How to Recruit For Today's 33 Most Sought-After Jobs, According to LinkedIn

From the low unemployment rate, to the growth of jobs requiring workers with highly-specialized skills sets, it's a tough hiring market out there, particularly when it comes to some of the most in-demand jobs. In a new report, LinkedIn has compiled a list of the 33 most recruited jobs globally, breaking down the lucrative roles by industry and offering insight on how to hire the best talent for these positions in a competitive recruiting environment.

So what are the top jobs in your industry, and what will it take to fill those sought-after opportunities? We break down the top recruited job in each industry as well as some top takeaways according to the report below.

If you've struggled to fill that open DevOps Engineer, Enterprise Account Executive or Front-End Engineer position, you're not alone—those are the three most-recruited roles across industries, LinkedIn found, which has created a high level of competition in these fields.

According to LinkedIn, just five years ago, few knew the term "DevOps." Yet today, being proficient in the DevOps approach to software development is a critical skill for engineers. This comes as no surprise—in fact, 85 percent of jobs that will exist in 2030 haven't been created yet.

In the financial services industry, the role of Data Scientist is the top most recruited role. Candidates vying for this position care most about a good work-life balance, excellent compensation and challenging work, LinkedIn found. So, when hiring a Data Scientist, be sure to tout those aspects of the job if they're areas that your company also values.

For education, government and non-profit organizations, hiring Software Engineers, Business Analysts and Systems Administrators will be a priority in 2019. Like Data Scientist candidates, prospective Systems Administrators(SA) prioritize a good work-life balance and excellent compensation, but individuals applying for SA roles also look for job security. To attract the best talent for these positions, emphasize that you're looking for an employee that will stick around for the long haul.

According to LinkedIn's findings, 70 percent of recruiters and hiring managers say their biggest recruiting challenge is finding good talent in the first place. With the usual talent pools tapped out, consider some non-traditional candidates, which includes individuals without a formal four-year degree, elite credentials, or clean work histories, the report recommends.

Veterans, parents returning to the workforce and even candidates with criminal records are often overlooked by recruiters, but these candidates can be effective when given the opportunity. Not sure where to look? Turn to organizations that regularly work with candidates that fall into these categories, such as Opportunity@Work, Year Up and Skillful.

It's tempting to overlook candidates without college diplomas—in the past, a degree was a critical marker ensuring that a candidate has been properly prepared to fill a role. But today, in the age of online courses, bootcamps and workshops, there are other ways to learn that don't include a four-year university track.

How can organizations evaluate skills without a degree to confirm them? "Platforms like HackerRank and Codility measure candidates' coding chops through challenging exercises, while tools like Koru and Pymetrics assess soft skills like grit, curiosity, and ownership through quizzes and neuroscience-based games," the report states. Another sure-fire way to test candidates is to actually let them try their hand at the job they're seeking. Only 16 percent of recruiters and hiring managers surveyed say they use assignments or work auditions to assess hard skills, which is a missed opportunity, according to LinkedIn.

While recruiting is typically the go-to approach for organizations seeking to fill skills gap within their companies, there is another way to fill the need—upskilling existing employees. More than half of talent professionals and hiring managers surveyed for LinkedIn's report said they turn to upskilling when they're struggling to hire in-demand talent. With the right learning technology, empowering employees to develop their existing skill sets and gain new knowledge is easier than ever.

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