For a long time I have believed that technology has crippled human resources. The Internet has made it so easy to search the globe for resumes that HR professionals and recruiters are being buried in applicants. To stem the incoming flood of resumes, they have deployed complex databases with keyword search algorithms to, ideally, narrow the search in order to pinpoint which applicant in the ocean of resumes is the ideal one of the job. In fact, what technology is doing is screening OUT the best job candidates.
The problem is that technology is not a panacea. In theory, it makes sense to gather as many applications as you can in order to have the broadest possible field from which to choose. In reality, opening up your search to the masses via the web only yields a flood of responses that overwhelm the search process. Using a databases system to correlate these resumes and store them for future use seems a logical way to deal with the problem of too many resumes, but no database algorithm is smarter than a good hiring manager. Unless you are recruiting for very junior positions, keyword search is not going to bubble up stellar candidates from the database.
I have spoken with a number of executives who have confirmed my impressions of automated HR. For example, if you are interested in a target company with a large hiring pool, then you want to make sure you are on the corporate radar, including making sure your resume is in their hiring database. Almost all of these companies maintain online career sites where you can post your resume to apply for open positions, and some of these sites send e-mail notifications of new open positions. What many applicants have noticed is that the e-mail openings they receive have nothing to do with their skill set. You could apply for a sales position and find yourself getting notices for product management. Clearly the keyword search filters don’t work.
So what’s the solution? Rather than stirring the ocean, try fishing in a smaller pond. If you plan to take your search online, then seek out more focused job sites that target executives and, if possible, the specific role you are looking to fill. If you are looking for a CFO, look to job sites that can help you reach financial professionals. If you are looking for a vice president of engineering, look to technical job sites. Filter out the applications from the big job sites to limit the size of the pool by only accepting applications from targeted sites where you know there are better qualified applicants.
And don’t eliminate the human factor. A hiring authority has a much better idea of what they are looking for in a job candidate than a database bot. No computer can truly understand the nuances of your hiring challenge, or be able to assess a resume in terms of job variables, such as leadership skills, innovation, and transferrable experience. Why not go back to using search firms that rely on a personal introduction. Let them screen your applicants and use their expertise to deliver qualified candidates.
Successful job placement requires a human touch. We need to find a way to reintroduce human screening into the search process. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting here or sending an e-mail to ksimmons@netshare.com.
