Fold CV in three places. Tightly fit into pre-addressed envelope. Apply stamp. Post, and await feedback.

Sound familiar? That’s how people used to apply for jobs. It worked back then, but then so did Bruno Brookes. Fast forward 25 years and still there are people who believe that progress equals one step forward, two steps back, therefore let’s not bother taking the step forward in the first place. I’m not professing to be a technological expert I struggle with photocopiers, regularly. But in an industry where success comes from being the first person to contact that candidate, being able to predict trends and cycles, and being ahead of the game If technology can help me get there, then I’m going to embrace it.

Social Networking (SN)
An SN site forms a part of the equation rather than being a single solution. Still some recruiters are dissuaded from using SN, fearing that it’s a waste of time it doesn’t lead to revenue. Some think that SN will only be used for headhunting the most senior roles. I think it’s quite the reverse in most industries senior level recruitment will continue to be through networks away from the internet, while middle management will embrace it daily.

It’s good to remember that just because we in recruitment circles think that something is fantastic doesn’t mean that people in the real world will too

Mobile platforms
What I see convinces me that recruiters who embrace this will be ahead of the game. The candidate, sitting in an airport lounge on their way back home from time overseas on site, not content with their lot, decides to go online on a mobile phone to find a new role. The first company checked hasn’t got a mobile-enabled site the phone crashes. On the second try the candidate goes elsewhere. Candidate lost.

Ideally, each company would have its own app available for download. Sounds great to us gather a group of us recruitment types in a room and we’ll probably get quite excited about it. But again, it’s too easy to think that this therefore translates to each of our clients it doesn’t. However, given that use of one’s mobile phone will outpace desktop and laptops as the way most of us access the internet to job hunt this is certainly one to watch.

Web portals
A well-managed system enhances the process and ensures that each CV gets a response. Anyone who still relies on the ’emailed CV and spreadsheet tracking’ system of recruitment risks creating a black hole of emails, where candidates wait and wait for any sort of response. Again though it’s not about the quality of the technology as much as how users put it into practice. Technologies should not be used as a barrier to hide behind the best results come from joined-up thinking where recruiters use a mix of the technology at hand, their knowledge of the market and information on the next big thing to keep one step ahead.

Ultimately it’s good to remember that just because we in recruitment circles think something is fantastic doesn’t mean that people in the real world will too. Or that each client is going to buy into it. People will always fall back on the easiest route to job hunting when they start to search. Having your company logo at that point is the race that we all want to win.

Iain Dobson is senior recruiter for a subsea oil & gas company in London

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