Shortlist initiates the next generation medium of recruitment

The major role of any human resource practitioner in recruitment has since time immemorial been done manually.

The manual process entailed recruitment methods that heavily relied on human input to conduct and follow through with hiring, sourcing and attracting candidates to a potential job role. This subjected hiring companies to a waste of time, due to the high levels of joblessness and the the remote criteria of analyzing the applicants data.

However, the process has evolved with the 21st Century and as far as a Kenyan based company(Shortlist) is concerned, technology is usable for the entire recruitment and job placement process.

Shortlist, a recruitment technology company is changing how employers find the right candidates for jobs and how the candidates get jobs. It is shifting to the world of technology, away from evaluation based on CVs for job placements.

In the technology-enabled operations, job seekers are evaluated based on their actual skillset and abilities as opposed to what is captured on their resumes.

In the interest of HR officers being efficient, in evaluating CVs in record time as opposed to delayed recruitment routines, Shortlist has deployed technologies like chatbots to review  candidates faster, more efficiently and bias free.

“There is a big opportunity on how recruitment and HR operations can be optimized using technology,” says Ariane Fisher, Managing Director at Shortlist, adding: “Technology offers fairness to candidates, erasing bias and saving time for the recruiter.”

Shortlist uses chatbots to maximize the use of big data, structure interviews, referencing, and proper time management to enhance this experience. It is the premier company to initiate such a venture, whose uptake has hitherto faced tads of opposition in the East African market. Reason? Several HR officers seem not to buy the idea of easing their workload but rather think it is a way of taking away their jobs.

Ariane says, “We identified a gap between recruiters and recruitment tools available in the market, and also between job opportunities and talented job seekers in Africa. We took the opportunity to help companies better onboard talent into the organization and help candidates have a better experience looking for jobs.”

Ariane adds that chatbots collect basic data about candidates that is akin to what a WhatsApp is. Candidates give basic information about themselves then an online aptitude test is carried out when a candidate passes the basic elimination test as per the specifications.

For the aptitude test, a candidate sits before a computer or uses a smartphone and basically gets the opportunity to learn more about the job they are applying for. It is an exciting time for both employers and prospective employees.

“There are tons of talent in the market and the employers need to grasp this to grow their companies and enhance productivity at the workplace,” says Ariane.

Employers need to find the right people based on big data and not on who knows who or who has been heard from or about and match this ability with the job opportunity. Through this, the recruitment market is going to morph into a friendly ground where only the most suitable and talented candidates get appropriate jobs and employers don’t have to spend money on salaries for the wrong candidates who often fail to deliver.

The cost of hiring someone who does not perform well in a job is huge. Recent reports indicate that hiring a wrong candidate for a job could cost a company up to Ksh 6 million a year. This is too expensive an error that an employer would, by all means, want to avoid adds Ariane.

Candidates get to know in-depth information about the prospective employers, about how and what the organisation structure is like and what exactly is needed from them. This makes a candidate settle for the most suitable openings with close to nil errors in selection based on proven ability. They also get to know if they qualify or otherwise and reasons for the same.

The digital HR venture saves time (up to 20 hours) for reviewing CVs manually and conducting interviews with the wrong people. It also cuts on the costs for interviewing the wrong people.