The Internet of Things (IoT) has been disrupting our personal and business lives for the past few years, and it seems likely to continue to do so. One of our fastest-growing specialisms here at Agile Recruit has been IoT careers. The world is rapidly catching on to the time-saving capacities of the IoT, especially because it allows you to open your garage door, turn on your house lights, and put the heating on, all while you are driving home from work.
A brief history of the IoT
Now, like artificial intelligence, you may think that the Internet of Things concept is fairly new — it is not. The concept has been around since the mid-1980s, with the phrase “Internet of Things” appearing in 1999 when Procter and Gamble employee Kevin Ashton was looking for a phrase to attract the attention of his senior management team to the RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology he was working on.
You may be surprised to learn that IoT technology doesn’t use the internet to communicate! The technology is based on electromagnetic fields. However, Ashton decided to use the term Internet of Things as the title of his presentation to senior managers to get them to understand that items could be connected rather than being a reference to the internet itself.
Coming right up to date, the IoT is now the process of bringing physical objects online to ease the process of data gathering, automation and control. A good example of how the IoT works is a smartphone — which (if you have the right apps and settings) can be used to control your tv, lights and heating, find your nearest Mcdonald’s and so on. If you have IoT white goods in your home, such as a kettle and toaster connected to the internet, you could also use your phone to switch them on in the morning, so your breakfast is ready when you come downstairs.
But what does the IoT have to do with recruitment?
Now all this sounds exciting and just what a time-poor global population needs — but what does it have to do with recruitment?
The IoT is already disrupting things in the Health and Automotive industry, and we predict it will continue to make inroads into the mainstream over the next few years. We currently have IoT technology for smart cars, smart homes and smartphones, with plans for smart cities and smart grids. It is only a matter of time before everyone will be online and connecting — a process sped up with the recent lockdown measures.
This connectivity has positive repercussions for recruitment — as HR professionals and recruiters adapt to more people connecting digitally.
IoT and the recruitment process
Those recruiters who will succeed in the future can adapt to a more digital way of working. Technology is key to staying ahead of the game as it enables us to collate information more easily and communicate more easily.
To ensure you are ready for IoT’s impact on recruitment, you should:
- Start to acquire the skills and hardware necessary to capture and process the data relating to candidates.
- Hire people with IoT skills to help you create applications and software that will support you in the future — people with skills in Android, IOS and HTML programming.
- Realise that social media is still one of the best places to find candidates, so spend time getting your social media strategy in order.
- Streamlining the sourcing part of your recruitment process using existing technology and technology in the pipeline.
For recruitment consultants, IoT means we need to be up to date with new skill sets required for related job roles such as big data analysis, compliance governance and business intelligence — all areas we have great knowledge of here at Agile Recruit.
To find your next contract or permanent role or to fill a data specialism gap in your business, please get in touch with Agile’s expert team at info@agilerecruit.com
