Almost 50% of businesses today are using big data to optimize their talent recruiting procedures - and why shouldn't they? After all, the information is readily available. And companies that are hungry for skilled employees need a streamlined way to find people who can fill open positions, including highly skilled positions like engineers and programmers.
There's no shortage of graduates with advanced degrees. However, there’s very little in the way of assessing leadership qualities, critical thinking skills, and other qualitative metrics that separate the good employees from the great. Big data is essential in helping recruiters assess candidates quantitatively, and find those candidates who can thrive in any environment – and make smarter decisions about who will be a good fit.
What does “big data” mean when it comes to recruiting? It includes everything from online resume databases to social media profiles to employment records to test scores and even scanned business cards. Advanced systems and algorithms can scan this information and present it to recruiters and hiring managers in easy-to-digest reports, providing them with a better, more quantitative idea of who to hire.
The new passive job seeker
People with advanced degrees are in high demand – and they’re well aware of this fact. They’re also well aware of the new ways in which they need to market themselves to stand out in a competitive job market.
Instead of sending resumes into a black hole, the most talented employees are creating projects of their own to showcase their abilities. They are leveraging these projects into social media presences and portfolios on industry sites. Savvy companies like Amazon, Walmart and Groupon have picked up on this new wave of talent assessment, using big data companies like Gild and TalentBin to find skilled, passive job seekers with plenty of data-driven validation from their online professional circles.
How is big data used to find hidden talent?
Because so much of the information a company needs about a potential employee is found online, the big data process has the potential to be completely automated. Companies on the cutting edge of this technology comb the Internet and aggregate data like likes, follows and comments on social media, as well as academic and employment information on sites like LinkedIn. Services like Codepen.io and Codility help hiring managers create tests and evaluate candidate skills for things like coding and web design remotely and in real-time. A combination of data programs, algorithms and real people can then evaluate the data and results and look for patterns that indicate leadership skills, problem-solving abilities, critical thinking and more.
There’s still debate about whether a company can truly assess the value of a potential employee through a completely automated and digital process – and for good reason. The most important part of big data recruiting? Making sure you have the right people to analyze the data – and make the ultimate hiring decisions.
Done right, big data works. Xerox recently used big data to reduce attrition rates at its call centers by more than 20%. There’s no question – big data has big results when it comes to efficient, effective hiring.
The bottom line about big data and talent recruiting
Whether you're a job seeker or recruiter, big data is changing the hiring process – and it’s only becoming more prevalent. By 2018, big data spending is projected to reach $114 billion. Even if you don’t have the budget to completely avail yourself of this cutting-edge technology, you should keep an eye on the trends and identify the companies who are using big data in an effective way.
Abby Perkins is Editor in Chief at Software Providers, where she writes about jobs, technology and HR software.