Recruitment agencies have been established as a core facilitator to the employment process since the mid-1960’s, the idea of off-loading the candidate search process to agencies comes with the benefits of reducing costs and the time spent searching for suitable talent, especially in specialised or highly skilled sectors, which can be considerable. Without the right tools or access to a large database of talent, the initial search and shortlisting of suitable candidates can be overwhelming.
To battle these issues, the recruitment sector has seen a continual stream of technology advancements: - Cloud-based CRMs, professional social media tools, integrated databases and candidate search platforms, just to name a few. Advancements in data-driven technology are helping recruiters find talent faster.
There is no denying that technology has enhanced the recruitment process and finding talent is becoming a less time-consuming process.
However, market trends are predicting Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the next big step in recruitment technology. AI recruitment software is evolving to create automated systems such as recruitment chatbots, interview booking technology and keyword profile shortlisting software, all with the intention of automating high-volume tasks, freeing up recruitment consultants to focus on other items. This is all well and good when it comes to trimming the fat, a consultant then has more time to engage with the strongest prospects for a vacancy. However, there are some issues when considering high volume data driven technology in today’s current markets, especially for those who rely too heavily on the technology.
AI is only as good as the data we feed it – AI technology is driven by big data, the more we feed in, the more it learns. However, candidates are not always the best at keeping their online CV or profile up to date. Automation of candidate selection may result in decisions being made on outdated or irrelevant information. To be able to truly qualify a candidate for a vacancy, there must be human interaction, this allows the candidate to tailor their CV and highlight their strengths for that role, something a keyword search or automated decision process may miss!
AI may learn unconscious bias or coincidental patterns – Over time, AI technology learns the user’s preferences by acknowledging the candidates they progress with. Should there be any coincidental patterns or unconscious biases in those selections such as: university’s graduated from, geographical locations or has certain hobbies, the software may assume you are only looking for candidates with these necessary traits. Not every vacancy will require the same characteristics or personal traits, overtime the AI may begin to ignore strong candidates just because they didn’t match an irrelevant trait it believes to be a necessity.
Lack of human judgement – We all know that sometimes, what is on a CV or a candidate profile, is not the same as what they truly want in real life. The ability to pick up the phone or sit down with a candidate to judge their level of interest in a role or find out what they are genuinely looking for in their next move, will be very difficult to be replaced by technology. Automating candidate selection may save time in the first instance, but it opens the door for the process failing at a later stage for reasons that should have been picked up in an initial screening conversation.
Deerfoot IT is proud to be at the forefront of utilising technology and we have developed our own bespoke cloud-based CRM
As things stand, human interaction is still the best when deciding if a candidate should be presented for a role, there are many items not present on a CV that can alter a candidate’s suitability. Technology is still a core element of recruitment but choosing to work with an agency that is willing to spend more time engaging with candidates to find strengths not present on their CV, is crucial.
Deerfoot IT is proud to be at the forefront of utilising technology. We have developed our own bespoke cloud-based CRM, have access to the countries leading IT recruitment job boards and are always looking to stay competitive when incorporating new recruitment-based technology. However, we also understand the necessity to retain the most professional, accurate and honest interaction with our candidates on a regular basis. With Deerfoot IT, you get the best of both worlds: access to the UK’s largest pool of IT talent and a dedicated and thorough IT recruitment service from REC certified consultants.
