I have been in recruitment for over 15 years and am a true believer in the use of good technology within the recruitment process. This has led me to make it a mission to keep informed of what resources are being developed and made available on the technology front within recruitment.
I have therefore conducted continuous and extensive research in this area and have been involved in developing software and tools specific to our industry.
This brings me to an interesting topic which has come up time and time again during my research and discussions with numerous recruiters, I am sure all recruiters have discussed this in length and with much passion at some time. The replacement of recruiters and the recruitment process by technology!
I have heard from some clients as well as recruiters that some feel our days are numbered, as technology, for example on-line job portals / boards, both general and in-house developed will soon replace us.
These are my thoughts and findings on this issue:
Technology is fantastic! A great resource for Recruiters and should be embraced with open arms.
Many recruiters are afraid of technology, they would still prefer to work with flip cards and say that anyone using technology is not a "Real Recruiter"!
My experience is: ignore technology and "Real Recruiter" or not your business is doomed, it will not progress far into the future as a viable entity. You will be replaced.
Technology is not a replacement for recruiters but a powerful tool to assist us, make us more productive, give us more reach, make us more competitive. We should (in fact must) welcome it as many other industries and professions do. How many accounting packages are out their that could and in many cases do "replace" accountants in certain aspects, yet the demand for accountants is still high.
Why are we so insecure about our industry!
I am aware that recruiters and the recruiting industry has taken a battering over a long period but one thing we can not doubt is that we are necessary, in fact essential! We too are always in demand - even if some folk like to tell us otherwise.
I have had clients try their own portal / on-line database, only to realise how difficult the recruitment function actually is, mainly their own portals only bring about more work and less recruitment success, as they get piles of responses, many whom they can never use, but they still need to manage.
They generally come back for assistance, even if it is with their own portal as an additional tool.
Recruiters should be getting in first, start using the excellent technology available, become recruitment technology experts and then use this knowledge to your advantage, sell your knowledge of recruitment technology tools to your clients, make it an added benefit to your clients.
If clients want to use technology in recruiting we should encourage it and be involved in the process of decision making and choices as to which technology is most suitable. Introduce them to technologies using your expertise. This may seem like a bad business approach to those who feel they are in danger of loosing their jobs to technology, but if you explain and demonstrate to your clients how a combination of the right technology along with a knowledgeable recruiting professional will produce the most desired results, then you maintain control, you lead the process, you are able to make yourself an indispensable part of the recruitment process.
This is better then trying to persuade them not to use recruitment technology or just waiting for your business with them to possibly shrink as they find appropriate technology themselves or find a recruiting professional who is willing to guide them in this process.
Developments in recruitment technology are inevitable and in fact very necessary to ensure our industry, as well as the market in general, thrives. We can not have archaic recruitment processes trying to keep up with modern market human resource demands.
So, lets encourage more development by researching and using the tools and technology available to us, only by using the technology do we make it viable for the developers of these tools to continue enhancing and fine tuning to suit our requirements and needs. After all we are the recruiting experts and should therefore be the main contributor to how these systems operate.
Technology will no more replace us then it will any other profession - unless we force it to!
I am the managing Director of a recruitment company called Options http://www.options.co.za
We recruit for specialists world wide from finance to engineering, marketing to Audit. As well as the development of recruitment related tools and technology.
We are dedicated to the use and development of technology in recruitment and are constantly looking for areas within our industry where technology can be used to improve performance.
We developed http://www.jobresponder.com for this very reason. It is a fully automated product which delivers a highly efficient, effective, economic method of managing the job advertising response and screening process.
Jobresponder.com works as effectively for small companies as it does for corporates and for recruiters in agencies or own company recruitment. It is exceptionally cost effective.
Whilst being simple to use for recruiters it provides a wealth of functionality, information and statistics.
It is our technological contribution to the future of recruitment!
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