Sunday - 06 July 2008
Features
Technology is changing the way we do business, but recruiters must not ignore the basics. Christopher Goodfellow reports
When the internet was proceeded by a series of clicks and beeps, and consultants waited in line by the fax machine to send CVs, it was impossible to imagine the level of technological integration available today.
Technology now provides consultants with a much greater level of efficiency. Freed from mundane administrative tasks, they can concentrate on the key skills of building business relationships and placing candidates.
"Technology is just a facilitator, to take administration out of consultants' job roles so they can concentrate on their key skills set," Seb O'Connell, group sales director of Spring Group, told Recruiter. "You will end up with a smarter, more skilled, workforce if you employ the tools which are available."
Jane Best, a permanent consultant at Reed Employment in Poole, says technology has increased her ability to make sales, and believes the integration of the company's database with the internet has been the most important development in terms of time saving.
Speaking at Recruiter's Annual Forum, Peter Searle, chief executive of Spring Group, extolled the value of technology in turning around Spring's fortune. During his speech on improving the bottom line, he said technology was essential in increasing efficiency.
O'Connell, who used to work as a consultant, says Spring has managed to improve the efficiency of consultants by 25% through a series of reforms.
Candidates have been given a web portal to file time sheets, and clients are billed automatically. The system has helped to reduce the time consultants spend dealing with payroll inquiries.
The approach taken by Spring demonstrates how recruiters can streamline administrative tasks, giving consultants more time to increase sales and concentrate on the business relationships that are key to their success.
David Johnston, business development manager at HotLizard, joined the company to develop recruitment tools. Bringing experience from time spent as a consultant, he wanted to help evolve the job role of recruiters.
"When I worked as a recruiter we did a study across our 16 offices and found it took around 20 minutes to input the details for a single candidate," he told Recruiter.
As a result, he helped to develop intelligent CV extractors, which automatically take details from a CV and populate an agency's database.
Now tools are available to source CVs straight from online profiles such as LinkedIn and FaceBook, which provide a wealth of information about potential candidates based upon a particular search criterion.
Once the information has been gathered, the potential candidate can be automatically contacted to request permission to add them to a database, in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
This type of virtual headhunting has become more intelligent in the past few years. Software has been developed to automatically generate search criteria from job specifications.
Matt Jessops (right), UK manager of AIRS, which develops tools to help consultants source CVs online, believes reforming the process of recruitment shouldn't have a detrimental effect on a consultant's skills base.
"If a recruiter is any good, they shouldn't be using technology to build a search string based on a job specification. A good recruiter should be able to look at a job specification and make an intelligent decision as to what search strings should be used," says Jessops.
Search tools can give recruiters an understanding of the industry they are recruiting into. Consultants who have experience in the field in which they are trying to place often recruit faster — they have an understanding of the skills required for a job role, and can find people with the right experience.
"Even if you don't understand anything about an industry, the software can tell you how job roles and experience are transferable, helping identify suitable candidates," says Daniel Richardson (right), chief technology officer of software solutions provider Bond.
The internet has become an intrinsic element of interacting with candidates, as they increasingly go online to look for a job.
Research from Enhance Media found almost 80% of jobseekers have applied for a job they found online. Of that figure, 69% got an interview and 65% a job. The survey also found 9% of jobseekers use the internet exclusively when searching for work — a 50% increase on last year.
The web provides consultants with a massive resource of information and the opportunity to set up branded shop windows to target candidates accurately. It also levels the playing field between the smaller agencies and the bigger players, forcing recruitment consultants to raise the bar.
However, employers have access to the same resources — they can post on job boards and quickly source CVs. Recruiters who rely too heavily on these tools without offering extra services do not have a realistic business model.
Jessops told Recruiter: "It forces the recruitment market to provide an added-value service, because just putting an advert out there and forwarding the responses isn't good enough — companies can do that themselves. It forces the industry to think about what their offering is."
