So there the dinosaurs were, thinking with their reptilian brains, “Feed. Reproduce. Life is perfect. Nothing will ever change.” Meanwhile, crafty little mammals were scurrying around under the feet of the thunder lizards. In their tiny (but well-developed) brains they thought, “Man, is it cooling off around here?” and/or “What’s that big fireball in the sky?” either of which lead to them thinking, “I better figure out a way to adapt, or I’m gonna be dead meat.”
5 Z: }2 Y! g# ?+ C. |( r) cWhat brings us to this little anecdote is a series of posts out there in the blogosphere about the effects improved recruiting software will have on sourcers and recruiters. Specifically,
Shally Steckerl posted recently in response to another series of
posts and comments about how, rather than “going the way of the dinosaurs,” recruiters are developing specializations and adapting to online recruiting. Steckerl suggests that:
~# i7 N1 C6 t) w( X1 m! pIf hiring managers one day had access to tools like Jason Goldberg envisions will be built then its possible that hiring managers may be able to meet a certain percentage of their hiring objectives via self service “candidate vending machines.” But ultimately tools can not replace all hiring.
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First, how great would a “candidate vending machine” be?
Hmm, a design executive with killer ActionScript skills and a great attitude? C-7. Secondly, as is so often the case, Steckerl is right on target.
$ g; P& f6 i# h; v+ ]: p/ T4 wIt’s incredibly unlikely that technology automation will reach a point where
every aspect of recruiting is done without human interaction. Most recruiters and sourcers are in the process of adapting to changes in technology that make them even more efficient. They’re learning how to make the most of tools like online job-boards and networking tools.
! a8 Z ]7 B7 _As those tools become
even more efficient - sourcing ahead of demand, protecting anonymity on both sides, creating accurate matches based on detailed profiling - the best recruiters are going to learn how effective they can be by adopting (and adapting to) the right tools.
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In the very near future when
our network goes live we think a lot of recruiters and sourcers, like pre-historic mammals, are going to adapt and thrive as a species. Those who don’t change? Well, remember what happened to the dinosaurs.
