How Technology Has Changed the Recruitment Process Whether We Like It or Not

In the not-so-distant-past, recruiting was a very different process than it is today.  When seeking out talented candidates “in the old days,” hiring teams had to focus on strategic advertising, in-person networking and cold calling to stir up interest in their positions. Technology has turned recruiting on its proverbial ear, allowing recruiters and hiring managers to be more targeted and strategic in their approach than ever before. Some people embrace technology, some are wary of it, but these are some of the ways that technology has changed the recruitment process, whether we like it or not.

Technology And Hiring Bias

There has been a well-documented trend of hiring bias in IT. Some of that bias may be intentional, but odds are most is unintentional. IT hiring managers have been turning to technology to help them eliminate conscious and unconscious bias in the hiring process.

“While technology has greatly increased employers’ ability to connect with candidates anywhere in the world, it must be remembered that a hire is still a person and the recruitment process must still include people interviewing people.  Skill, culture and core value matches still need to be vetted out to make good, lasting hires,” says CSS Tec Account Manager, Mike Reynolds.

Software makes it possible to remove anything from a resume that could reveal gender or race, helps hiring managers eliminate gendered wording in their job postings, and artificial intelligence (AI) programs can score candidates’ resumes based on objective standards. Blind testing – that is, having candidates complete a project as part of the application process where their names are hidden from hiring teams – is also becoming more common so that candidates can be judged on their work alone.

Big Data And AI

Big data is powering all aspects of business these days, and that includes IT recruiting.  Hiring teams use big data and AI to make the recruiting process more efficient. However, the systems themselves are becoming extremely complex and difficult to maintain. This can spell trouble for some hiring teams more data often leads to more confusion and overwhelm.  It’s gotten to the point where IT hiring teams need their own data scientists to help them manage, analyze and make sense of the data they use in the recruiting process.

The World Is Getting Bigger And Smaller All At Once

There was a time when recruiting outside of geographic borders was an expensive headache.  Technology has made it a breeze to find qualified candidates across the globe and the cloud makes it possible to hire people full-time who never step foot in the office.

Recruiters are no longer bound by the limitations of advertising openings in the newspapers in a tri-county area. They can literally reach candidates across the world and access talented individuals with the skills they are looking for, whether that candidate lives 5 miles away or 5,000 miles away.

Of course, this presents some challenges. When a posting is open to the world, it significantly increases the number of applications for every position, so hiring teams must further rely on technology and AI to help them sort out and weed through all of those applications.

If you are looking for tech talent and you want to improve your recruiting and hiring strategies, the IT experts at CSS can help.  Contact us today to learn how we can help you achieve your technology hiring goals.