Predicting a future of increased online integration, Johnston believes data will be stored centrally, providing consultants with global, instantaneous access to a single interface. "If the data is stored centrally, consultants can access it anywhere; they can set up branches and gain instant access," he told Recruiter.
"Previously recruiters were very insular. As business grows and become international, the companies who have the functionality to meet global requirements have a better offering. The agencies gearing up to work on a global basis are the ones who offer the right talent. They will have a much lower fill-time of vacancies."
Effective and accurate translation will play a crucial part in increasing the effectiveness of consultants who want to recruit from a global candidate base.
"The overall nirvana is that we can throw a Japanese CV at the system and it will automatically get translated into the languages which are in the system," says Richardson.
The technology involved in testing candidates has progressed and consultants can provide an increased level of service through an improved level of candidate selection.
"Whether secretarial, driving, technical, data entry — the pace of technology and associated work applications have changed a thousand-fold," Laurie Dobson, managing director of ISV Software, told Recruiter.
Consultants have also gained the ability to work while on the move, using laptops and personal digital assistants (PDA).
"The most important piece of technology I use is my laptop. It is kind of the Bible, otherwise we'd be back to basics," says Jamie Smith, a recruitment consultant at Recruitment Solutions, a Wales-based construction specialist.
Devices such as BlackBerrys and Palms improve a consultant's ability to supply information to a client, allowing them to supply information on the move and give initial feedback about candidate availability.
However, there is a danger that over-use of PDAs can increase a consultant's stress level. A study by Office Angels found workers constantly checked in outside of working hours, preventing them from relaxing properly.
Recruitment consultants can also use mobile phones to gain a competitive advantage, as it allows them to make contact with candidates through text messages at an early stage in the recruitment process.
Regardless of the amount of information clients and candidates have available from online sources, recruiters will remain essential to the employment process.
"People still want recruiters to go through the mass of information which is out there. They haven't got the time to sift through vast amounts of candidate information. Technology is allowing recruiters to offer a better service; it's not going to be the death knell of a typical recruitment agency," says Richardson.
Technology offers recruiters the holy grail — the chance to eliminate administrative tasks and concentrate on what is important; building relationships with candidates and clients that will allow them to place people.
It is vital, however, that consultants really raise the bar. The democratic nature of the online information flow is empowering both clients and candidates — those that don't offer extra levels of service will surely fail.
Talking about a technological revolution
Published: 14 May 2008 Author: Christopher Goodfellow
Technology now provides consultants with a much greater level of efficiency. Freed from mundane administrative tasks, they can concentrate on the key skills of building business relationships and placing candidates.
"Technology is just a facilitator, to take administration out of consultants' job roles so they can concentrate on their key skills set," Seb O'Connell, group sales director of Spring Group, told Recruiter. "You will end up with a smarter, more skilled, workforce if you employ the tools which are available."
Jane Best, a permanent consultant at Reed Employment in Poole, says technology has increased her ability to make sales, and believes the integration of the company's database with the internet has been the most important development in terms of time saving.
Speaking at Recruiter's Annual Forum, Peter Searle, chief executive of Spring Group, extolled the value of technology in turning around Spring's fortune. During his speech on improving the bottom line, he said technology was essential in increasing efficiency.
O'Connell, who used to work as a consultant, says Spring has managed to improve the efficiency of consultants by 25% through a series of reforms.
Candidates have been given a web portal to file time sheets, and clients are billed automatically. The system has helped to reduce the time consultants spend dealing with payroll inquiries.
The approach taken by Spring demonstrates how recruiters can streamline administrative tasks, giving consultants more time to increase sales and concentrate on the business relationships that are key to their success.
David Johnston, business development manager at HotLizard, joined the company to develop recruitment tools. Bringing experience from time spent as a consultant, he wanted to help evolve the job role of recruiters.
"When I worked as a recruiter we did a study across our 16 offices and found it took around 20 minutes to input the details for a single candidate," he told Recruiter.
As a result, he helped to develop intelligent CV extractors, which automatically take details from a CV and populate an agency's database.
