“Acquiring the right talent is the most important key to growth. Hiring was - and still is - the most important thing we do.”
In today’s competitive hiring landscape, driven by jobs in technology and innovation, companies are continuously looking for the best talent in the market. And as the world increasingly goes digital, the recruitment process is following suit: some of the most exciting emerging technologies will soon be redefining the way our recruiters access the talent pool.
Here are three technologies that we believe will change the recruitment strategy in the future:
Blockchain technology initially made waves in the financial sector in 2009 with the development of Bitcoin. In simple terms, blockchain is a diary that is impossible to forge. It is a record-keeping public ledger, where transactions are recorded and visible to everyone within the network. But while everyone in the network can view the data, they cannot edit or delete it. Although its applications in recruitment industry are still in the early stages, a lot of exciting new possibilities are shaping up. Here are a few potentials.
Since blockchain provides a ledger that cannot be tampered with, and is visible to everyone within that network, it can be used to verify job seekers’ credentials such as academic qualifications, career history, references, contact details and more. This verifiable data would also eliminate the time and accuracy concerns associated with manually sourcing this information.
A smart contract is a tiny piece of automation that performs an action on the blockchain when contract conditions are fulfilled. For example, the onboarding process involves a lot of administrative transactions such as logins, passwords, and emails, which could be automated by a smart contract once a new employee is hired.
A pain point in the hiring process for many jobseekers is communicating with the ‘middleman’ — recruitment agencies. This not only adds a day or two to the hiring process but also increases the cost of the whole process itself. Since the jobseeker’s credentials are readily available in the blockchain ledger, companies can directly get involved in the hiring process as it will be much easier for them to verify the data.
It is this transparency, speed, cybersecurity, and decentralisation that makes blockchain such an attractive alternative to the present-day recruitment process.
Who would have imagined a technology such as Virtual Reality, initially limited to the gaming industry, could be used for recruitment? That is exactly what companies like Jaguar, Lloyds Banking Group, and PwC have done. VR can improve the recruitment process by giving jobseekers dynamic and accurate insights into their job roles and company culture. For recruiters, VR allows them to identify the right talent for a particular job.
Jaguar teamed up with a VR company to create skills-based interactive recruitment games. Using an app, candidates were engaged in a challenging code-breaking puzzle to test their curiosity, lateral thinking, and problem-solving skills. Those who excelled in the game were fast-tracked through the hiring process. Similarly, Lloyds Banking Group used a VR assessment to test graduates’ ability to solve problems.
If a company has an amazing office space and want to use it to attract candidates, they could easily show it to them with VR technology. Using the VR goggles, the hiring team will be able to show off their office space, without arranging candidate visits to their building. PwC has been doing this on college campuses since 2016, using VR to transport interested students to their Boston office, where they can have a 360-degree virtual tour of the workspaces, lounge, conference rooms, gym and more.
When AI is thrown into a conversation, most people automatically imagine Skynet’s massive humanoid robots killing humans (thanks to movies!) or small robots (R2-D2?) that help us in our day-to-day activities. In simple terms, AI is the ability of a machine or a computer program to think, act and learn like humans. Thus, it is not restricted to any one industry and can be used for recruitment too, especially in sourcing and matching talent to particular roles.
A chatbot is a computer program that can be used to communicate with people just like a human would.
Chatbots are not here to replace the recruiters, but rather will help to process massive volume of administrative and other repetitive tasks. Many companies are already using chatbots as an initial way to engage with jobseekers visiting their website. Meet Pitney Bowes’ AllyO chatbot here. A chatbot can answer queries about the status of their job application, schedule interviews and handle other routine administrative tasks. Thus, it not only saves time for jobseekers but also improves their overall experience.
While the drawback is that it replaces the human touch, most jobseekers want quick answers and that is exactly chatbot is for.
Quality of hire is one of the most important HR metrics. The hiring team needs to select the right people from hundreds of applications. However, AI has the ability to utilise data to match the right candidate based on their experience, skills, and job requirements. This improves the quality of hire leading to happier and more productive employees.
If hiring teams want to get ahead of their competitors, it is crucial for them to stay updated on technological advancements. While blockchain is still in its early phase, companies are already using AI and VR to enhance their recruitment process and candidate experience. The arrival of millennials and Gen Z in the workspace has put an added pressure on recruiters as they demand immediate action and feedback. These technologies will not only assist recruiters in improving the speed of the process, but also the efficiency.
Get in touch if you would like to find out more about how Atomic DNA can support you and your team with attracting new talent.
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