“Never has a platform truly revolutionised the [recruitment] industry, with technological innovation whilst retaining the human element so vital to our industry.”
Quite a claim, isn’t it? But that’s what Vidu, the new digital platform launched earlier this month, is described as in the latest Recruitment Buzz news. And it seems others in the recruitment news business would agree.
Let’s pick up on that opening claim to explore what Vidu is and what it could bring to the recruitment industry.
The ‘technological innovation’ that Vidu offers is a new browser-based platform which brings employers and candidates across the globe, face-to-face in real-time through video and social media. Vidu explains how this is achieved through the creation of an interactive profile which both job-seeking candidates and recruiting companies create. To this profile, they can then upload their video and social media accounts (hiding the parts they don’t want to be seen). Vidu promote this as a way to show yourself to others and stand out from the crowd. Armed with this profile which is completely tailored by and personal to you, the search can then begin for the right job/candidate.
As for the ‘human element’, whilst technology is great and has facilitated many improvements, anyone in the recruitment industry would agree that the personal touch is essential in matching the right candidate to the appropriate job. This is where Vidu stresses the benefits of its profile system: “for recruiters, this is the opportunity to search through candidate profiles to find those that fit with your business culture and values.” Taking the flip side, it will also mean that candidates can browse through company and vacancy profiles to see which are of interest to them and a fit to what they are looking for in a job opportunity.
So how could this new digital platform revolutionise the recruitment industry?
For recruitment agencies, this takes the selection/shortlist process from a one-dimensional search through piles of CVs, to an interactive, in-depth look at the person behind that CV. This in turn arms them with more information about the candidate, enabling them to make a more informed decision on who to add to their interview shortlist. Equally, the candidates themselves are empowered with the ability to make better informed decisions as they gain a more rounded insight into the vacancy/company in terms of what it would be like to have that job and whether working for that company would be a good fit for them.
A more informed decision is more likely to lead to a better match being made on both sides, much easier and quicker which in turn streamlines the recruitment process and speeds up the time it takes to fill the vacancies. This process will also be more cost effective; as job adverts will not need to be re-deployed due to a choice of unsuitable candidates and the interview process will more likely be successful first-time round. Furthermore, down the line, that initial good match will mean a higher retention rate for companies and better career prospects for candidates.
The Logistics sector is the initial focus for the Vidu launch, however the growth plan for the platform in the coming weeks, will see it rolled out to other major market sectors so we’ll then be able to evaluate the impact it’s having on the recruitment process.
Personally we think Vidu is offering something very positive to the recruitment process but then we’re biased because here at Rated Recruitment we’re all about making the process more transparent and empowering both candidates and recruitment agencies to make better choices. Recruitment agencies that sign up with us each have their own free profile where they can show off their hard work and give candidates a behind the scenes look at the work they do, through their Twitter and Facebook feeds, awards they’ve won, clients they’ve helped, resources they offer to candidates and much more. Our aim is to give recruitment agencies their own space to show candidates why they should choose them for their job search. We have had a positive uptake of this facility and so would expect that Vidu will experience the same – watch this space or rather video!