Let’s Take a Closer Look at Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
Innovation is a term thrown around a lot in HR and talent acquisition. We talk about game-changing technologies, data-driven insights, and the evolution of recruitment practices. But are we truly innovating, or are we just making surface-level changes that don’t fundamentally improve the experience for candidates?
Then vs. Now: How Recruitment Has Evolved
When I first started recruiting, job ads were placed in newspapers. The rise of the internet quickly shifted hiring efforts to online job boards, followed by the introduction of company career pages. Today, technology plays an even bigger role—Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) streamline candidate management, social media expands talent reach, and LinkedIn has diminished the exclusive databases once held by recruitment agencies.
Video interviewing has been touted as another major advancement, along with improved hiring analytics that provide better insights into candidate behavior and talent acquisition effectiveness. Organizations have also poured resources into employer branding, striving to position themselves as the best place to work.
Yes, the tools and platforms have changed. But has the core process actually improved?
What Has Really Changed for Candidates?
Let’s shift the perspective. In the “dark ages,” candidates used a quill and paper to apply for jobs, writing letters detailing their experience. Fast forward to today, and while the medium has changed, the expectation remains the same—candidates must still submit cover letters and resumes outlining their skills and experience.
Despite all the technology introduced to streamline hiring, the process for job seekers remains fundamentally unchanged. They still apply, wait, and hope for a response. The difference? Now, they must navigate complex online application portals, AI screening tools, and impersonal automated rejections. Has technology made the experience better for them, or just easier for hiring teams?
The Reality of Candidate Experience
As someone who has recently been through the job search process, I can say firsthand that it is still incredibly exhausting, frustrating, and demoralizing. Many organizations claim to care about candidate experience, yet few actually get it right. Lengthy applications, unclear communication, ghosting, and impersonal rejection emails are still far too common.
So, while hiring teams pat themselves on the back for leveraging the latest recruitment tech, candidates are left wondering: Has anything really improved for us?
Time for Real Innovation
True innovation isn’t just about adopting new technology—it’s about rethinking the entire experience. If organizations genuinely want to be forward-thinking in their people processes, they need to focus on making recruitment more human-centered, transparent, and efficient for candidates.
I’ll be sharing more about my recent candidate experience in an upcoming blog post—and spoiler alert, it’s not good news for those who claim to prioritize talent.
What do you think? Are we really innovating in recruitment, or just adding layers of complexity? Let me know your thoughts!
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