Gen Z & The Evolution of Instant Communication

“the average text response clocking in at a mere 90 seconds”

We live in a world driven by instant gratification. From text messages and social notifications to the ease of Prime and Postmates, chances are if you want something, you can get it – and quickly. But life wasn’t always like that and recruiting wouldn’t be where it is today if not for the human desire to connect. What follows is a look at how much tech changed and how it got it where we are today – in the age of instant gratification.

Now and then

Looking back, it wasn’t that long ago that people relied on party lines to get phone calls. For the unfamiliar, party lines were shared telephone subscriptions, mostly between neighbors in suburban and rural areas. Each party had a designated ring, so you knew when a call was yours. That didn’t stop nosy neighbors from listening in or hogging the line until the last of these got disconnected in 1991.   

The move to personal landlines picked up speed around World War II, and at almost that exact moment, other advancements started to shake things up, too — both literally and figuratively. In 1943, a little girl on vacation asked her dad why she couldn’t see the picture he just snapped of her. Rather than simply explain the development process, that man, Edwin H. Land, decided to do one better and took her idea to heart. Four years later, the first instant-picture process camera, better known as the Polaroid, hit the market.   

Despite gains, life still looked a lot different than what we know today. Sure, pictures developed in under a minute but getting messages to people in faraway places meant postal service, telegraph, courier or carrier pigeon. A persistent problem, people worked hard to speed things up and the persistent problem of making connections soon gave way to everyone’s favorite 1990s office relic: the fax machine.

For recruiters, candidates could transmit resumes and cover letters instead of using postal mail or better yet, showing up in person to apply (oh, the horror).

Now, we’re getting somewhere. In actuality, the fax machine dates back to the days of Alexander Graham Bell though it didn’t enter public use until much later. With these handy machines, offices could work in near real-time. For recruiters, candidates could transmit resumes and cover letters instead of using postal mail or better yet, showing up in person to apply (oh, the horror). It’s at this point in our story when “instant” becomes a real possibility as personal computers also become a thing, sending typewriters and word processors the way of the buffalo. Speed begets speed and soon email and file sharing programs started popping up everywhere, increasing productivity and collaboration.

As America Online (AOL) entered into every home across the U.S. came instant messaging, a precursor to texting, and a way to keep in touch with people continuously. Even if a person wasn’t around, a well-crafted away message could communicate that they were eating dinner or perhaps didn’t feel like chatting. This also moved us one step closer to present day with social networks like LiveJournal, Friendster and MySpace offering people a way to connect, share information and show off their personalities through regular updates and posts. Once the iPhone showed up in 2007, the transformation to hyper-connectivity seemed complete.

What’s next

Saving time is no longer a nice to do, it’s the difference between hiring that top candidate and losing out to the competition.

As the way we communicate changed, so did the tech empowering us, accelerating how people move about their day. With today’s information transmission nearly instantaneous, the recruiting function continues this evolution – needing faster technology to manage the process and meet candidate demands.

Before this, candidates remained patient, understanding that hiring didn’t happen overnight. Now, consumer-facing improvements corresponding to business tech, push communication to where we are, with the average text response clocking in at a mere 90 seconds. Of course, hiring will always take more than a few minutes, so for recruiters, the challenge is keeping up, particularly when it comes to engaging and retaining talent.

This is particularly important when it comes to connecting with Gen Z

Saving time is no longer a nice to do, it’s the difference between hiring that top candidate and losing out to the competition. Luckily, advancements in intelligent automation continue moving the conversation forward making it possible to keep in contact with candidates constant and current. This is particularly important when it comes to connecting with Gen Z. From executing successful events to seamless interview scheduling, recruiters need solutions that refine the function and streamline processes. With the right combination of ATS, CRM, event, interview and program management technology, like those offered by Oleeo, recruiters can take days, even weeks, off of hiring and ensure they connect with Gen Z as they emerge into the workforce. Matching candidate expectations with the new recruiting reality.

Learn more about delivering on instant communication and other recruiting tactics for attracting Gen Z: https://info.oleeo.com/tactics-attracting-gen-z-candidates.

Authors

Adam Couch

Adam Couch is Americas VP at Oleeo, an award-winning provider of innovative talent acquisition technology.  A member of the global leadership team, Adam has deep experience in the Talent Acquisition and HR Tech industry having worked at Oracle, Lumesse, PeopleFluent and Hire.com over his two decade career.  A graduate of Texas State University, Adam is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan and runs the Hooks, a youth and teen Baseball academy, in his spare time.