HR, as a profession has seen a lot of changes in the last few decades. The names kept on changing and so did the roles of HR people. Administration, labor welfare, personnel management, human resource management, people development, call it by the name you want, HR remains the backbone of every organization.

All of this is thanks to many technological innovations. Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning have had a major impact on the way we recruit candidates.

But how did it all start? To fully understand the development of HR, we have to take a trip down memory lane. In this article, we want to emphasize the key technologies that led to HR professionals becoming lazy. Whether this is a good thing or not, we are about to find out.

How has social media changed recruiting forever

Before social media became a staple of our society, people found jobs using more traditional means. Recruitment sites, recommendations and word of mouth were the primary ways a candidate would find out about a job opening.

Even when they found the opening, everything was still unclear. It was much harder to find out more about the company. However, social media recruiting changes everything.

From 2010 onwards, companies have jumped on the social media bandwagon. It became mandatory for a brand to have a social media presence. With every post and interaction, they started creating identities for themselves. This changed the culture of recruiting in three main ways:

Recruitment became a two-way game. Candidates can browse Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and apply for the jobs they deem fitting. Companies are also aware of this, so they tailor-make their recruitment campaigns for optimal results. You can feel this change in interviews, as asking questions isn’t reserved for just interviewers. With an abundance of information available, candidates want to know more and aren’t afraid to ask it.

Negative experiences are down to a minimum. Social media solved one major corporate problem - a lack of transparency. HR professionals from a company with a good reputation can find candidates more easily. Facebook allows users to rate pages, which further increases the credibility of a good company. 2019 will be an ideal year for lazy HR specialists simply because good ratings attract more candidates.

It’s become much easier to handle large amounts of data. During the recruitment process, HR departments are overwhelmed with resumes, information. Social media is not only a channel but an excellent filtering means. With candidate profiles containing everything a company needs, HR specialists can filter out the right people much easier. Additionally, there are tools for campaigns, allowing big brands to have all their platforms on one channel.

The rise of social media did make life easier for HR specialists, but it also shifted the balance on the recruiting market. Career Profiles recently conducted a survey. In it, 73% of all millennials stated that they found their last job on social media. Although HR has it easier nowadays, they have to shift their focus towards social media.

How proofreading tools helped HR specialists

Before 2010, HR professionals only dealt with the analysis of candidate profiles and just a few other things. In 2018, HR has to be a team comprised of versatile professionals that can do many things at once.

Even though HR specialists have a positive outlook, they are becoming more and more overwhelmed. For every lazy HR specialist, proofreading tools are heaven-sent.

When crafting campaign texts and recruitment forms, HR experts can just write down their ideas and hand the proofreading over to proofreading tools. Sites such as Best Essay Service and Assignment Writing Service UK have shown to be major aids in recruitment processes. HR professionals and marketers can focus on just their ideas, without having to worry about proofreading.

There are more proofreading options than ever, with College Essay Writing Service and essaygeeks.co.uk both becoming increasingly popular. 2019 will be even more ideal for lazy HR specialists, as we expect an increase in AI use in these tools.

Also, because the industry will expand, the prices for these services will drop significantly. Editing will be available to everyone.

Video recruitment facilitates the whole process

Just a few years ago, seeing videos used in recruitment was strange and uncomfortable. Everyone was used to text and basic information. Skype interviews became a thing around 2010 and we have never looked back.

The ease of this process encouraged more and more companies to seek candidates from anywhere on the globe. This increased pool of candidates made the life of HR recruiters much easier.

There were regular hiccups during calls, connectivity problems and other interferences. But video is poised to do much more than just being a mediator between employees and employers.

Ads for jobs are regularly equipped with a testimonial or introduction videos. When you take into consideration that agencies report 800% more engagement on video job ads, it all makes sense

Using games for recruitment

When the US Army used games to recruit new pilots in 1999, everyone was flabbergasted. Little did they know that it was the beginning of recruitment gamification.

Teenagers and young people spend much more time on the computer than any other generation. This detail means that we may be seeing avatars and virtual characters interviewing people more and more. Reducing the need for physical presence frees up much time for HR specialists and makes them more productive.

Testing further options for recruitment gamification will make 2019 an even more interesting year. HR specialists will have to do less than ever, freeing up time for better assessment of both employees and candidates. Experts also deem gamification a positive trend, as young people will see interviews as something fun, not scary.

Concluding thoughts

We have seen HR specialists become lazier, but this isn’t a bad thing at all. With social media recruitment, they do less work and get better results than ever. Gamification also provides an interesting approach to recruitment, without the need for too much work. Proofreading made grammatical errors a thing of the past, as well as engaging candidates with video. 2019 will be an interesting year, no doubt at all!