“Those who are unaware of history are destined to repeat it.” When I started in the IT recruitment industry back in the early 1980s, for a company called Myriad Appointments, it was a very different world. Before you could get a ‘job-on’ you had to sell the concept of using an agency to clients rather than them doing it for themselves.
“Those who are unaware of history are destined to repeat it.”
When I started in the IT recruitment industry back in the early 1980s, for a company called Myriad Appointments, it was a very different world. Before you could get a ‘job-on’ you had to sell the concept of using an agency to clients rather than them doing it for themselves.
All communication was via phone or post. Finding and sourcing good candidates was key and running client-branded advertising was the best way to attract them. This was how I made my money, selling multiple campaigns to Clerical Medical, British Aerospace, GEC, Plessey, Imperial Tobacco and many more. Happy days!
Over a coffee the other week I was asked by some young delegates on the course I was running ‘What have been the biggest changes in recruitment’. After a 30-minute discussion it occurred that this perspective might be useful to others.
So in chronological order:
Mid 1980s – The Facsimile Machine: Machines to transmit messages had been around in the form of ‘telex’ and ‘telegram’ machines for years but the ability to photocopy a candidate's CV or resume and send it to a client rather than sending it ‘snail mail’, changed how we in the industry sold our candidates and contractors.
It created urgency, and the ability to close clients with more immediacy. It changed how we canvassed, arranged interviews and confirmed interviews. It also changed how IT contractors were placed too.
Naturally as salespeople we saw the advantages of a fax machine immediately and tried to convince our MD it would change our business forever and we’d sell more candidates. We did initially but like all good process changes our competitors caught up quickly.
End 1980s-91 Mobile Phones – Again these had been around for years and I received my first mobile back in 1989 when I began establishing a new office in the North of England. It was a second-hand one with the phone the size of a brick and a battery pack the size of four tins of baked beans. For others the big revolution came in the early 1990s with (2G) technology.
It gave us as consultants better access to candidates and clients especially during the day so interviews could be arranged during office hours rather than in the evenings or via cryptic calls to their work numbers.
We also could be contacted away from the office rather than using telephone boxes. Once again it increased speed of communication and theoretically made us more efficient. Like the fax machine the competitive advantage disappeared.
1990 Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) – These came in around the end of the 1980s but really in earnest in the early 90s. IBM's Talent was one I used. They didn’t really change how we canvassed clients but enabled us to find and source candidates much quicker. We could do ‘key word’ searches on CVs and find people faster. ‘Buzzword’ Matching entered our jargon. Candidates and recruitment consultants alike filled their CVs with ‘Buzzwords’.
Candidates sadly learnt the hard way that ‘Not Interested in jobs in Bristol’ on a CV or covering letter resulted in hundreds of calls about ‘jobs in Bristol’.
Clients discovered through their own experience that just because an interviewee had ‘COBOL, CICS and DB2’ on their CV 15 times didn’t make them good at the role.
Sadly recruitment consultants buzzword matching and just sending anyone, became commonplace. Prior to this as agents we could do this but we had to read the CV in the first place and work harder to find people so they tended to submit only the best. Measuring KPIs started to come in aggressively to counteract this.
These tools enabled uneducated agencies to ‘blitz’ their clients like a second world war AK-AK Gun with any CV that looked remotely like the spec.
Once again over time as everyone acquired these systems the advantage you had sourcing candidates disappeared though interestingly enough I still see companies with better ATS systems than others retaining that advantage.
1993 Electronic Mail – Again like the Fax machine before it this was seen as a way of revolutionizing the industry. The appearance of the CVs the client received was better. We could log and trace what we’d sent. Theoretically they weren’t lost. We could also prove we sent our CV before the other agencies and therefore claim the fee in disputes. All great stuff and once again we promised our directors we’d generate more fees when we had one and as early adopters we did but only whilst the advantage lasted.
When email was connected to an agency's ATS system the indiscriminate emailing of CVs became a reality on a scale clients could not imagine. SPAM arrived in the client’s inbox in bucket loads. Quantity replaced quality as some clients desperate to find certain skills rewarded these indiscriminate agents with fees. So they continued to do it despite the protests of the majority of customers.
