Modern tech is offering companies a new nuanced approach to evaluating prospective candidates – are you making the most of it?
In the old days, when a job came up, candidates relied on a resume, listing work history, qualifications and hobbies. The more years of experience someone had in a particular field, the more desirable they were to the companies looking for talent.
These days, it’s no longer about how long a candidate has had in a particular job title at a particular company. Employers want to know what they’ve achieved. What have they actually done while working in that exact job for that exact company? What have they learned, what unique experiences have they come across, what distinct skills have they developed? In short, when it comes to experience, it’s quality, not quantity, that sets employees apart in today’s competitive job market.
However, this new skills-based approach is not something all hiring companies are finding so easy to adapt to. Learning how to capture that data can set you apart dramatically in your industry.
According to a research study by Gartner, just 16 percent of new hires have all the skills they need to succeed in both their current and future professional roles. No wonder 58 percent of recruiters say the greatest challenge they face is sourcing people who are truly qualified for the job. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Modern developments in tech mean evaluating candidates’ skills acquisition is easier than ever before – opening new hiring opportunities for your business and your workforce.
Technology and Skill Acquisition
Organizations that do a good job of adapting to change are quickly embracing the new tools available to them and new ways of approaching their hiring needs. Instead of concentrating solely on a job candidate’s professional profile, recruiters now define the essential skills of a position. They then compare those skill requirements with what a job candidate brings to the table. This is one of the reasons Talent Intelligence stresses the importance of data-driven talent acquisition and talent mapping to best understand what you need from new candidates.
As the previously cited research by Gartner demonstrates, using outdated talent acquisition methods to examine professional backgrounds and credentials misses candidates who possess the skills to get the job done, but have gained those skills through other means. According to that same study, 43 percent of job candidates have acquired professional skills on their own to qualify for open positions and make themselves more desirable to hiring managers.
That means traditional hiring methods automatically reject the 43 percent of job candidates that have self-taught to move forward in their respective careers.
The world is your talent acquisition oyster
The emergence of technology like Teams, Zoom, and Slack means location no longer has to be a make-or-break factor for hiring companies anymore. Found your dream candidate in Australia? Work around the time difference, and nothing is stopping you from working together. Modern technology has made it simple, not only to recruit internationally, but to outsource large amounts of work to individuals with the right skills, who were previously in the wrong location.
Common hiring tools like interviewing and on-boarding can now be completed entirely online. Sites like Basecamp and Trello empower companies to seamlessly assign complex projects to a global workforce. In short, thanks to modern technology, employees don’t need to show up to work in order to show up to work.
Analyzing Skill Acquisition in the Digital Era
Although a growing number of organizations use certifications to assess and legitimize the skills possessed by job candidates, other organizations have been reluctant to use these digital badges. The challenges presented by digital badges are twofold.
First, mistakes made during the verification process can greenlight an unqualified job candidate. Second, a lack of measuring standards can give hiring managers incomplete reports on job candidates.
Challenges aside, the future of recruitment and hiring is all about digital technology and the data it provides. Hiring managers will utilize technology to find candidates that have the skills required for the position they want to fill. Experience might not be overrated for some hiring managers, but for tech-savvy recruiters, technology is the standard for hiring job candidates now and in the future.
Let data do your candidate screening for you
Technology hasn’t just changed the way most companies do business; it’s also changed the way we approach hiring.
In the past, much of the hiring process was bogged down by scanning printed resumes and asking candidates about their biggest weaknesses or a time they worked well in a team. These days, Talent Intelligence uses data compiled from previous hiring cycles, successful current employees, market and industry trends, and more to give hiring managers a much more complete picture of each candidate.
But tech isn’t just for measuring skills, either. Our analytics offerings can also give hiring managers a powerful way to determine whether a job candidate is a good cultural fit for a company.
Curious how Talent Intelligence can help you recruit the right talent? Request a consultation today.