George Jetson’s Resume

Meet George Jetson!  His boy Elroy!  Daughter Judy!  Jane, his wife!

For those old enough to remember when the Jetson’s cartoon first hit the air, you’ll also remember that the reality of technology dominating your life still felt lightyears away. However, almost overnight, we went from drive-in movie complexes to Netflix nights with the family in the comfort of our own homes. We went from pulling over on the side of the road to make a sales call to hosting conference calls from our car while waiting in line for a latte.  In the blink of an eye, society now consumes a steady diet of tech-driven solutions designed to produce a result quicker than a wink, or a blink.

Whether we realize it or not, the “Jetson Era,” in many ways, defines how we order food, “thumb” rides, access entertainment, shop for clothes, prepare healthy dinners, send gifts (and cards), and even job hunt. How we communicate and get stuff is impacted by the fast pace of smarter technology, giving us access to whatever we need, whenever we need it!

Today, in 2018, staffing and recruitment firms, managed services and technology organizations, and any company in the business of identifying and engaging talent is experiencing this “Jetson Era” as much, or more, than any other industry.  It’s all about “Where’s the talent?”  “What’s next?”  “How to be faster?”  “How to get, maintain and sustain the attention of a global workforce that, let’s face it, whether referring to individuals or major corporations, has the attention span of a gnat?”

Where are we to find and rapidly engage difficult-to-find candidates during this oft-stated “war for talent?”

One way to identify and most effectively interact with the best potential talent for your organization is stealthily and secretly via the web, using advanced technologies and Artificial Intelligence.  According to a recent Forbes article, “AI uses bots to crawl the web and scour hundreds of sites including personal websites, meetup groups and tech chat rooms, in addition to social media sites.” They are quietly able to find great candidate matches and, at the same time, predict if this unknown working candidate, who is not yet actively searching for a new role, is amenable to a job switch.

Wow! Finding workers who don’t even know they are looking for a job? Now, that’s intelligent!

We raise the question, is it enough?

The staffing industry has a tremendous advantage in this world of automation, instant recognition, total impatience for wait time, and the ‘notice me now’ culture that we all live in.  What is the industry’s advantage? We really care about actual people.

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This industry, like many, benefits from the technological advances of the 21st century, from robotics that simplify the candidate application experience to AI and complex algorithms that rank candidate qualifications and skills against a defined hiring criteria. Still, despite technology, companies must still rely on human feelings and interactions to determine which candidates truly are the best fit.

No matter what the medium, mechanism, or technology in play, people are NECESSARY. It is the people who prop it up.   It is the living, breathing humans who are designing, building and executing the technologies and the processes.  No matter the brilliance of the IT professionals, data security experts, marketing and communications teams, executive strategists, and sales personnel on the frontlines developing and supporting the innovation and enhancement of technology, choosing your next team member is not a purely data-driven, scientific decision.

According to Computer Weekly, “Deciding who to hire is a big deal as well, it matters hugely to employers and quite rightly so. To do that effectively, you need human-to-human interaction.”

Ironically, it took a computer publication to drop some serious wisdom, but it hit the nail on the head. Yes, technology is an answer, but it is not the lone answer to making a great hire.

Indeed, we are living in a time of incredible and positive disruption where creativity, innovation, AI, and all the benefits of this next-gen, tech revolution are a boon in how we interact and transact, quickly and efficiently. Knowing this, smart companies will rely on technology. Smarter companies will lean on technology without ever forgetting that people, their experiences, impressions and intuition still matter, AND will always matter, when it comes to building the right team.

MORE:  Balancing AI with Human Contact

Kim Bell

Kim Bell
Kim Bell is vice president of global sales at AgileOne.

Kim Bell

Gary Randazzo

Gary Randazzo
Gary Randazzo is director communications and proposal management for The ACT•1 Group/AgileOne.

Kim Bell

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