Recruiters Embrace Non$-$traditional Recruitment Methods

Traditionally, recruiters have used resumes to gauge an applicant$$s fitness for a job.

However, some organizations are realizing that initially, judging applicants$$

suitability for jobs based on resumes and immediately discarding those who do not

fit the criteria is a flawed system that can overlook talented candidates.

Part of the problem with using traditional recruiting methods is their inflexibility.

Journalist George Anders claims that some of the best candidates are not the ones

with great GPA's or job backgrounds, but those who possess analytical and

conceptual skills to think outside of the box.

For this reason, some businesses are changing their recruitment methods.

Employee referrals remain the top recruitment tool with $30$ percent of all hires

recruited this way. Others are taking more unique approaches. Best Buy holds a

national hiring day when its locations hold open interviews for store positions.

Facebook sends out coding puzzles for programmers to solve; this enables

candidates to test their abilities despite their previous work background.

To recruit employees, McDonald's Canada is using a tool called Snapplications. It

placed $10-$second videos on Snapchat about how great it is to work at McDonald's.

Interested candidates will be able to create a $30-$second video responding to the job

posting and fill in a brief resume. McDonald's is hoping Snapchat$$s will enable

them to access the next generation of young workers. Shopify has also used

Snapchat to recruit since $2016.$ The Ottawa$-$based firm often has potential

applicants submit a Snapchat story along with their resume.

Although resumes will likely remain an important part of the recruitment process,

employers are increasingly finding that resumes only show part of the picture.

Using non$-$traditional recruitment tools gives companies the opportunity to test

talents that may not be readily visible in a resume$,$ such as creativity or problemsolving skills.

Questions

$1.$ What might be some of the limitations of resumes as the primary recruitment

tool?

$2.$ Why do you think referrals are valued so highly as a recruitment tool.

$3.$ Do you believe that resumes are still important, or should they be discarded

as a recruitment tool?

$4.$ What are some advantages and disadvantages of using social media to

recruit prospective employees?