Tech will change the job hunt process for good

From post-pandemic recovery to a decline in hiring amid a funding winter and slowing economy — hiring trends witnessed a roller coaster momentum. This urged companies, as well as professionals, to re-evaluate the rules of the employment game. And with two-thirds of knowledge workers considering a job switch in the next year, job search processes are set to get an upgrade — and artificial intelligence, deep learning, and blockchain technology will play a big role.

How? Prabir Jha, who has worked as a CHRO with major firms like Reliance Industries and Tata Motors in a career spanning 30 years, believes technology is both disrupting and reimagining the entire hiring life cycle and experience. “There are so many startups offering an amazing range of solutions — specific short listing of profiles, focussed interviewing, and smart onboarding.” 

Jha, who is currently an advisor to startups as well as large corporations, also shared that recruitment life cycles are also getting reduced, thanks to tech. 

‘Tech’ling it

Reflecting on the time he was looking for a job after completing his studies, Chartered Accountant Kushal Lodha says, “Job searching is a very time-consuming process and the major challenge is not receiving a response from the HR department about the selection.” When asked about the various pain points a job hunt presents, growth marketer Sindhu Biswal says, “The amount of people applying is so high that your CV gets lost.”

“Many job seekers are discouraged from applying to a job opening as the process is so cumbersome,” shares Parag Ghatpande, Director, Aon’s Assessment Solutions.

To save jobseekers the laborious task of inputting the same information across multiple platforms, the adoption of more tech-driven platforms will simplify the process of sourcing information, adds Ghatpande.

Emerging trends that Ghatpande highlights include AI/Deep Learning based applications used to reduce the number of steps in hiring process, and chatbot screening practice used to interview candidates based on their competencies and skills. 

Talking about job interviews, while job seekers still contemplate the best practices to fare well in a virtual setting, their next might as well be conducted by a computer — an idea already being tested by students at Sandwell College in England.

Building blocks

Verification of employment documents is another area where technology might save the day. Recently, multinational companies Accenture and Cognizant made headlines for firing employees who submitted forged documents including fake experience letters to obtain jobs.

A blockchain network is in the works that will enable job seekers to manage their career credentials and share access with employers to validate the given information. For instance, the Velocity Network is a joint venture between 14 partners including Velocity Career Labs, Oracle, SAP, and Aon Assessment Solutions. 

So, how does it work? “Velocity Network implements a self-sovereign identity solution in which individuals control their records. Personal data and credentials are stored on the individual’s device(s) and their elected cloud storage service(s) and the individual has sole ownership and control over their data,” shares Ishita Bandyopadhyay, Managing Director, Aon's Assessment Solutions.

Explaining further about how this system verifies the data, Bandyopadhyay says, “Every record in the blockchain has a timestamp and unique cryptographic signature, thus making the ledger an auditable, immutable history of a user’s career.” 

While adapting to the changes may be difficult, Jha believes that with technology becoming more intuitive, the future of job search will look very different.

This article is a part of India’s Big Ideas 2023 list. Want to share your take? Write in the comments using #BigIdeas2023.

Reported by: Dipal Desai 

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