Hiring managers are looking for candidates that can do the job, have the right skills, and fit well with the team. Blockchain is transforming recruiting by providing a fast solution to the long-standing struggle of validating candidates’ identity and skills. The question stands on what can and can not be part of the blockchained resume.
By the numbers:
- According to the Monster Future of Work: 2021 Outlook survey, 66% of employers say that candidates exaggerate skills and competencies on their resumes.
- The United States Department of Labor puts the cost of a bad hire at up to 30% of the employee’s wages for the first year.
- Background checks are costly and take from several business days to weeks, depending on the nature of the scope.
- According to Entrepreneur – Chief financial officers rank bad hires’ impact on morale and productivity ahead of monetary loss.
Blockchain explained: Blockchain is a decentralized way to keep records. Records are shared among participants, and data can’t be changed. A blockchain ledger allows participants to add information in blocks. Each party evaluates the proposed transaction by running algorithms. If the information matches blockchain history and the transaction follows the participants’ rules, the transaction is deemed valid and added to the chain. The data stays up to date on all the systems – it is encrypted, unchangeable, and time-stamped.
Role of blockchain for recruiting: Blockchain can ensure that a candidate’s job history and credentials are pre-confirmed, thus allowing to proceed with the candidate fast without waiting for background checks to complete. Identity and credentials management are top resume components that can easily be validated via blockchain. Basic information on the motor vehicle and license record, criminal records, credit checks can be part of the universal ledger system available for instant confirmation.
MIT debuted digital diplomas in 2017, and more educational organizations have joined the trend since, using Blockcerts. “Issuing a credential on a blockchain provides proof of when, where and by whom that credential was issued and can’t be changed, unlike a photo of someone’s certificate which could quite easily be digitally altered,” according to Mr. Cushley, PWC Director.
Name of companies and time of employment can easily be verified through blockchain as well. With the job market moving toward the gig economy or liquid workforce, candidates are connected with multiple organizations for short periods of time. Blockchain offers a quick solution for the recruiters to validate the job history.
With the traditional hiring process, interviews are set up first, and a background check comes later. If candidates fail the background check based on false information related to education or employment history, hiring managers restart the process, with valuable time waisted on the previously top candidate. With blockchain, information is pre-verified, minimizing unwanted surprises at the end of the hiring process.
Can everything be blockchained on the resume? On the surface, blockchain offers control to the applicants of their digital identity and ensures that the information is accurate. This is true for the information that is not biased and represents easily validated facts – graduation from a university or working at a company in a specific role.
What about the hiring managers’ need to know that the candidate worked on a specific project and delivered certain results? From the candidate’s standpoint, accomplishments should be part of the resume, showcasing the magnitude of their influence and track record of success. From their employer’s perspective – some of the information is highly confidential, and the organization would prefer not to set the record in the blockchain and not validate what the candidate accomplished during their engagement with the company.
Another point to consider – managers attributing success to their leadership and not fully disclosing the team members’ contributions. What gets blockchained on the way out from the company or project becomes a point of negotiation. HBR points out that women’s contributions are systematically overlooked at work. Translating accomplishments to blockchain may not solve the problem of biased views on the duties and results of the candidates.
Collaboration, emotional intelligence, leadership, and other soft skills are essential for success are hard to validate and capture through blockchain. Productive and engaging team dynamics remain elusive, and hiring managers make judgment calls on what candidate may be the best fit for the evolving team in an environment where objectives, tasks, and duties may change rapidly based on the new information coming in.
The Bottom line: According to Rework, implementing blockchain as part of recruiting and hiring works to the benefit of both employer and employee. Blockchain is a powerful technology and can solve key hiring pitfalls and challenges around timing, security, and the validity of the candidate’s information. Blockchain managed identity can empower individuals, whether part of the traditional economy or gig economy, and introduce trust into the identity and open possibilities for new and better opportunities. As career trajectories evolve and become less linear, blockchain can provide the tool needed to ensure that resumes evolve alongside them, supporting the new way we work.
