Published: 3 December 2019

Having worked in the recruitment industry for almost 18 years, it’s fair to say that technological advances have significantly changed the way the industry operates.  Personally, I’m all for change, of course we need to recognise that recruitment is and always should be a “People” business but the way in which we engage with those people has evolved with significant pace.

The use of technology in society in general has advanced at an incredible rate and its only right that as recruitment professionals we capitalise on those advances to benefit our own industry. Society itself has witnessed a monumental swing towards the use of technology in communication, it’s the very same technology we need to ensure we utilise to ensure the industry doesn’t get left behind.

So, what’s evolving -

A The death of the paper CV

Back in early 2000’s, I recall receiving a sales call from a Rec to Rec agency trying to sell a prospective consultant into our agency at the time. My request to the agent was to ask him to send across the candidates’ CV. His response, which we all considered crazy at the time was, “CV’s are so 1990’s”. perhaps he was just so far ahead of the curve and knew how the market would evolve some 15 years later. Of course as recruiters, we still forward electronic versions of candidate resumes for our clients to review but the emergence of social media profiles and alternative platforms for a candidate to showcase their talents will surely mean an eventual end to this age old document we once knew as ”A paper CV”.

B – It pays to be Social

Let’s face it, love it or hate it, Social Media is here to stay. Personally, I’m a big fan, perhaps more so to track the antics of my friends and family, but it’s use in the recruitment world is only going to become more prominent. For many years, LinkedIn was considered the platform of choice for business professionals either seeking to attract the attention of potential future employers or promoting their own services to others. However, the emergence of the more “Social” platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are now taking great strides to feature in the recruitment space, surely, it’s only a matter of time until we are snapchatting our job applications, (or have I missed that one?)

C – Power in the Palm of our hands

Quick question, “What’s the first thing most people do when they first awake?”. Whoever said lean over, pick up your phone, check your email in-box and a take a quick scroll down the Twitter/Facebook feed, then your correct. We’ve become a mobile dependant society, where to ensure we stay on top of current affairs and in touch with our social circles we need look no further than the palms of our hands. When I started out in recruitment around 47% of all households in the UK owned a mobile phone, that figure now sits at just a fraction over 96%.  In a similar way the need for recruitment agencies to ensure their websites and application platforms are mobile friendly has become paramount. The recruitment mobile market has evolved to such an extent that a job application these days requires no more than to action a few scrolls of our thumb across a 4-inch screen…it’s just amazing.

So, what’s next?

It’s impossible to predict really, perhaps I need to return to speak to the same Rec to Rec consultant who was way ahead of his game back in the early 2000’s. Maybe instead of using printers to print paper copies of our CV’s we’ll be using 3D printers to print paper copies of ourselves to attend multiple interviews at any one time…sounds a little space age but how much of today’s technology would we actually think was possible a generation ago. One thing’s for sure, for those of us who are still loving life in recruitment after almost 18 years, our industry is still Recruitment, but not as we knew it!