The future of job interviews; Trends and Developments

8

October

2020

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The job market is an ever changing and dynamic market. You may have noticed yourself that applying for a job has changed course over the last couple of years. Old fashioned interviews are no longer the standard way to go and technology has made its way into the job application process. Although developments may have been sped up by the current Covid-19 pandemic new trends have been up and coming for a longer time.

The biggest impact in efficiency of job applications and interviews has come from Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI has digitalized the recruitment process for small and large corporations even more. Nowadays, it does occur that motivational letters and resumes are screened by an AI robot. This leads to candidates having to carefully examine what to put in their letters or resumes. Another, for now less impactful, implication of AI in the recruitment process are Chatbots. Chatbots are basically virtual assistants that take over tasks at for example a customer service department. Chatbots enables customers to be in contact with a company for 24/7. In the recruitment process a chatbot might be used to orientate certain candidates that applied for a job. Simple questions about salary or company culture could be discussed and a recruiter can pick up personal contact with the candidates that suit the company best.

There is certainly a long way to go before AI is able to take over recruitment process but it might in the end do so. It is true that by hiring people using an AI system or chatbot there is less of a personal touch. Also, it might be harder to select candidates that might fit the companies culture better than others which could lead to problems down the road. However, hiring people through AI systems or chatbots can also create advantages. There is a lot of fuss about ethnic profiling in recruitment in the current job market and people claim they are rejected the chance of job because of their descent. Two other factors are being judged based on gender or appearance. When using an AI system or chatbot to recruit new employees these prejudices do not play any role. So in the end the usage of AI systems or chatbots could turn out to create a more objective, bias free and transparent recruitment process.

Reference

Emerce. (n.d.). De toekomst van solliciteren: opvallende trends en ontwikkelingen. [online] Available at: https://www.emerce.nl/achtergrond/toekomst-solliciteren-opvallende-trends-ontwikkelingen.

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Are we ready for a cashless society?

1

October

2020

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You may have noticed it yourself, you are asked by a charity collector to donate some money on your way to the grocery store. As you are willing to donate a couple of euros you find yourself not having any cash on hand. It is safe to say you are not the only one that, that is happening to.

More and more people find themselves not having any cash on hand when shopping, doing groceries or even when going to an event. There is a new growing tendency of people not carrying any cash around as it becomes more convenient to pay cashless. The exponential growth of the internet of things (IoT) has made countless of cashless payments possible. Possibilities range from debit/credit card, PoS systems or paying with the wallet app on your mobile phone to even paying with a QR-code (Emerce, 2017). At this point in time almost 75% of worldwide transactions are done through cashless payments. But the question remains, is the IoT evidently going to turn the whole society cashless and are we ready for this?

Certainly due to the current pandemic with COVID-19 people are urged to pay cashless to reduce the chance of the virus spreading. However, recent research shows that over 56% of the questioned people in the Netherlands are against going completely cashless in the near future. You would wonder why this many people are against going cashless as it is seemingly a more convenient way to pay. Well, there are several reasons why people would rather have access to cash on hand. The tangibility of cash and a certain grip on expenditures are one of those reasons. People feel that when they pay with cash on hand they have a better sense of what they are spending (Capterra, 2020).

However, it is seen that there is a certain correlation between the age of people and the acceptance of digital payments. This might have to do with the digital skill level of people. Research shows that the acceptance of digital payments and a cashless society is highest in the age range between 18 and 35 years old (Emerce, 2020). Generally this is the age class with the highest digital skill level which might clarify that age has something to do with the willingness to step over in a cashless society. Ultimatly only the future will tell if society is ready and willing to step over.

References

Capterra. (2020). Contant geld mag niet verdwijnen – Onderzoek onthult groei mobiel betalen. Available at: https://www.capterra.nl/blog/1707/contant-geld-mag-niet-verdwijnen-nederlanders-niet-klaar-voor-cashless-maatschappij.

Emerce. (2017). Met vreemde betaalmethoden op weg naar een cashloze samenleving. Available at: https://www.emerce.nl/best-practice/vreemde-betaalmethoden-weg-cashloze-samenleving.

Emerce. (2020). Is Nederland klaar voor een cashloze maatschappij? Available at: https://www.emerce.nl/achtergrond/is-nederland-klaar-voor-een-cashloze-maatschappij.

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