Not Using Big Data for Hiring? You May Be Missing Out on the Best Candidates

Human Resource | Sectors   |   
Published April 11, 2014   |   
Heather R. Huhman

According to a survey by Silicon Valley Bank, 90 percent of startups believe finding talent is their biggest challenge. Yet, a solution to this problem could lie with Big Data — massive amounts of structured and unstructured data that’s difficult to process using traditional techniques.

Over the last decade, human resources departments and hiring managers around the world have analyzed Big Data for insights related to their recruiting. Huge corporations such as Xerox and Google have done this to cut employee turnover in half and hire the best talent.

Although thus far larger companies with big hiring budgets are using Big Data, startups and smaller companies can too.

Previously employers have relied on assessments such as IQ tests, skills aptitude tests and even physical exams to answer questions like “Should Sarah be promoted?” or “Is it time to fire Bill?” But in recent years, Big Data has become the new approach for scientific hiring, allowing recruiters to ask questions like “Will Joe be the best fit for this position?”

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