“I reckon the industry has about two years left in it, four at most. Machine learning, big data, propensity algorithms can deal with vast networks of connections much better than a human can.” This was a quote from Daily Mail CTO, Oleg Vishnepolsky, in a very facetious article posted to LinkedIn last November. The beginning of his article dives right into the new and improved ways in which technology and companies like LinkedIn who invest in and use the technology are being used to “perfect” the recruitment process. Technology can now find the exact employee a company needs and redesign how people are hired. Recruiting agencies will be taken over by technology and artificial intelligence (AI) within the next 4-8 years easily. However, just as Mr. Vishnepolsky does not actually believe the recruiting industry will die, neither do I.
The recruiting industry is not going to die out with technology; instead, it will grow. We will learn how to use it more proficiently for the challenges ahead, and the industry will become more dominant than ever.
I, a 21-year-old Marketing and Sales major at The University of Alabama(Roll Tide), am predicting that recruiting is only at the beginning of how it will impact the business world. The profound success of companies in the “recruiting industry” are perfect examples of what staffing companies have been able to accomplish for the last 70 years. Their success is in large part due to their ability to continuously adapt with the changing technology and use it as an advantage, not a substitute for their work.
There is another problem I see with this industry. Recruiting. Such a simple word for the complex and in-depth process that goes into identifying, qualifying and successfully placing candidates. After all, we are working with people and even the best of us can be difficult to deal with sometimes. Larger recruiting companies are calling it Talent Management or IT Services and Solutions. MatchPoint is categorized as an IT Staffing Company, but we do much more than simply recruit a person to fill a role in a company. That task is so simple, in fact a computer could do it – and a lot quicker than any human could. However, recruiters not only find the best talent for a role, but they find the perfect culture fit for your company. Sometimes the best candidate on paper is a bad fit with your corporate environment or culture. These are the small things that computing technology cannot identify. The soft skills, the emotional intelligence associated with interacting person to person, are not something a computing system can pick up on.
The myth of the recruitment industry dying is going to happen when “The Terminator” comes in and gives each qualified candidate a job like Oprah handing out cars. Artificial Intelligence is not there yet, and sadly, no one is getting a free car from Oprah. Sorry, it was just a simile for a potential side effect of AI learning a strange way or being programmed incorrectly.
Here’s the good news: technology is improving. These improvements include their ability to search for candidates and introduce clients to candidates and vice versa. The improved technology is narrowing down searches and showing advancements for recruiters as they work using their search and click history. Technology now can pick up on cues from candidate profiles and learn to work with the recruiters, helping find what the recruiter is more likely to look for in a potential candidate.
Now take these improved systems with their learning capability and use it to help recruiters gain access to more information, streamline hiring processes, fill more roles, and build relationships quicker and easier. Yes, the new technology is awesome and the advantages have only begun to break the surface. As we see the recruiting industry do more work and research with Tech companies like LinkedIn and Microsoft, the AI capability in the workforce will not end recruiting companies but help it grow.
When you work with a recruiting firm you get a personal touch, a level of human emotion where our account managers are understanding your business as well as the culture of your company and the personality types you attract and work well with. A computer system doesn’t have the ability to get to know someone in the ways that are needed to make sure you can work with that person every day. AI systems can also miss on the right time to pull a candidate. When on paper they look perfect, recruiters gain an eye for spotting when a person, longer down the hiring process, is not going to be a good hire. This is something only a person can understand on an intellectual and personal basis.
Automation misses out in these ways, but people also want to deal with people. Automated emails and phone calls are torture for anyone, and with the technology not perfected it often creates frustration. The hoops and bounds one goes through on an automated phone call most of the time can be taken care of within minutes when a real person is on the other side of the call knowing exactly what they are doing. That’s precisely what recruiting firms are; they are the people on the other end of the line who are taking care of the little problems and allowing you to focus on the work you need to do and not worrying about the 50+ applicants, sorting through resumes, and scheduling interviews. We are taking the calls and identifying the best applicants so you are only provided with a handful of qualified candidates and your time can be focused on doing your job. Your time is valuable and costs money, so while you are working hard to provide for yourself and your company, let the recruiting firm work hard to provide for you.
One last topic that is often missed in articles surrounding this topic are Passive Candidates. These are the people that are not actively looking for a job or do not have their resume posted online. Passive candidates are off the radar from other companies and in order to find them, you need relationships. When you add a recruiting agency to your list of contacts, they have more connections with previous candidates and clients which an AI system would never know about or have access to. Passive candidates can be the perfect fit for a company and if the candidate feels they can be put in a position of success by switching jobs, they will make the move. Computers can miss out on these people and fill the role with a candidate who fills the need, but may not be the best fit. Similar to a passive candidate, job descriptions are also a large disadvantage for computer systems. Say your company is looking for a .Net Developer but the job description is extremely detailed and requires that they have skills X, Y, and Z. Recruiters know who and where to search and what to look for when speaking with the candidate. Technology isn’t always equipped to match the variations or similar experience that may enable a candidate to be successful. That interaction between recruiter and candidate is the first step in the interview process, and an automation system can miss that target market with too many or too few requirements.
Alone, neither a recruiter nor a technology system can do what the job takes. At the end of the day, people still want to work with people, and technology is making that connection more efficient. Technology is providing new and advantageous ways of connecting with clients and candidates, and the recruiting industry is becoming very skilled. While a company may be struggling to find a good hire, an agency can find a candidate in much less time and with a broader spectrum to choose from. The recruiting industry is not going anywhere. The specialization techniques and technological advancements have allowed recruiting and staffing agencies all over the world to improve on their access and relationships. Over the last 75 years, we have seen a major increase in the Talent Services Industry with some companies now generating billions of dollars in revenue each year. Now, like in the past, agencies are using technology to their advantage and they are growing. If it is the first time using a staffing agency in your company, visit our website at MatchPointCG.com or give us a call!