When technology gets in the way of people hiring people

Are we eliminating people from the equation? Anyone who knows me well knows I love technology and use it every day.

Technology gets in the way of real connections

But there are times when even I think we went too far with depersonalization of processes and made it harder than easier. Does technology get in the way of people hiring people?

Did automated loan processes remove the personal relationship with your banker?

I talked with many banking clients about this. While I think bankers should be prudent to make sure they give good loans, I am concerned about automating rules.

If the computer decides without a highly skilled loan officer, does it determine whether the customer is a good risk? I suspect automated systems did more to give loans to the wrong people than to give loans to the right people.

I worked closely with a loan officer in my last refinance, but I submitted and signed everything online. I emailed him and he rapidly responded to any questions while I used technology to complete the mundane issues.

But finance isn’t the only place that depersonalized processes leave human decision-makers out of the equation. I believe job seekers are wronged by the same automation.

Are people left out of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

I’ve said it before. Applicant Tracking Systems annoy me. I understand the reason for them. Human resources professionals deluged with applicants as we create new and electronic ways for people to apply. By allowing emailed resumes, the door opened to higher numbers of applicants.

Creating online job boards offers more avenues for applicants to apply than ever before. Add in unstable economic conditions resulting in a huge high volume of resumes generated.

When technology gets in the way of people hiring people

My complaint is systems are hard to use and largely impersonal. Faulty systems put the information in the wrong fields so applicants must reconsider what happened when they uploaded their resume.

Fortunately, though ATS systems appear to be a necessary evil, you can personalize the process by using networking to get your resume read by a hiring manager.

It isn’t necessarily easy. For many people, it is very scary but many of my clients used this strategy to move forward in the hiring process and get those offers in their hands.

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