Is Recruitment In Need Of Technical Support?

Jan 28, 2010

For years technology has played a vital role in the recruitment industry. Any recruiter will tell you the huge value of an effective and easy-to-use data management system. Indeed, having immediate access to the contact details of that ideal candidate can mean the difference between making a high value placement and losing out to a competing agency, so the value of getting the tech right can hardly be overstated.

IToday most recruitment agencies post jobs online and offer opportunities through their own websites, further highlighting the value of technological advances. In fact, for some agencies, major online job boards are at the heart of how they operate, providing a source both for job listings and for potential candidates.

However, just as this type of technology is valuable to recruiters, so that value can also be tapped into directly in many cases by employers. A recent trend in the industry has been for businesses to dedicate internal resources to developing in-house candidate databases based not only upon previous and existing staff, but also on the same online candidate profiles and listings that many recruiters use. This development threatens to cut recruiters out of the loop in many hires.

And in cases where an agency is still enlisted, this trend can increase the difficulty of finding unique candidates. For example, a business may stipulate that they will not pay a fee to a recruiter if the candidate they source is already in the company’s database.

This means two things for recruiters: the first is that investment in the latest technology has never been more important. Recruitment specialists are still well placed to stay ahead of the curve as long as they can be sure that they are making the very most of the technology that is available in the market. The second is that the value of the personal referral network has never been greater. Despite the huge growth in usage of online job boards and so on, there remains a vast sea of candidates, many of whom are exceptional in their area, who cannot be found online or even through the application of the most advanced technology. To reach these people, the fact is, it’s not about your technology, it’s about who you know.

For Arrows Group, this is a fact that will keep the team confident, since the development of personal referral networks is at the core of how Arrows Group has always done business. As Charles Sell, Director of Arrows Group Technology division states: “across Arrows Group, the majority of the placements we make still come from direct referrals. This is a very traditional tool of recruitment, and one that gives access to candidates who may be entirely unavailable through more high-tech means. Of course, as a business we are also investing in the very latest technology to stay at the forefront of our industry, but sometimes the old ways are the best. Through developing personal relationships in the way that our recruiters have always done, we will continue to be able to provide unique and exceptional candidates to our clients, whatever the future holds.”