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ePaper created 2018-04-25, 08:59:39 | version 1.38.0
Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 2/2018 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT 33 How is technology changing dental recruitment? personal accounts on sites like Face- book. Altogether, the advent of digital tech- nology has had a profound effect on recruitment. By effectively using the most up-to-date technologies avail- able, employers are better placed to find the ideal candidate, and jobseek- ers are more likely to find a position that suits their clinical skills and personal preferences. As for agen- cies like Dental Elite that specialise in dental recruitment, technology will no doubt continue to play a key role in the hiring process over the com- ing years. At the click of a button, recruiters and employers alike can now sift through a pool of candidates quickly by accessing their profiles. (Photograph: LoboStudioHamburg/pixabay) By Luke Arnold, UK Before the advent of professional networking sites like LinkedIn and social media platforms such as Face- book and Twitter, specialist recruit- ers relied heavily on their network of contacts and market knowledge to find a shortlist of suitable candidates. While this is still the case today, on- line platforms have opened the door to a whole new world of potential candidates, making it easier to dis- cover both existing and emerging talent that may have otherwise re- mained unknown. At the click of a button, recruiters and employers alike can now sift through a pool of candidates quickly by accessing their profiles. Profes- sionals can also be contacted directly through messenger applications and by phone, meaning a wide va- riety of potential candidates can be reached—including passive appli- cants, which as we know make up a large proportion of the talent pool. For candidates, LinkedIn can act as a “shopfront”, allowing them to dem- onstrate their career achievements and skills and to promote them- selves to a wide range of potential employers. Between online job sites and net- working/social platforms, it is now much easier to advertise vacant po- sitions and hiring intentions, and in a much richer way too, owing to the use of multimedia. Indeed, un- like traditional media that focuses purely on the job role, modern ad- vertising can incorporate mediums such as vox pops or videos of staff and the workplace to tell the story of an organisation. The only drawback to the introduction of these broad- casting platforms is that, for some active applicants, having access to that amount of information can sometimes make it more difficult to narrow down the job search and that is where companies like Dental Elite offer help. In addition to social and professional networking platforms, technological tools such as Skype and FaceTime are becoming increasingly more useful for recruiters during the initial stages of the interview process. For obvious reasons, being able to screen a poten- tial candidate “face to face” without having to actually meet in person can be extremely time efficient and is far more insightful than having a phone conversation. This can be particularly helpful in the beginning when trying to whittle down candi- dates to a short list and for feeding back information to the client. The other plus point to modern tech- nology is that recruiters are now able to access a greater level of data and e-mails on the move and at home. This not only affords greater flex- ibility for recruitment agencies, but also provides a more convenient ser- vice to candidates who may prefer to communicate outside of normal office hours. The downside of technology, of course, is that employers are able to access far more personal informa- tion about applicants than was pos- sible before. As their findings could influence their final decision, it is im- portant to maintain a professional online presence at all times, even on