Is Virtual Reality Becoming Important In Recruitment?

No matter the industry or sector you operate in, it is important to know what technology has a vital role to play in taking the industry forward, and what technology is just nice or interesting to have. It can be good to be innovative but given the cost of technology and the wariness that many people have in trying new things, it is important to be sure about the merits of a new technology product before investing time and money into it. This is likely to be the case with virtual reality and the recruitment industry.

While it may seem that VR is still something that is for the future, it is becoming prominent in many industries. Virtual Reality has definitely had an impact on the estate agent industry, giving potential buyers the chance to explore new homes from the comfort of their own home or place of work. This is something that will help to transform the industry, allowing people to see the property in full and get a better feel for it than they would get from images and even video clips.

VR can be used to test relevant skills

With this in mind, VR could be used during the recruitment process for estate agents. Candidates for the role could be encouraged to walk through a property; highlighting issues that they think potential buyers will want to know about or to give an insight into how they view a property. This may help these companies get people who are natural sellers or who have an eye for reviewing property in an effective manner.

A more pertinent use of VR in the recruitment sector comes with how BT is using it. The company has a number of jobs which may be deemed to be dangerous by some people, including working at great heights. There is a need to climb up phone and telegraph poles and make sure cables and wires are connected properly and some people just don’t have a head for heights. Using VR technology allows BT to review candidates’ ability to operate in this manner and whether they are going to be suitable for this style of work. If a candidate isn’t happy or confident in this virtual setting, it may be that they are not going to be suitable for the job at hand.

Introducing a VR element to the recruitment process will make the process more effective, cheaper (in the long term) and hopefully safer, which has to be seen as a positive thing. There is no denying that the VR set-up can be used to great effect when it comes to finding who have the mental strength and confidence to tackle certain jobs. Any job which has an element of danger or physicality about it will only be right for certain people, and anything which helps to find these people as early on as possible should be seen as a positive step, and something that greatly benefits the recruitment process.

June 2017 Author : 2XL Recruitment Solutions part of 2XL Media Solutions