The Five Recruiting Disruptors
Organizations and all their internal functions are now in a state of disruption, even if they are unaware of it. The combination of the pandemic, economic turbulence, supply chain challenges, the war in Ukraine, deteriorating relations with China, and the shortage of people willing to work under the pre-pandemic conditions are revolutionizing how organizations are structured, and work gets done. Trying to fit things back to how they were before the pandemic is proving impossible. Too many things have changed.
For recruiting, at least five technologies have emerged or become mature over the past three years. These disrupt how recruiters source, engage, assess, and hire people.
Automated Assessment
The first of these disruptors, automated assessment, is not new but is rapidly becoming mainstream. It includes all of the following elements.
Resume Screening: Automated resume screening software quickly scans resumes for specific keywords and qualifications and ranks candidates based on how well they match job descriptions.
Cognitive and Personality Assessments: These can evaluate candidates’ cognitive abilities, personality traits, and behavioral tendencies.
Skills and Aptitude Tests: These can assess candidates’ skills and abilities in specific areas, such as programming, data analysis, or language proficiency.
Video Interviews: Not new, but very popular because of their widespread adoption during the pandemic. They can evaluate the candidate’s communication skills, personality, and demeanor.
Predictive Analytics: Only a handful of companies have the resources and expertise to use predictive analytics. Predictive analytics can analyze candidate data and identify patterns that predict future job performance. This can help recruiters make data-driven hiring decisions.
Passive Assessment
Using social media to assess candidates’ skills and potential can be a useful tool, although often controversial, for recruiters.
Online Presence: Candidates’ online presence can provide insights into their communication skills, professionalism, and ability to build a personal brand.
Content Creation: Candidates who create and share original content, such as blog posts, articles, or videos, on social media platforms can demonstrate their knowledge and skills in a particular field. Recruiters can evaluate the quality and relevance of the candidate’s content to determine their potential fit for a specific role.
Virtual/Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR), although not yet widespread in use, will gain traction over the next two or three years. Meta (Facebook), Google, and other firms provide the software and tools to make this more accessible and affordable.
1. Virtual Interviews: AR can create a more immersive experience, such as projecting a virtual image of the candidate into the room with the interviewer.
2. Job Simulations: It can create job simulations that allow candidates to demonstrate their skills and abilities in a virtual environment.
Virtual Tours: AR can be used to give candidates a virtual tour of the workplace or a job site, allowing them to see the environment and better understand the role they are applying for.
Training and Onboarding: AR can also be used for training and onboarding new hires, allowing them to learn more interactively and engagingly.
Virtual reality (VR) is more powerful but more expensive and challenging to implement. But Meta and other firms are pouring millions into developing and sophisticating this technology, which will make a pivotable change in how we engage and recruit candidates. The uses I list here are only the beginning.
Virtual Job Fairs: These are already being used to some degree. Employers can create virtual job fairs, where candidates interact with recruiters and attend presentations or Q&A sessions.
Virtual Tours: VR can be used to create virtual tours of the workplace, allowing candidates to experience the environment and better understand the culture and work environment.
Job Simulations: These are powerful ways to assess a candidate’s skills and are already used in many companies, such as Starbucks. Job simulations allow candidates to demonstrate their skills and abilities virtually.
Generative AI (ChatGPT)
The hottest topic this year is ChatGPT which is being used in many different ways. We can see significant new uses and developments as generative AI is integrated into assessment applications, applicant tracking systems, and career sites.
Initial screening: ChatGPT can be used to ask candidates questions about their background, experience, and skills and use machine learning algorithms to evaluate their responses and determine whether they are a good fit for the job.
Virtual interviews: ChatGPT can ask candidates about their experience, education, and qualifications and evaluate their responses in real time. This can save time and resources for recruiters who would otherwise need to conduct in-person interviews.
Candidate engagement: ChatGPT may well replace or be integrated into chatbots that conduct conversations with candidates to engage and inform them. It can also send automated messages to candidates to keep them updated on the status of their applications or to answer any questions they may have about the role or the company.
Job Descriptions: ChatGPT is already writing job descriptions and helping to make them more engaging and accurate. When integrated into analytics, it can pinpoint specific words and ideas attractive to the more desired candidates. Bottom of Form
Web 3.0/NFT
Web 3.0 (also known as the decentralized web) is new and not widely understood or used, but it can potentially revolutionize recruitment further.
Decentralized Hiring Platforms: Web 3.0 can create decentralized hiring platforms that connect hiring managers or recruiters directly with job seekers. Web 3.0 uses blockchain technology to verify the identities and qualifications of candidates, making a more secure and transparent hiring process. This would reduce the need for job boards or recruitment agencies.
Decentralized Reputation Systems: Web 3.0, using blockchain technology, can create decentralized reputation systems that allow employers and job seekers to build and showcase their reputations based on their performance and feedback.
Tokenized Hiring Incentives: Using blockchain technology, Web 3.0 can create tokenized hiring incentives, also called NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), where employers can offer candidates tokens or cryptocurrency as a reward for joining the team.
Combined or used individually, these technologies are pioneering a new recruitment method. I have often written that recruiters will need new skills to remain relevant.
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