1994 Deregulation and Contracting Out Act – Prior to this date there were barriers to entry into the recruitment industry. You had to demonstrate you were a fit and proper person, apply and be granted a licence, which took some days if not weeks. You were inspected by HMI regularly and there were supposedly rigorous controls. The Conservative Government abolished licences and except for the occasional court cases recruitment agencies were relatively unregulated.
Some may say this was not a good thing but it massively improved our economy's ability to recycle unemployed workers.
My three to fours working in mainland Europe at the turn of the millennium taught me that and to this day the relatively deregulated UK Recruitment Industry is one of the primary reasons why our percentage unemployment levels are much lower than our European neighbours. Naturally Social Security Benefit levels provide the ‘stick’ to encourage people to accept work that is offered but that’s another debate.
With no barriers to entry agencies could set themselves up quickly. With our ATSs we could identify candidates and with email secure an up to date CV and send it to a client rapidly. Mobile phones meant candidates and clients were accessible quicker. These were the boom years and recruitment became a major industry. Agencies sprung up everywhere and for every niche imaginable.
Late 1990s Websites and 1999 Job boards – Tim Berners-Lee’s Internet Revolution of the 90s created the need for businesses to have their own presence on the web, ‘websites’ were born. It was seen as the future and the ‘Dotcom Boom’ came along bringing with it all sorts of businesses.
The answer to every recruiter’s prayers was ‘the job board’, Monster, Stepstone and Jobserve, all arrived and quickly captured the imagination of candidates and agents alike and took hold. Recruitment in the off-line press started to decline.
In 2000 a VNU Computing sales director told me Job Boards were not here to stay and they had no intention of entering the market. (I think his Dad rejected the Beatles as an average bunch of boys from Liverpool!)
Now all lazy recruitment agents had to do was find a job, post it on Jobserve, go home, come back in the morning and with the minimal of CV sifts, email the resulting response to their clients! More SPAM.
Until the recession of 2008 the average recruitment consultant lost the ability to ‘sell’ a complaint most recruitment directors I meet lament.
Whilst none of us wish to return to the ‘old days’ it did demand certain basic intercommunication skills be learnt in order for consultants to succeed.
Each of these changes has affected the industry we are all a part of. All revolutionised what we do and how we do it and few would dispute their impact.
In all cases the early adopters gained a competitive advantage and in some cases have gone on to be hugely successful, whilst those that were slow to adapt in most cases no longer exist. There is a lesson in there.
So what next?
For me there is another revolution happening today which is changing the face of recruitment forever.
The technological advancements of the past pale in comparison to the revolution we are currently experiencing – the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment.
AI has already begun to transform the way recruiters operate, with intelligent algorithms being used to sift through resumes and identify suitable candidates for job openings. This technology can analyze resumes at scale, quickly identifying those that match the job requirements, and rank them based on their suitability.
But AI’s potential goes beyond just matching resumes to job openings. It can also be used to predict the likelihood of a candidate accepting a job offer, and even to identify passive job seekers who are not actively searching for jobs but may be open to new opportunities.
Furthermore, AI can help reduce human bias in the recruitment process. By analyzing data on candidate qualifications and experience, rather than relying on subjective factors such as a candidate’s name, gender, or age, AI can ensure that all candidates are assessed objectively and fairly.
But it’s not just about the benefits for recruiters – AI can also improve the candidate experience. Chatbots can be used to answer candidates’ questions and provide personalized feedback, while virtual reality can give candidates a realistic preview of the workplace and the job they are applying for.
As the use of AI in recruitment becomes more widespread, the role of recruiters is likely to shift from one of matching resumes to job openings to one of managing the AI-powered recruitment process. Recruiters will need to have a deeper understanding of the technology and be able to provide guidance and support to candidates as they navigate the AI-powered recruitment process.
In conclusion, the rise of AI in recruitment is the next revolution in the industry, and it’s not a question of if, but when it will become the norm. While there are concerns about the impact of AI on employment, the reality is that AI will augment, not replace, human recruiters. By embracing AI, recruiters can improve the efficiency, fairness, and effectiveness of the recruitment process, leading to better outcomes for both candidates and recruiters.
It may seem incredible today but back in 1998 there were many agencies claiming they did not need a website.
As George Santayana says: “Those who are unaware of history are destined to repeat it.”
My question is ‘Are you?
Author:
