Is recruiting a purely electronic transaction?
We read about them every year; in fact I crave them. I set my readers to pick them up and I set aside extra time to enjoy them. Nothing is more relaxing than a cup of coke in the morning and my recruiting predictions for the upcoming year! This is not a predictions rant but it does touch on one prediction from a few years back that I dusted off.
Have you heard this one: “Recruiting will become a purely electronic transaction?”
Really?
Sure, the recruiting market has been flooded with the desire to automate nearly every step in the process, but let’s be real. We can only automate so much. With the entire discussion surrounding web 2.0, social media and social networking, it would be easy to reach the conclusion that technology has made the human component in recruiting obsolete; but that could not be further from the truth. Today’s recruiter has to be a master at research, sleuthing the internet, manipulating data and without fail must have a credible personal brand.So, yes technology has begun to take over our lives, but in recruiting, it’s how we leverage social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace that ultimately show results. I recently posted another article talking about the 4 C’s. You can read it about here. The 4 C’s if you have not already heard about them stand for:
Communication – Collaboration – Conversation – Community
To me they represent the very foundation of which I am rambling about today. The data shift; the advancement of technology and the future of how the recruiter today will survive. It’s about the impact that you have on your candidate as you guide them through a transition from one career to another. Look, in recent years the recruiter has become the key component in the hiring process. In a similar light to the HR partners, recruiters truly manage the human capital aspect of the process. From initial research, to the introductions and in the end on boarding, the recruiters drive the candidate into his/her seat.
So, the question still remains; will recruiting become a purely electronic transaction? I don’t think this will ever be true. In a world where having the feeling of belonging, and the feeling that your thoughts and work are appreciated are a top priority, the human touch in this process is more important now that it has ever been. Have you ever purely recruited, hired and on boarded a candidate through a social network?
There are hundreds of ATS’s, CRM’s, Search tools and aggregators available to recruiters. As advanced and as fun as they are to play with (including second life) they will simply not replace the human touch in this business. Recruiters must make it a goal to constantly redefine their processes and techniques, leveraging the technology to make quick and effective decisions to support the process.
Please feel free to leave a comment – I think this is a great topic we can all learn from!
@ryanleary
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Ryan,
This is such a great topic. Yes, these tools are great fun to play with. But success with social tools still requires actual relationships. And that can’t be automated. At least not yet.
You might like this article I read a while back that echos the same sentiment for HR departments and job seekers.
http://www.blogher.com/tech-took-human-out-human-resources
Nice work!
Cheers, Craig
There is an inherent difference in electronically sourcing candidtes and recruiting them. Without that personal contact and ability to weigh the skills they possess in context it would become a electronic lottery process. Human Factors must always play a role
Gordon
“Human Factors must always play a role”
Gordan – Great call here. I was actually doing a bit of research this past week and it seems as though internal HR groups are moving towards a position titles: “Human Factor Specialist”. I agree it’s critical and couldn’t help but write about it. Thanks for the comment.
Great topic for discussion. In my humble opinion, recruiting, is a one to one relationship business. Yes, we use web 2.0 tools to facilitate relationships but we cannot “connect” effectively unless we are alo eyeball to eyeball with people.
FOr me, I am passionate about making good use of electronic media/web 2.0 tools to create better one to one relationships.
I agree 100%
as a corporate recruiter – I have had too many candidates presented by third party agencies come through that have never personally spoken to or met with the anyone from the agency. They weren’t sure what the position I was interviewing them for was even about.
I feel a lot of recruiters (and admittedly sometimes guilty myself) rely too much on email, IM, twitter to communicate with candidates. Too many details get lost when you don’t have that personal connection to the candidate.
I agree. There should always be an interaction between two people when a candidate is hired. The potential new employee needs to feel comfortable and it’s up to the Recruiter to handle this.
The day recruiting becomes a purely automated transaction is the day I hang up my phone and seek out a new career. Recruiting is an (dare I say it??)art form. To really understand your client, to really understand the needs of the role and to really understand if the candidate is a good fit with a high % of going to the alter, you MUST have the 4-C’s you are speaking of. If you don’t speak with your client, know their culture…if you don’t speak with a candidate, interview them, find out their strengths and weaknesses, find out their personality quirks, you are NOT recruiting. It is a simple as that. What you are talking about are TOOLS – tools will augment the relationship but not build it. How a recruiter can send over a candidate to a client without speaking to them is ethically on thin ice in my book. That is not what we are paid for and not what is expected. This is also what gives a negative view of our business.
Ryan,
I feel that the age of recruiting is becoming more and more electronic however, this may only initiate the contact or begin the dialogue; I feel recruiting is still and should remain a face to face; handshake, grip and grin activity. Nothing replaces a firm handshake and the social networking you do in person is TOO important to let it be relaced by the electronic age.
-Gary
Hi – As someone who is a social media coach and trainer, this is a good topic. When I am helping the individual understand the tools of social networking. Communication is about social networking, we just have share on how we use them to enhance our relationships and not rely on the tools to do the work. I also believe it’s the business side to try to cut cost in ways to automate more and make things more systematically. Awesome topic and a much needed topic to discuss in recruiting.
I just got burned a few weeks ago by not using enough of a personal touch. Long story short, I had submitted a candidate for a position with a client a few months ago. The candidate was not in any way familiar with the client before she and I spoke, as they are located at opposite ends of the country. The position at the time was placed on hold, so I did not have much contact with the candidate over the next few months. Fast forward to recently when a similar position with the client opened up. Instead of calling the candidate to tell her about the job, I sent the easy email letting her know where the position was and asking if she was still interested. Rather than getting back to me, she applied directly with the client and is about to be hired. A good lesson I think that although sometimes easier, the inpersonal way of reaching out is not always the best for either the Recruiter or candidate. Building and maintaining that personal relationship is crucial!
To steal Julie’s comment about recruiting being an art form, electronic sourcing or networking is just one of the “paint brushes” we have at our disposal. All the others – live conversations,relationship building, screening, briefing and debriefing,building value, etc., are not going away any time soon.
Great topic. I’ve worked in a number of industries and disciplines, and email and internet are critical for “time to market” in identifying and accessing the hidden talent pool, not active on job boards.
Also, once engaged with a client who is ready to hire, closing a deal via email is not atypical in my experience. Following earlier preclosing.
But when it comes to qualifying, securing commitment, developing the white heat interest level, exploring pain, candidate prep and debrief, most of the components necessary for a healthy close require some linguistics.
Basic concept of hearing what they are really saying, voice influctions, pauses, delays, etc, etc… are crucuial to knowing the real story.
I can’t see relying on a commitment exchanged solely thru email. At the same time, I’ve closed consulting engagements for hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a VP text messaging an agreeable engagement start date and bill rate. Keeping in mind, this is after having multiple client visits, dinner, drinks.
My opinion is using the take away with a client on email has its success rate reduced without voice contact. Soemetimes how they say it is more important than what they say I believe. I do remember working with a giant DAILY PLANNER and rotary phone for finding and closing business. In the day of the fax machine!
This so compliments my recent rant on robotic recruiters.. those who lack passion for people and want automated processes they can manage with clicks instead of conversations. It’s why these dialogs are important.
“Brown shoe” Recruiters are not willing to swallow the whole social networking technology enchilada unless their eating utensil is a phone not a mouse. Good lesson.