Cookies help us display personalized product recommendations and ensure you have great shopping experience.

By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    sales and data analytics
    How Data Analytics Improves Lead Management and Sales Results
    9 Min Read
    data analytics and truck accident claims
    How Data Analytics Reduces Truck Accidents and Speeds Up Claims
    7 Min Read
    predictive analytics for interior designers
    Interior Designers Boost Profits with Predictive Analytics
    8 Min Read
    image fx (67)
    Improving LinkedIn Ad Strategies with Data Analytics
    9 Min Read
    big data and remote work
    Data Helps Speech-Language Pathologists Deliver Better Results
    6 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: How Big Data Is Changing Recruitment Forever
Share
Notification
Font ResizerAa
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Uncategorized > How Big Data Is Changing Recruitment Forever
Uncategorized

How Big Data Is Changing Recruitment Forever

Bernard Marr
Bernard Marr
8 Min Read
Image
SHARE

Image

It used to be said that employers made up their minds whether or not to hire a prospective candidate within 5 minutes of sitting down to interview them.

It’s hard to say if this is true or not, but many people in positions with responsibility for hiring would probably admit that they had made appointments based on a “gut feeling” – simply whether or not they felt the person was the right fit for the vacancy.

Image

More Read

The Top 25 Words of the Decade from 2000 – 2009
Norbert Fuhr’s Probability Ranking Principle for Interactive Information Retrieval
Why Buy The Cow When You Can Hear It Moo For Free?
Yesterday’s DM Radio broadcast on data federation
Stamen Design: Illustrating the physics of information

It used to be said that employers made up their minds whether or not to hire a prospective candidate within 5 minutes of sitting down to interview them.

It’s hard to say if this is true or not, but many people in positions with responsibility for hiring would probably admit that they had made appointments based on a “gut feeling” – simply whether or not they felt the person was the right fit for the vacancy.

Well, all that is changing. Taking on a new employee represents a huge investment for most companies, particularly in a managerial or professional role. A large proportion (40% to 60% by most estimates) of a company’s revenue goes on staff salaries. So in an age where everything can be measured, quantified and analyzed, it makes sense to put a bit more planning and strategic thought into the recruitment process.

Those hoping to rely on the “old school tie network” may be out of luck. Analysts Gartner compiled a study for a US financial services company which examined the performance of employees during their first two years with the business. What they found was that while all the best performers had finished school and gone on to get degrees, their individual grades – and particular school or college they attended – did not correlate with success or failure.

The company went on to implement entirely new screening processes which gave no weight to the ranking of the college attended by a candidate, or their grades, and instead favored those who had completed any college course, and gone on to demonstrate success in a job. They increased their revenues by $4 million in six months.

Another often-cited example is that of office equipment manufacturer Xerox. An analytics firm was asked to monitor staff performance and then come up with a profile of an ideal candidate for its call centres. Among the surprising findings was that previous call centre experience was no indicator of success, and that candidates with criminal records often performed better than those without. Their experiment let to a reduction in staff turnover of 20%.

Employers in every industry are turning to data, and tools such as Cornerstone and TalentBin which allow them to crunch data in more ways than ever to find the right candidate for the right position. Some have taken it even further – for example hotel chain Marriott created their own Farmville-style game, which simulated the running of a hotel, to test the abilities of potential candidates.  The experiment was reportedly not a huge success – due to the game itself being rather boring – but it demonstrates new ways of thinking that companies are willing to put into recruitment.

Online recruitment services (which include networks like LinkedIn) have been around for a while now, so have already provided us with a great deal of data. For example it’s very simple to find out what the average spend, in terms of time and salary, will be to hire an IT technician with 5 years’ on the job experience, in a particular part of the world, making it far easier to plan ahead and prioritize.

If you’re on the other side of the fence – trying to find a job for yourself, rather than someone to do a job for you – the implications are just as vast. Everything we do online (and increasingly in the real world, thanks to mobiles and wearables) leaves a digital footprint. Employers long ago got used to carrying out ad hoc Google checks on candidates they are considering hiring, to find out if there were any skeletons in the closet which hadn’t come out during the application or interview processes. These days it goes a lot further than that – and we could find ourselves being rejected based on what we haven’t said, rather than just what we have said. A lively and engaged social media life is often seen as an indicator that a person is sociable and keen on communicating with others. In fact Xerox’s research which I mentioned above also found that the ideal candidate should be active on at least two social networks.

To this end, companies frequently make use of Klout scores which ranks users according to their social influence. Particularly if you are looking for sales or marketing roles, it is a great way to show employers that you can network, make connections, and persuade people that you are worth listening to.

If you’re looking for technical programming jobs rather than marketing, one service you might want to be aware of is Gild. It evaluates millions of software development professionals based on their contributions to public and open source communities as well as their work history. While it’s only used by people looking to hire programmers, expect similar services to crop up covering other fields in the near future.

As it is in many other areas of business, Big Data is helping to take the guess work out of recruitment. Rather than relying on the famous “gut feeling”, those taking a more scientific approach to appointing staff are finding it leads to more suitable people who stay happy and on the job for longer. Just as importantly, candidates hopefully will no longer have to hope that they won’t be overlooked because the interviewer doesn’t like the tie they are wearing, or because they went to the wrong school.

As always, thank you very much for reading my posts. You might also be interested in my new book: Big Data: Using Smart Big Data, Analytics and Metrics To Make Better Decisions and Improve Performance You can read a free sample chapter here.

 

TAGGED:The Big Data Guru
Share This Article
Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn
Share
ByBernard Marr
Follow:
Bernard Marr is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, strategic performance consultant and analytics, KPI and Big Data guru.

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

sales and data analytics
How Data Analytics Improves Lead Management and Sales Results
Analytics Big Data Exclusive
ai in marketing
How AI and Smart Platforms Improve Email Marketing
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive Marketing
AI Document Verification for Legal Firms: Importance & Top Tools
AI Document Verification for Legal Firms: Importance & Top Tools
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive
AI supply chain
AI Tools Are Strengthening Global Supply Chains
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive

Stay Connected

1.2kFollowersLike
33.7kFollowersFollow
222FollowersPin

You Might also Like

Image
Uncategorized

What Uber and Lady Gaga Can Teach You About Analytics

6 Min Read
Image
AnalyticsBig DataBusiness IntelligenceCollaborative DataData ManagementHadoopITMapReduceOpen SourceSoftware

What’s Hadoop? Here’s a Simple Explanation for Everyone

7 Min Read
Image
Big Data

Big Data Explained in Less Than 2 Minutes … to Absolutely Anyone

7 Min Read
big data
AnalyticsBig DataBusiness IntelligenceDecision ManagementStatisticsUnstructured DataWorkforce Data

Analytics at Google: Great Example of Data-Driven Decision-Making

8 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

ai chatbot
The Art of Conversation: Enhancing Chatbots with Advanced AI Prompts
Chatbots
ai in ecommerce
Artificial Intelligence for eCommerce: A Closer Look
Artificial Intelligence

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?