Digital recruiting
02.03.2023
Digitalisation should be a high priority in every company by now. Especially in recruiting, the Corona pandemic has made digital processes indispensable. Not only employers, but also talents are exposed to new requirements. Employees with digital skills and specialisations are more important than ever for companies to remain competitive. But how do students perceive this development? This topic was explored in the special publication "The digital transformation from the perspective of students" from June 2022 of Germany's largest student survey (Fachkraft 2030, case, Maastricht University & Studitemps).
Relevance of digital technologies in the profession
Opportunities and risks of digital recruiting
Relevance of digital technologies in the profession
When asked about the statement "The topic of digitalisation will play a major role in my future professional activities." an average of about 80% of all respondents said that they agreed or tended to agree. Above all, students from the fields of psychology, mathematics and medicine/health sciences consider digitisation to be very important, with over 80%. Art and music bring up the rear in the table with 60%. Overall, it can be seen that students attribute a high relevance to the topic of digitisation in their profession. However, if you ask the students whether they think digitalisation will improve their job opportunities, they tend to have a cautiously positive attitude. In 2022, only 57.4% agree (or rather agree) with this statement. The students are rather critical of the expected large increase in digital work solutions in Germany. Possible reasons for this could be that digital solutions are either seen as competition or as making work more difficult.
Change in recruiting
In recent years, digitalisation has brought about a great change. The job description of the recruiter has become more comprehensive. Thanks to new technologies, there are many more possibilities to successfully find potential candidates and to organise the application process online.
New skills Digitalisation is also changing the skills required of talents. In the future, the skills that will be most in demand are those that cannot be substituted by technology. Problem-solving skills, conscientiousness and flexibility are therefore characteristics that will become increasingly important in recruiting. We have investigated how different degree programmes perform on some of these characteristics here. Digital change thus leads to ongoing, interdisciplinary qualification and lifelong learning. At the same time, technology itself, for example through e-learning, provides the opportunities for this.
In the meantime, it has become normal for companies to directly address potential candidates in the context of active sourcing, for example on social networks such as Xing or LinkedIn. Search engines also play a role in recruiting. Companies have the option of using Google Ads (SEA) to place targeted advertisements on Google. In this way, they try to display their own job advertisements as high up as possible among potential candidates. Due to the Corona pandemic, many companies have changed their application process so that it can take place completely digitally. In addition to online interviews, there are also digital selection procedures and digital onboarding.
New skills
Opportunities and risks of digital recruiting
The use of e-recruiting can be a relief for the company. With the help of e-recruiting software, most manual tasks related to recruitment such as data entry, conducting interviews and appointment management are automated. This avoids potential errors due to human negligence and significantly reduces the workload of recruiters.
Another advantage is the better selection of talent. A digital recruitment process enables recruiters to quickly find potential candidates with specific skills and experience that match the requirements of the job. This also makes it easier for employers to fill positions immediately, as most recruitment processes are now done online and without manual intervention. Finally, digital recruitment solutions are flexible enough to adapt recruitment efforts to specific needs, while candidates can easily track their application status. In this way, applicants also benefit from a more effective recruitment process. Efficiency in this case can also mean speed. Candidates appreciate receiving a quick response to their application.
DDigital technologies can take work away from recruiters, but digitalisation also has some disadvantages. In order to use the numerous possibilities in e-recruiting, recruiters must be familiar with the digital solutions. In order for the acquisition of e-recruiting software to be worthwhile for a company, it should be ensured that the recruiters are trained in it. Digital recruiting can make the application process and onboarding impersonal. Companies have the challenge of using creative measures to integrate employees as well as possible.
An important aspect of digital recruiting is fairness. As many recruiters often look at a large number of CVs, it is sometimes not possible to assess each CV individually. This is where the use of digital technologies can be helpful, because algorithms are able to make decisions objectively. It is important to note that these algorithms must work according to criteria that are continuously evaluated and made transparent. More information on the topic of fairness in digital recruiting can be found in this blog article, in which the FAIR index is explained in more detail.
case was founded to objectively compare university degrees and to make application procedures fairer and more transparent. For this purpose, an algorithm was developed that compares the final grades of different degree programmes and universities and enriches them with findings from intelligence and personality tests. In addition, we have also built up an extensive talent network.
