Will there always be a place for human-to-human contact in recruitment?

Nick Martindale

The advent of social media has had a dramatic impact on the world of recruitment, affecting how agencies and employers go about finding potential candidates, and how jobseekers market themselves to employers. “It is a continuous live stream of information allowing employers and candidates to find the perfect fit,” suggests Simon Conington, managing director of BPS World. “Before there was only a CV and interview to base your judgement of a candidate on; social media has created more than one platform for recruiters to learn about a candidate and vice versa.”

Such sites have also changed the way in which recruiters advertise roles. “While the opportunity is there to pay for sponsored posts on social media, the freedom to post job opportunities at no cost has allowed recruiters to explore new advertising avenues that previously didn’t exist,” points out Nicola Mewse, operations director, at Hales Group. “With 89% of 18-29 year olds active on social media, it’s risky for recruiters not to embrace social.”

Yet while social media can undoubtedly help identify potential candidates, it does not replace the need for traditional recruitment skills, and in particular the human element of recruitment. “Candidates value access to recruiters who understand their situation and welcome an in-depth discussion around the specifics of a given role,” says Andrew Speers, managing director at energy recruiter Petroplan. “Human-to-human contact is what reassures candidates that we understand what is involved in a placement, which in the energy industry is often in unfamiliar or remote locations.”

The human element also means recruiters can get a better idea of a candidate’s personality, which is not possible to the same degree online. “Cutting out the face-to-face process and relying on online contact eliminates the added value of assessing a person’s ‘fit’,” says Sarah Denmark, client services manager at Wade Macdonald. “People tend to respond to questions very differently online compared to face-to-face, and if you cannot eyeball them then you will be unable pick up on nuances that may indicate weaknesses in their answers, experience or character.”

This is particularly important in sectors such as healthcare, where safety is of paramount importance, says Nick Simpson, CEO of MSI Group. “Face-to-face contact allows qualified healthcare practitioners to accurately assess the competency of candidates,” he points out. “Interviews are all based on an individual role, and have a clinical element, such as a drug calculation assessment. Face-to-face interviews, along with relevant documentation, guarantee the identity of the candidate to ensure patient safety.”

Technology such as Skype and Facetime can help with such conversations but sometimes there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction, says Richard Colgan, founder and managing partner of The Oakleaf Partnership; an area where recruiters can come into their own. “Seeing someone on-screen will never replicate the value of an actual meeting,” he says. “Reading an individual’s reaction, their body language and overall tone are crucial to really understanding someone as a person. Often it is these interactions that allow us to really probe a certain area and question a candidate’s true motivations.”

Recruiters also add value in other ways, notably in performing the legwork around filtering through potential candidates, which can be even more onerous in a social media context. “Online recruitment can turn up some good candidates for less but it can also be a huge time sink,” says Farida Gibbs, founder and CEO of Gibbs S3. “Even then people with immaculate CVs can be entirely mismatched to the company culture. Spending hours interviewing dozens of people who aren’t right is a luxury that many businesses just don’t have, so there will always be a place for experienced staffing partners to really add value.”

There are also risks in relying too heavily on sites such as LinkedIn as a source of candidates, points out Julie Ollerton, founder and recruitment consultant at Creative Resource, as not everyone is on such platforms. “There is still a generation gap which will see experienced, high-quality candidates hiding away behind the noise of social media platforms, and this is where sector and market expertise shines through for the recruiter,” she says.

Andrea Broughton, principal research fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies, warns it could be seen as discriminatory if jobs are only offered through social media channels. “Also, if employers check up on candidates’ online profiles, they may treat them differently and leave themselves open to discrimination charges in that they will not be able to check up on candidates who do not have online profiles,” she warns.

Ultimately, social media should be part of the tools recruiters use to help identify a range of possible candidates, but should not be seen as an end in itself, and certainly not a substitute for human interaction. “Social media is a great platform for sourcing candidates and identifying the long list, but nothing will ever replace the face-to-face process from registration, interview and even work trials,” says Craig Allen, founder and director of the Change Group.

It’s a view shared by Paul Myers, internal recruitment manager at NonStop Recruitment. “Social media is proving to be very useful but it’s not the be-all-and-end-all,” he says. “It can be an effective tool, but that’s it. It can’t be used as a replacement for picking up the phone or meeting someone in person.”