Now tools are available to source CVs straight from online profiles such as LinkedIn and FaceBook, which provide a wealth of information about potential candidates based upon a particular search criterion.
Once the information has been gathered, the potential candidate can be automatically contacted to request permission to add them to a database, in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
This type of virtual headhunting has become more intelligent in the past few years. Software has been developed to automatically generate search criteria from job specifications.
"If a recruiter is any good, they shouldn't be using technology to build a search string based on a job specification. A good recruiter should be able to look at a job specification and make an intelligent decision as to what search strings should be used," says Jessops.
Search tools can give recruiters an understanding of the industry they are recruiting into. Consultants who have experience in the field in which they are trying to place often recruit faster — they have an understanding of the skills required for a job role, and can find people with the right experience.
The internet has become an intrinsic element of interacting with candidates, as they increasingly go online to look for a job.
Research from Enhance Media found almost 80% of jobseekers have applied for a job they found online. Of that figure, 69% got an interview and 65% a job. The survey also found 9% of jobseekers use the internet exclusively when searching for work — a 50% increase on last year.
The web provides consultants with a massive resource of information and the opportunity to set up branded shop windows to target candidates accurately. It also levels the playing field between the smaller agencies and the bigger players, forcing recruitment consultants to raise the bar.
However, employers have access to the same resources — they can post on job boards and quickly source CVs. Recruiters who rely too heavily on these tools without offering extra services do not have a realistic business model.
Jessops told Recruiter: "It forces the recruitment market to provide an added-value service, because just putting an advert out there and forwarding the responses isn't good enough — companies can do that themselves. It forces the industry to think about what their offering is."
Predicting a future of increased online integration, Johnston believes data will be stored centrally, providing consultants with global, instantaneous access to a single interface. "If the data is stored centrally, consultants can access it anywhere; they can set up branches and gain instant access," he told Recruiter.
"Previously recruiters were very insular. As business grows and become international, the companies who have the functionality to meet global requirements have a better offering. The agencies gearing up to work on a global basis are the ones who offer the right talent. They will have a much lower fill-time of vacancies."
Effective and accurate translation will play a crucial part in increasing the effectiveness of consultants who want to recruit from a global candidate base.
"The overall nirvana is that we can throw a Japanese CV at the system and it will automatically get translated into the languages which are in the system," says Richardson.
The technology involved in testing candidates has progressed and consultants can provide an increased level of service through an improved level of candidate selection.
"Whether secretarial, driving, technical, data entry — the pace of technology and associated work applications have changed a thousand-fold," Laurie Dobson, managing director of ISV Software, told Recruiter.
Consultants have also gained the ability to work while on the move, using laptops and personal digital assistants (PDA).
"The most important piece of technology I use is my laptop. It is kind of the Bible, otherwise we'd be back to basics," says Jamie Smith, a recruitment consultant at Recruitment Solutions, a Wales-based construction specialist.
Devices such as BlackBerrys and Palms improve a consultant's ability to supply information to a client, allowing them to supply information on the move and give initial feedback about candidate availability.
However, there is a danger that over-use of PDAs can increase a consultant's stress level. A study by Office Angels found workers constantly checked in outside of working hours, preventing them from relaxing properly.
Recruitment consultants can also use mobile phones to gain a competitive advantage, as it allows them to make contact with candidates through text messages at an early stage in the recruitment process.
Regardless of the amount of information clients and candidates have available from online sources, recruiters will remain essential to the employment process.
"People still want recruiters to go through the mass of information which is out there. They haven't got the time to sift through vast amounts of candidate information. Technology is allowing recruiters to offer a better service; it's not going to be the death knell of a typical recruitment agency," says Richardson.
Technology offers recruiters the holy grail — the chance to eliminate administrative tasks and concentrate on what is important; building relationships with candidates and clients that will allow them to place people.
It is vital, however, that consultants really raise the bar. The democratic nature of the online information flow is empowering both clients and candidates — those that don't offer extra levels of service will surely fail.
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