Will Automation Kill Recruiting?

On The Recruiting Animal Show

Wed March 21, Noon EST
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www.recruitinganimalshow.com
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Back in January, I asked:
1. Will the expansion of online databases like LinkedIn spell the end of sourcing?
2. Would that limit recruiting to selling publicly listed candidates on jobs?

I have summarized some of the replies:

Double Dubs, SystematicHR:
Recruiting technology has enhanced the way we recruit, but it has not removed recruiting jobs. LinkedIn doesn't replace the act of recruitment. "There is so far no replacement for the intuitive nature of a good interviewer." The qualitative nature of recruiting can't be automated.

Shannon from PowerHires.com:
Automation will handle the menial tasks like reading all your resumes and posting your email address in job postings. Then you can spend your time in higher value activities like interviewing and networking. These will not be automated.

HJ Cummins, Scripps Howard, Eagle-Tribune:
Online systems can post jobs, collect resumes, vet candidates and pick a winner without involving a single human being on the hiring side. The counter-trend, however, is the need of corporations to hire ever-more-specialized employees and professionals. That means recruiters will have to listen very carefully to what a client wants.

Shally Elvis Steckerl, Job Machine:
There are 160 million working Americans but the biggest databases have only a few million leads worldwide.
Even if one single database contained all the leads, someone still would have to sort through them and figure out which ones match the requirements.

Dirty Jimmy Stroud, Microsoft Sourcer:
As soon as the people listed in online databses get tired of being contacted over and overr again by recruiters they will remove their information. Or, severely limit how they are contacted. This might reduce sourcing to looking in hundreds of other places and following up on candidate referrals and networking and everything else we do. "I am not worried."

Harry Joiner, The Marketing Headhunter:
20% third-party recruiting assignments for unspecialized line-level positions will evaporate. Recruiters will fill highly-specialized line-level jobs OR very high-level general management positions. "The days of simply throwing resumes over the fence to the client are coming to an end. Recruiters of all stripes will need to become very sharp business people with a teachable point of view on leadership, marketing, operations, and finance."

St Jimmy Durbin, Durbin Media:
The only way that recruiters need to worry is if the employment process creates a 100% effective solution. Chances of that happening when human beings run an operation? 0%.

Peggy McKee, Medical Sales Recruiter:
Tools cannot replace the recruiter who picks up the phone, asks for the referal, calls the referal, determines the fit and sells the opportunity. Work the jobs that will present the greatest challenge for the HR group and you will never be replaced.

Comments

[lrhaughton]

I don't know the specifics of recruiting but Harry Joiner appears to be spot on from my experience in other industries. ("Recruiters of all stripes will need to become very sharp business people...") I hope he's on the call tomorrow.

[Dennis Gorelik]

Continuing automation of recruiting can make recruiting a part-time job. This part-time recruiting job will be accomplished by managers who would hire for themselves.
In the end - only managers know the best what kind of people they want to hire.