Recruiting More People Or The Right People
Recruitment strategies are ever-changing and today’s world of technology offers a variety of options for people searching for job postings, and for employers searching for people! In an economy where there are more people seeking a particular job than in the past, employers are looking for ways to discern the best candidates and making hiring decisions for the long-term. They have the luxury of evaluating a broader based of highly qualified candidates today than in recent years past.
But are professional recruiters leaving the best candidates standing at the door?
Utilizing the massive online ‘boards’ to find qualified employees is just one tool accessible to employers. But more and more employers are tapping into the skills of professional recruiters to fill jobs online. This can make your job as a highly qualified candidate and potential employee both easier and harder!
Professional recruitment firms have progressively moved towards automated screening of applicants. Assimilating massive amounts of information and data on people and feeding it into search engines is a quick way to identify specific qualifications based on keywords and terms. With this type of recruiting, competition can be stiff – and sometimes unfair.
At the same time, it can also be a big plus for individuals who have significant skills or training in a very unique technology, software, trade, or profession. It is also a plus if the person has specific credentials, certifications, and lots of initials behind their name that recruitment search engines are targeting!
But does that mean that it is the most effective and efficient way to handle Internet recruitment? The fact that recruiters have joined the world of computer technology to screen applicants means that they are using less of the ‘human factor’. Rather than interview candidates directly, assessing not only their educational background and experience, but also their interpersonal, creative, and communications skills, leaves a lot of the ‘best’ candidates outside the door.
Recruitment firms are focused on making money and they make money when they place candidates. The more candidates they can place with the least amount of time spent on each one, the more money they make. This is actually a conflict of interest for them – are they placing more people or the right people?
Professional recruiters are here for the long-term, but the time has come to hold them accountable for placing candidates in jobs based on their ability to perform well in the long-term. That means not only a good fit based on education and experience, but a good fit based on personality and passion for what they do.
Recruiters leave many highly qualified, creative individuals standing outside the door based on their sophisticated search engine results. Maybe that leaves a huge opportunity for an organization to bypass the recruiters and actually hire the ‘best of the best’ themselves!
July 16th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Great points. Recruiters can be valuable but most are just looking to fill empty seats and collect a check. Choose them wisely.
July 17th, 2008 at 6:28 am
As with all things, what it comes down to in the end is whether the company you use to recruit through have a good name for themselves or not. Making sure you vet the people you use to find the people you employ is a one off outlay in time that is time well spent.