This is part of a series of blog posts written for UK Recruiter by the team at BlueSky PR
Taking recruitment technology to the next level
Last week I had the privilege of being part of the audience at the UK Recruiters Network Conference where, amongst other sessions, Lisa Jones of Barclay Jones, enlightened us on the importance of technology in recruitment. Rather than simply a demonstration of many gadgets that could be added to your company, this was more an insight on how to ensure that you use the right technology and use them in the right way to help your business. Here are some key things to remember:
LinkedIn will not do your job for you
Whilst it is tempting to think that, since the introduction of LinkedIn, there is now no need to build your own network as a recruiter, this is a bad error. Firstly, not everyone is on LinkedIn, and more importantly, the easiest people to find on the site are those in employment and well-connected anyway. To find unsourced talent, you must have your own network. It is also important to remember that, whilst you own your CRM, you don’t own LinkedIn.
LinkedIn will not kill the recruitment industry; it will simply get rid of poor recruiters!
Don’t hand the keys over to the kids just because they know about computers
It is extremely common to see an experienced recruiter admit that the latest recruitment gadgets have defeated them, and hand over much of their authority to younger, more computer literate employees. After all they know more about technology. BUT they don’t know more about recruitment! Nor do they understand as much about management. Since you are the one with all the experience and know-how, unfortunately this means you are the one who needs to keep up with the technology.
Keep up with the customer
42% of candidates expect you to get back to them within an hour of communication. This means you have to be quick in responding. Remember that phones are effectively laptops with phone apps these days. A candidate can do almost as much on their mobile as they could on a computer, so the best candidates will be extremely quick in replying. This means you must be even quicker!
Is your technology saving you work or creating it?
Recruitment technology is meant to help you get your job done, and if you don’t understand how to use it, there is no point in having it. If a particular piece of technology is time consuming to understand let alone use, then you are creating work for yourself. It is also silly to have simply one person in the company who can use a gadget. If this is the case rather than saving yourself jobs you are just subcontracting them to that person. Train yourself and all of your staff, and keep them updated!
When used well, technology can be ideal for taking away the unnecessary, laborious tasks in recruitment. Unfortunately it can never take away the responsibility for those tasks. If you fall behind, recruitment gadgets can become an expensive waste of time. Stay on top, and they will help you achieve your goal.
