Big Data and Staffing – How Does it Impact the Hiring Process?

Big data is one of the most exciting and widely discussed tech topics to appear in decades. Thanks to our growing capacity to gather, store, and analyze data, we have an unparalleled capacity to spot trends and make actionable judgments based on the best information possible. Everything from healthcare to sports is in the midst of an ongoing revolution thanks to the implications of big data.

One area where the effects have been less discussed, however, is in staffing. In fact, many are surprised to learn that big data even has a role to play in the recruitment process. Staffing is still largely a human endeavor that involves scrutinizing resumes and holding interviews. It has always depended on careful observations and minute judgments that technology simply can’t engage with.

That is why the incorporation of big data and staffing represents such a big change. As any hiring manager can attest to, the recruitment process often involves an avalanche of information to evaluate while still leaving a lot of variables uncertain. At best, the process in inefficient, and at worst, it is unreliable.

Technologically oriented staffing firms have found exciting ways to leverage big data to streamline the recruiting process in ways that would have been impossible just 10 years ago. Big data is now being used to help filter through the first few levels of job applicants so that when it comes time to schedule interviews and check references, the candidate pool is as small and strong as possible.

This is exciting news for anyone responsible for making hiring decisions. Given the weak state of the job market in recent years, it is not uncommon to receive hundreds of applications to fill a single vacancy. The only way to find the best candidate was to read though each resume, but this process was time and labor intensive while often yielding unsatisfactory results. Now that big data is a reality, it is no longer necessary to expend valuable human capital until the the experience of professional hiring managers can actually be put to good use.

Currently, data is being drawn from talent databases, social media sites, ERP platforms, and recruitment tools, but new sources are being integrated all the time. It is not difficult to imagine a time in the near future when recruitment takes a fraction of the resources that it does now, while more consistently uncovering the very best talent available. To experience how the confluence of big data and staffing is being applied right now, contact the innovators at INSPYR Solutions.