Wise Words from a 30-year recruitment veteran
Recruitment has been pronounced dead more times than most industries. First, job boards were going to replace recruiters. Then LinkedIn would make search firms obsolete. Now AI is expected to transform the profession once again.
Darren Robinson has spent 30 years in recruitment, long enough to have seen each prediction arrive, reshape the industry and fail to eliminate the need for good recruiters.
This year marks 30 years in recruitment for Darren, three decades spanning changing markets, changing technology and a profession that has repeatedly been declared on the verge of extinction. It remains, rather inconveniently for those predictions, very much alive.
When Darren began in recruitment, advertising was largely in the newspaper. CVs arrived by post, usually with a carefully prepared covering letter. The fax machine was the standard for anything urgent, databases were often more physical than digital, and email was only just beginning to establish itself as a business communication tool.
Research took time. Market knowledge was accumulated conversation by conversation. A recruiter’s value lay in knowing who was where, who might move, who absolutely would not, and occasionally, who had quietly changed their telephone number to avoid being found.
The Job Board Revolution
Then came the internet and the arrival of online job boards.
Monsterboard.com, launched in 1994 and later becoming Monster.com, was among the first major disruptors of the recruitment industry. It moved recruitment advertising from newspaper columns into searchable online databases and fundamentally changed how employers promoted roles and how candidates found opportunities.
At the time, many believed job boards would dramatically reduce the global recruitment industry. If companies could advertise directly and candidates could apply directly, surely the intermediary would disappear.
It did not happen.
Job boards made hiring faster, broader and more measurable. They gave employers access to bigger applicant pools and gave candidates a far clearer view of the market. But they did not replace the need for targeted search, candidate assessment, confidential conversations, market intelligence or trusted advice on strategically important hires.
For professional and white collar recruitment, generalist job boards have become less relevant than they were at their peak. They still have a role, especially in active candidate and volume hiring campaigns, but senior and specialist appointments increasingly depend on direct engagement, referrals, networks and careful market mapping.
LinkedIn Changed the Map
The next major disruption came with professional networking platforms, now dominated by LinkedIn. Professional profiles, career histories and networks became visible in a way they never had been before, changing how organisations identify talent and how recruiters map markets and approach potential candidates. LinkedIn launched in 2003 and became an important force in professional recruitment.
Once again, there were predictions that recruitment firms would be reduced or replaced. If every employer could search profiles and contact prospective candidates directly, why would they need a recruiter?
Once again, the profession adapted.
Visibility is not insight. A LinkedIn profile can tell you where someone has worked; it does not necessarily explain how they lead, what motivates them, whether they are genuinely open to a move, how they will fit within a leadership team or whether they are right for a particular organisation at a particular moment.
Over the past 30 years, Darren has seen markets expand, contract, globalise and become more specialised. He has worked through economic cycles, changing expectations around flexibility and purpose, and the growing importance of employer reputation, diversity, candidate experience and organisational culture.
AI Is the Next Shift
Now AI is the next big disruptor.
It will undoubtedly change the nature of recruitment, as it is changing almost every industry. AI can accelerate research, improve analysis, reduce administrative work, support communication and help recruiters draw insight from increasingly complex talent markets.
But the question is not simply whether AI will change recruitment. It already is.
The more interesting question is whether the industry will continue to grow. History suggests it will, but it will do so differently. Technology has repeatedly changed the mechanics of recruitment without removing the need for sound judgement, credibility, discretion, and human connection. Those firms and consultants capable of adapting and adopting new tools intelligently will win again. The strongest will use AI to become better informed, more efficient and more responsive, while focusing their time on the areas technology cannot genuinely replicate; earning trust, understanding business context, evaluating leadership potential and bringing together the right people at the right moment.
At Anderson Wise, we continue to combine modern market intelligence with the personal, consultative approach that defines effective executive search. Thirty years on, recruitment may look very different, but good judgement, strong relationships and a well-timed conversation remain remarkably difficult to automate.
Congratulations to Darren on an outstanding 30-year milestone, from newspaper advertisements and posted CVs to AI enabled talent intelligence.
Quite a journey, and rather more durable than the industry’s many predicted obituaries.