Our desire to use technology to accomplish a headhunter’s sourcing and assessment skills has scaled resume flow to such a degree that the recruitment supply chain becomes less efficient and in many cases nonexistent. We throw all job positions on to the Net and all types of candidates respond. And as we blogged last week, increasing the number of resumes coming in, according to most vendors, is a good thing. However this results in higher pricing strategies and is not so much of a ‘good thing’ for candidates and companies who fight the battle of an overflowing resume pipeline. Thus, we hear screams of frustration at both ends of a clogged resume supply chain.
Instead we need a process, supported by technology, that highlights what we expect from personal headhunter relationships. Here are three key expectations we should seek out:
1. Serves as a Trusted Advisor: We have to ask ourselves the trusted value of places we allow our resume to go. Job boards: Who sees them? How are they used? Whom are they shared with and when? How long is the Internet shelf life? Forever?
We put our resumes on a job board and basically anyone can see them, and they do. And anyone can use them however they choose. Certainly there are much less nefarious situations and occasionally a recruiter will find us and call, so I do not intend to scare our readers. But I do ask you to think: Why is this job board of value? Am I submitting to a well matched position? Are companies posting here just to get traffic so they can report to hiring authorities that great talent is being sourced? I am not a huge fan because I see and feel the traffic. And frankly, most waste time. Do you want your resume to be a part of that?
We need a site or technology that truly puts the talent first. And the best way to start is to give the talent complete control over anonymity, in other words managing who sees a job seeker’s information and when. Some sites may proclaim they support this but I have yet to find one that does completely…a requirement if we are to get a handle on the resume problem.
2. Provides Information of Specific Value: Many put resumes on sites and are sent well-matched job opportunities based on the latest search methodologies. Why? Is it because the sites want to cookie and follow a job seeker’s Internet activities so they can sell ads? I believe we all would be surprised at the number who do and the number coming round the corner is staggering. It is part of the Facebook business model people keep fighting, yet our career activity is followed and our actions sold. This may be OK, only give me career ads and advice specific to me and my area of expertise, just be prepared for an onslaught because it is coming.
It would be nice to only match positions or talent of interest who match specifically what is sought. This is possible through profile matching and we see some of this from sites like LinkedIn. Now LinkedIn is serving a number of masters so linking great talent with great jobs is not all they do, so they like others are finding ways to merchandize your activities and information. Again, not a bad thing but wouldn’t it be nice to have a safe, trusted site that only gave you specific information of value?
3. Always Looks Ahead: I have blogged here on my R.A.D.A.R philosophy (Relationships Ahead of Demand Accelerate Results) and believe that along with the new recruitment relationship technology I describe here, the new, new thing will be for talent and companies to work 24/7 to confidentially establish valued relationships ahead of demand. Companies and talent will present themselves with the verbiage – “I/We are not currently looking, however are deeply interested in establishing a relationship with…”
We will message this desire for relationship at a site that is safe, trusted, confidential and specific. We will not message this to the world because the return flow will be unmanageable and the right contact will be lost amongst everyone wanting to sell us a service or item.
New methods are derived by solving specific problems that add high value for the constituencies involved. The resume pipeline is too full. What I have described is my solution to the problem, there are others and likely much better. Whatever we end up with, I believe solving this problem will establish the foundation for the next phase of recruitment through technology.
