A couple of months ago, I posted about ‘The art of hiring’, and made a claim that this traditional art was essentially dead, however, it may be better described as ‘sacrificed at the altar of digital automation’. The great server in the clouds is now taking over and doing the work that most HR professionals used to do. If you don’t have the perfect combination of string words, tags, meta-tags, or categories, the computer matrix will just spit your application out. No longer do you get to rely on creativity, the ability to connect, or heaven forbid (especially as a sales person) sell yourself.
I understand that these engines are created to give companies with job opportunities, a way to reach a much broader audience. I also understand that these engines give the job seeker a portal to jobs that they might not ever see, or know about. These can be very positive things. My contention is that I believe that it has become easy for HR professionals to rely on the tool to do their work for them, and therefore miss out on opportunities that a more traditional approach might have brought them.
The position that I applied for was formatted in one of these portals and I met all of the required criteria according to what was listed in the description. So, as promised in my post, I said that I would update this blog with any results of the application process. I didn’t get a call…or an email. Or even a cold, impersonal form letter. Nothing. Nada. Zip. In the process, I went from being interested in the position, to being glad I didn’t know who the company was. It would have been very disappointing if they were a company that I already knew about and respected.
If this company ever happens to read this post (grin), here are some suggestions:
- Treat your future employees like you would want to be treated in the hiring process
- Use the technology, but don’t rely on the technology
- Always, make contact with your ‘customers’. Allow them to interact with you, even if it takes some time.
- If you are ashamed to hide your name, you may have a problem with your product.
- Practice good business. The market will not always be an employer’s market. Eventually, you may have to work hard to get anyone to consider you.
I hope the job was a good fit for whoever made it through their electronic gauntlet. What about you? What is your experience with today’s hiring process?
