Even today, we are afraid that computers themselves will soon be able to talk to candidates (I’m sure we’ve all seen that
video of Google’s AI assistant calling to make an appointment at a hair salon). But if the past has shown us anything, it’s that technology is a great tool, but can never replace a good recruiter.
Back when I first began working in this industry, the search for candidates was a much different process than it is today. I’d use call lists. I’d place an ad in the paper. I’d have to physically sift through hundreds of resumes. The sheer amount of contacts wasted a lot of time.T
hen more automation and technology came into the picture. Websites like CareerBuilder and Monster became popular claiming they’d be the solution to all our recruiting problems.
But what actually ended up happening is that they created MORE work for recruiters.
Job boards were flooded with candidates who could apply to any number of jobs with ease.
Companies had to hire more recruiters to screen and search through the high volume of applicants.
These days technology can assist with some of the repetitive tasks that eat up a lot of our recruiting time. Like the data scraping tools that will pull a list of potential candidates from different websites after you submit the keywords to search for. Or the automation tools that will send mass InMails or emails to a large number of candidates.
A computer will do what we tell it to do, but as recruiters, we’ve got to evaluate the results, weed out the unreliable information, and form candidate relationships.
Most candidates want a real recruiter they can reach out to; Someone they can trust who will actually get to know them.
This doesn’t mean we should outright reject technology in recruiting. We’ve got to embrace technology where it makes sense, while also recognizing that it can never entirely replace us.
