Enterprise IT is all about making employees’ jobs easier, and as a hiring manager, it is up to you to find IT staff members that facilitate improvements in productivity and efficiency with the help of technology. Of course, when interviewing candidates, this is always at the top of your mind, as you wonder how these individuals can empower current employees with new hardware, software and services. After all, every other department has its own set of tools and technologies, from salespeople using Salesforce to finance teams using ERP systems.
The good news is that HR is increasingly using tech to hire, and the industry is currently on the cusp of a hiring revolution. All processes and procedures are likely to become digital in the coming years, but more interesting to note is that hiring managers aren’t necessarily using new technologies. Instead, HR departments are leveraging existing tools and ideas to hire more efficiently and more accurately. You have probably already started on this journey, but have you given thought to these processes? Let’s take a look at how hiring is evolving thanks to modern technology.
Leveraging social
Social media is undeniably important in hiring, as managers can vet candidates based on their social profiles. In fact, CIO reported that 93 percent of recruiting professionals leverage social media when looking for potential new hires, with 80 percent of those individuals using these channels to evaluate “culture match.”
“93% of recruiting professionals use social media to find candidates.”
However, social media can do much more than simply allow hiring managers to interact with or check up on applicants. Yarden Tadmor, CEO and founder of Switch, told the source that a “well-defined social media brand” can assist in attracting passive job candidates. For example, the millennial workforce is on social media like white on rice, and by accurately representing a business and its culture on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, that generation of IT professionals will likely easily find and communicate with a company.
Social media is also a great way to advertise open positions, Seven Step RPO President Paul Harty explained, according to CIO. A recommendation would be to tweet or post about the skills you are looking for, instead of asking to fill a specific role. This allows for more visibility into the job opening, since it doesn’t limit the audience too narrowly.
Setting up events
Another interesting use of technology is making a game or contest out of a particular IT skill or talent. You’ve likely heard of hackathons before – events where many different IT professionals gather to show off their abilities – and this same idea can be applied to any IT discipline.
For example, VentureBeat reported that the White House, Walmart and ING leveraged hackathons and 24-hour coding competitions. ING attracted 700 participants to its event, while Walmart stormed college campuses to gain the attention of tech talent. The source noted that these contests make old industries exciting again, and by encouraging innovation with “flash build” events, some IT departments can develop new features as well as attract younger individuals.
IT professionals love technology, so why not use those systems to attract them?Going mobile
Smartphones and tablets are all over offices and worksites across the country nowadays, as employees bring their own devices and larger corporations provide cutting-edge mobile apps. While hiring managers will certainly need to take advantage of this technology, using it to communicate and take notes, optimizing mobile strategies in HR is more about improving the application process and creating mobile-specific websites.
Why? Workforce reported that Indeed saw a 50 percent increase in mobile job search traffic in 2014, and businesses such as iMomentous have created mobile apps that allow professionals to apply to open positions. Whether you implement a mobile-specific website to post job openings or accept applications through a mobile app, these strategies increase the candidate pool and help shorten the hiring process, making any mobile initiatives on the hiring front worthwhile.
Regardless of the industry, IT professionals are going to stick to what they know: tech. Using those types of tools will be critical to attracting these individuals.