integrations with search engines both people and google search.
• Someone mentioned that new recruiters entering the market 'don't cut it'.
• Crowd sentiment: being a 3rd party recruiter is the best way to learn the business.
• According to Gerry Crispin who was in the audience, in Europe, 3rd party recruiters still fill 30%-40% of jobs.
• Crowd agreed recruiters need to collaborate and talk more to improve hiring processes.
• Crispin also thought Recruiting Admins could be replaced by chat bots in the near future.
• Future recruiters will become more like talent agents said Jonathan Kesterbaum of Talent Tech Labs
• "Culture fit" is just HR code for people 'who are like me'.
• Kesterbaum also said the fastest growing part of HR tech will be assessment tools.
• A large recruiting org gives out gift cards to incentivize their recruiters to schedule interviews quickly with tech roles.

The most interesting thing I heard was a great sourcing story. One recruiter found out that a bunch of .Net developers would go to the local Taco Bell each night around 7pm. She went there, bought them tacos and eventually placed 2 of them! Thats dedication.

By the way, I also found a recruiter who recruits on Facebook. Pick up some tips and tricks from my interview with her. I have a few more 'How I recruit" episodes over on RecTechMedia.com.