THE RECRUITER’S VIEW: TOOLS YOU CAN TRUST

Article originally published in Global Recruiter 's Technology Special in June 2022.

Anthony Macey , Director at The Portfolio Group , examines the different stages of the recruitment process and the part technology can play.

The scope for technological innovation is plentiful within the recruitment sector. Not only is technology improving the hiring process, it is changing the way we work and how businesses operate.

Once an industry built on face-to-face networking, recruitment has been transformed by the internet. The pandemic shifted things further by challenging operational limits and traditional processes.

But what place does technology have in the hiring process? How far can or should it be used in recruitment and when does it start to become a hindrance?

Client Briefing

For us, this is where technology came into its own during the pandemic. It was a great facilitator when building relationships and maintaining open and honest communication remotely. During lockdowns, using video to discuss hiring requirements helped give insight into businesses and their culture when face to face visits weren’t possible.

Whilst this cannot replicate the experience of being in a client’s ‘world’, a video call has two key benefits: it provides focus during information gathering allowing multiple stakeholders to attend but, more significantly, it speeds up the process. Embracing video allowed us to continue delivering our service to clients across the country without compromising on quality.

Advertising

Job adverts are heavily criticised. Recruiters are often accused of posting long, poorly written job descriptions lacking the information needed to entice candidates to business or role.

With ever-changing search engine technology, the challenge of producing quality adverts grows. Not only does an ad have to describe the role, but the content of that ad will define where and how it will be shown or found by prospective candidates. Marketing terms including SEO & ‘keywords’ are infiltrating recruitment; agencies that don’t focus on improving adverts in line with technological advances could find applicant volumes dwindling and the search for talent harder.

Applications

One of the most cumbersome early stages of the recruitment process is application filtering. There’s a fine balance between attracting the right quantity and quality of applicants, which differs from role to role.

This is where appetite for the next ground-breaking invention/platform is fierce, with AI promising to assist with automation and more comprehensive solutions.

AI resourcing strategies are a key focus for many global entities looking to streamline the application process, improve hiring time, target specific skill sets, and address diversity of application pools. The use of AI in the screening and sourcing process is often combined with chatbots and testing programmes to pre-qualify candidates’ suitability, well before any human contact.

The nature of machine learning means that the level of data analysis, identification of key data touch points and testing all take time to perfect but can be a highly effective approach when combined with the talent and knowledge of experienced recruiters.

It can be argued that, in a talent shortage, it’s fruitful to attract candidates who partially fit the client’s requirements, so features like this could limit and hinder your success. Whilst improving application quality is important, the reality is that businesses need to consider candidates with interchangeable skills and perhaps compromise, offering training on missing or inexperienced skillsets.

Sourcing & Qualifying

One of the most critical skills for recruiters is the ability to screen/appraise a CV or candidate profile.

With resumes varying in quality, assessing content can be a complex process. The debate around whether technology could replicate skills needed to read the nuances of language, decipher job patterns (including movement between sectors and understanding career changes), evaluate missing content and read between the lines, is inconclusive.

Where technology falls is that it can only read what a candidate has shared. With many candidates failing to include basic information and keywords, it could be considered futile trying to replicate the complex decisions and judgements that a person makes, both consciously and subconsciously, when shortlisting candidates. Recruiters add value to both clients and applicants through effective interview techniques, drawing out any additional experience, aptitude, key attributes, or achievements that have been missed from a CV.

Any platform or system that can categorise and organise candidate data, making it easier and quicker to mine, will be invaluable to a recruiter. That technology will be the most successful in this industry, particularly in current conditions where competition is rife, and speed of hiring is vital.

Another area with a significant impact on the sector is agile recruitment processes. Taking the lead from established IT and technology project methodology, agile recruitment teams are disrupting the traditional 360 recruiter model or talent role, with recruiters working in collaboration as project teams focused on a collective approach to sourcing projects.

Through a series of sprints, recruitment teams can identify potential candidate pools more efficiently, gather current market intelligence or quickly re-prioritise the sourcing strategy, depending on market conditions. This can be particularly effective in addressing volume hires, international requirements, or niche skill sets. At each point throughout the process the sprint teams can provide the hiring manager/client with key feedback to address hiring challenges.

Interviewing

Video interviewing was critical to maintaining recruitment throughout the pandemic.

Whilst initially using video software was a necessity; it’s now evident that this is an effective tool as it mitigates the need for stakeholders to be in the same location, reducing travel time/expense for all parties. It’s easier internally for clients to find a mutually beneficial time and for candidates to covertly manage their interview times.

Businesses with historically cumbersome recruitment processes are being encouraged to use remote interviewing technology, making the process about three times faster and reducing hiring time to days/weeks rather than months.

Remote Working

The pandemic heavily inspired attitudes towards flexible working and fast-tracked the technological infrastructure to support this change.

If a role can be effectively performed outside a traditional office environment with remote onboarding, training, and online support, clients are able to attract leading professionals more easily and without compromise from a national talent pool.

By utilising many tools businesses already had access to and investing in a plethora of tech to strength functions and meet shortfalls, this flexibility is also meeting candidate expectations and improving employee satisfaction levels and work-life balance.

First hand experience

As a company, Portfolio has actively chosen to uphold remote recruitment practises and endorse remote/hybrid working with the desire to modernise attitudes in the industry.

We are certainly seeing those businesses who embrace and invest in technology winning the talent war.

Heightened demand in the current environment reinforces the need to move quickly when recruiting, to secure desired talent before the competition.

Whilst technology will continue to play a fundamental part in shaping the sector, we do not believe it can – or should – completely replace any human element of the recruitment process. Too much automation devalues expert consultants with honed skillsets who can accurately assess and qualify candidates.

Matching talent, experience, and the long-term potential of a candidate, along with cultural fit should remain central to the recruiters brief. In an ever-changing digital world the recruitment sector needs to continue embracing the balance of technology with traditional talent acquisition methods tailored to the unique hiring requirements of the agency/employer or to pro-actively navigate recruitment challenges and market volatility.

Combining consultants’ skills and industry knowledge with advancements in technology allows us to add value to our clients in a highly competitive recruitment market with a more agile recruitment process. We believe this is fundamental. Above all, quality of service and client experience should be paramount.