Can automation really help you sift through job applications?

There’s lots of software to help you work through the vast numbers of respondents to job advertisements. The question is, who wins in this process?

Does it highlight the best people for the job, or just the ones who now how to work the system?

The same applies in an interview. Some people are skilled at bluffing their way through the process and telling you what you want to hear. They’ll then direct you to referees who are in the whole game, with rehearsed answers designed to make the candidate shine.

No wonder we often make bad recruitment decisions. So is software in this situation a help or a hindrance?

Gary Costa, Managing Director at StaffMatcher, says there is a role for software in recruitment, but it’s right at the end of the process when you are trying to evaluate your final choices and ask the right questions when you reference check. Up to that point, it’s up to you and your intuition.

First published on CBS News