Clients

Robot Interviewers - The future of recruitment

Today, the BBC had an online article about a robot, which can interview people. Without doubt at some stage in the future, this will be a reality but I wonder how people will react to being interviewed by a machine. Changing jobs is one of the most important and stressful decisions you can make. Are candidates going to be happy interacting with a non-human? Will they feel confident that they are being listened to and what's more that their information will be interpreted in the way that they want it to be? I found after listening to the artcle, which showed an example of the machine asking questions, that I had a lot of questions in my head as to how it would work in practice. The argument for such machines is that they don't have the same predjudices or unconscious bias, which humans have, however I thought AI learnt from the input it gets, so it may form those biases over time. At the same time, finding someone for a job, isn't just about a skillset. It is about a team fit as well and whether members of the team will get on with each other. Is a machine going to be able to do that? I assume that the machine has a way of storing candidate's answers but where do those answers go or does the machine make the hiring decision too and what happens if it gets the hiring decision wrong? We are, after all, dealing with human beings and after 32 years in recruitment, they still never cease to surprise me. Or maybe, we'll just end up with robots interviewing other robots. The future of recruitment looks interesting!!

Job hopping - is it a good idea?

In recent years, I have seen a substantial increase in the number of job hoppers. I class a job hopper as someone who stays at companies for less than two years before moving on. On many CV's now, people are staying for less than a year before moving on. They tend to be people under thirty and whilst I understand the need to move on for career progression, there are a number of reasons for thinking twice before leaping into another role after six months or so. These are: 1) If you are in a company for under a year, the company has not had enough time to really assess you or give you further opportunities. These rarely come along immediately as the company needs to see how you perform before giving you more responsibility. 2) Companies will steer clear of interviewing people whose track record is bitty as they expect you will leave them too after a short while. They don't see any reason why they should invest management time and effort in someone, who won't stay around long enough for them to reap a reward on their investment. 3) Jumping from job to job shows someone,in theory, who can't make good decisions about their life choices, which then makes companies worry about the kind of person you are. Do you have resilience? Do you have staying power when the going gets rough or tough decisions have to be made? How much backbone do you have? 4) Jumping around also makes a company think that maybe you are having to move because you aren't very good at your job. In this day and age of the internet, people are used to having their expectations met immediately and in most aspects of our lives now, we don't have to be patient and wait for results. Unfortunately, sometimes we still do and I think that developing a career is one of those areas. Companies aren't just going to give you the job of CEO because you think you want it. You have to prove to them that you can do it first and sometimes it's a gradual process that takes a few years. If you do have to move jobs frequently through no fault of your own - eg redundancy - always put the reason for leaving on your CV so that the recruiter can see the narrative and understand the reasons. Happy job hunting and have a great week! Jeanette Robinson

Flexible Working - A reality check

Flexible working is all the rage. Or is it? In theory, technology allows us to be working from home a great deal but do the companies we work for allow us to in reality? I spend a considerable part of my working week visiting companies, talking about job specifications and talking to candidates and I have reached the conclusion that there is a dichotomy in many cases between what companies perceive to be flexible working and what candidates would like the definition of flexible working to be. Let's start with candidates. Many candidates, particularly those with child or carer responsibilities would like flexible working to mean working the hours that suit them and their other responsibilities. That could mean for example that they work in the evenings or before the traditional working day starts or even at the weekend but then take time out during the traditional working week to look after a child or do a hobby. Companies however are resisitant for the most part to this form of working. In the majority of cases, I find that corporate flexible working is defined as flexing start or finish times or shortening lunch breaks so that people can go home early on a Friday maybe. With technology as advanced as it is, why do we still see resistance to a wholesale change in the way that we work. I think there are a number of reasons. Firstly, how do you manage people and their workload if they are not there. It involves incredibly high levels of trust from an employer that the employee is doing what they say they are, which is why people who do have more flexibility tend to have been with companies for a while or are senior management. Management of flexible workers is still something we don't really discuss and has some way to go. Secondly, how do you mentor and develop people effectively when they are not there. Thirdly, how can you have a company culture which binds people together in a team if they are all working individually. And finally, and most obviously, some jobs just need poeple to be there at set hours. . So whilst employees think that they can do their job from anywhere if they are linked remotely, employers have a different view on just how flexible they think they can allow employees to be.We still have a long way to go before the dream of real flexible working becomes a reality.