RGC

5 Positive Impacts of Technology on Recruitment

Gone are the days when being a recruiter meant posting an advertisement in the newspaper and waiting for days to receive a stack of CV’s of the interested candidates. Flash forward 30 years and we are doing things faster with a broader accessibility from the comfort of our homes and offices. There has been a lot of talk about Artificial Intelligence technology replacing the role of the recruiter, but we happen to think that technology is here to make our jobs easier so that we can focus on what really matters: building the relationships.

Making Candidates More Accessible

More candidates are applying for roles from their mobile phones, tablets, and the like. With technology, websites can create job match reminders to prompt candidates to apply for our jobs at the click of a button at virtually any time. The use of technology ensures we can cast a wider net and also provides tools for us to use to screen productively without getting bogged down or wasting budget on the wrong candidates. Services like Skype and Google Hangouts can provide a first meeting where we can gather the majority of the clues that we would otherwise get from an in-person interview. These technologies can help coordinate meetings with difficult to reach candidates who reside in other countries and/or have full time employment while keeping costs low. It’s a win, win!

Help to Eliminate Process Related Administrative Tasks

Automating technologies are a recruiters best friend. Sending an email to thank a candidate for their application, using automated scheduling technologies to arrange and confirm interview times and even scheduling future check-ins can shave off quite a bit of time which can be used more productively. Be mindful that your automation can be perceived as lacking human touch so it’s important to balance and keep the robots at bay. After all we still want to convey the message that we are present and engaged in their success, so think of automated technologies as a time saver to supplement versus a means to completely replace regular communication with candidates.

Faster Fills

Recruitment software as we know it far extends beyond email, phone, and an excel candidate matrix. Cutting edge CRMs are now loaded with heaps of helpful tools that do most of the heavy lifting when it comes time to do a search. The reporting is increasingly sophisticated making it easier to measure our performance and tweak processes where needed. Social media sites like LinkedIn and their complimentary mobile apps have made it possible to fill a role from virtually anywhere that a mobile phone can receive a signal making technology paramount to a fast fill. As a result, your desk doesn’t suffer on holidays or when you get a last minute client request. The extra agility and flexibility means we can get back to clients with candidates FASTER which means happy clients and often times, repeat business.

Unbiased Screening

Even the most PC recruiters have biases. Unconscious bias simply means we are more likely to choose candidates that appeal to us because they are like us which can hinder the diversity in our recruitment efforts. The use of technology to do preliminary screening ensures that the screening process is entirely based on skill level and less about where they grew up or their favourite sports team.

Improved Candidate Experience

A common complaint of candidates is that they invest considerable time in the process up front and sometimes without an immediate return in the form of employment. As we know, we can’t guarantee everyone a job but what we can do is use technology to our advantage to make the process is slick and painless. Allowing candidates to create and update an online profile and keeping track of them digitally means that they can apply from the comfort of their home and avoids them completing piles of messy paperwork that has the potential to get lost or become out dated before they are placed. A beautifully designed user interface can ensure instructions are clear and that receipt of their application is confirmed. With add ons that can connect your website and email to your CRM, it ensures that you are updating candidates on the status of the position and that extra step (which can all too easily slip through the cracks of a busy desk) can be essential in retaining quality candidates.

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