Tool Time: Three Sourcing & Recruiting Technologies Worth Watching
Posted on October 25, 2013 Leave a Comment
The HR Technology Conference serves, for our industry at least, as the debutante ball for talent technology, the annual ‘coming out’ event for dozens of new systems, solutions and services jockeying for their fair share of recruiting organizations’ annual spend. This year, over 170 vendors issued event related press releases, and I’ve sat through literally 51 briefings before, during and after the conference.
Now that we’re over a week out, and the dust has finally settled on another HR Technology conference, here are some of the tools & technologies that, for me, stand out as among the most intriguing tools and technologies in talent acquisition. As a caveat, not all of these vendors actually exhibited or participated in the conference, but are worth following – and, if you’re a practitioner or decision maker, are worth a look when finalizing 2014 budgets.
Behind the Buzz: Video Interviewing
Posted on October 18, 2013 Leave a Comment
I had to write a post on video interviewing, because somehow, this has become an integral part of HR Technology, and that’s the beat I pretty much cover. And I’ve been hearing for two years how my skepticism can be overcome, how I just don’t understand the technology behind video interviewing (really complicated) or some other boilerplate product marketing solution selling technique.
But I’ve seen dozens of demos at dozens of video interviewing vendors over the past couple of years, an astonishing number of competitors for a category that I categorically believe to be specious at best, hucksterism at worst, and fundamentally unnecessary to exist as an independent point solution (if at all).
Rethinking Candidate Experience
Posted on October 16, 2013 1 Comment
One of the most pervasive, and ubiquitous, topics permeating the recruitment and talent acquisition industry agendas is that of candidate experience, a focus reflected throughout the HR Technology Conference’s agenda and ancillary events, including the Third Annual Candidate Experience Awards.
The recipients of these awards, and the companies considered on the cutting edge of candidate experience, are without a doubt helping change perceptions and create best practices around this elusive yet extremely important issue, and these awards provide valuable validation – and recognition – for employers taking the time to get this critical recruiting competency right.
Millennials Drive Like This: The Why of Gen Y
Posted on October 14, 2013 4 Comments
What if I told you that a sketch comedian and a capitalist came together to basically invent an entire category of HR theory? That’s not a joke – that actually happened. Before the term Gen Y was first coined in Ad Age (1993), or Douglas Coupland first strung together the words “Generation X” (1991), William Strauss and Neil Howe got together and captured what probably was not a zeitgeist as much as a good old fashioned tent revival-style bid to part that fool and his money.
Strauss, you see, was at the time a member of the Capitol Steps, which is like the dinner theatre version of that “I’m Just a Bill” Schoolhouse rock video. And Howe? He was an economist for the Blackstone Group, which is to say, the ultimate Wall Street guy, a banker’s banker, credible, sure, profit hungry, well – that’s the entire point of private equity, and its sole agenda.
Thought Leadership for Lemmings
Posted on October 2, 2013 4 Comments
I’m fully aware what is about to follow is perhaps the most hypocritical thing I could ever write, save a column on healthy weight loss or an op-ed on the flaws of job hopping. But this industry of ours is fundamentally flawed, and the reason is simple: in a world where the barrier to entry is more or less a pulse, an entire category of “thought leaders” has emerged who, really, aren’t thinking about HR at all. Rather, their primary focus seems to be on creating problems which don’t actually exist and making them seem pressing enough to spend money on.
Snark Attack 