There has been a lot of discussion about how Blockchain technology can be used in the recruitment sector.

One obvious way is creating an accessible, but immutable, record of academic qualifications. Several colleges and universities around the world have started to use Blockchain technology to create a database of graduates’ academic credentials. For example, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  all of MIT’s graduates will receive digital copies of their degrees, and for the students/undergraduates there, they will be able to download an app called Blockcerts Wallet, enabling them to get a verifiable, tamper-proof version of their qualifications.

Meanwhile, in Singapore, the government has created a Blockchain-powered platform to hold a record of degrees from most of Singapore’s education organisations.

Kelly (which traces its roots back to 1946 in the USA) and is one of the world’s oldest recruitment agencies, has just entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Moonlighting, which itself was founded in 2014 in the USA. Moonlighting is an on-line platform aimed at freelance workers and currently has over 750,000 CVs/resumes. It is the intention that these will be entered on to Moonlighting’s  Blockchain Profile Management System (BPMS). Relevant employment data such as reviews, referrals and recommendations as well as verifications of third-party licenses, qualifications and certifications will all be held on BPMS.

A survey carried out by Kelly found that almost a third of the respondents believe Blockchain Technology will change the recruitment marketplace completely in the next three years. Furthermore, 41% of the companies confirmed they are looking forward to using this new service from Kelly and Moonlighting. John Healy, from Kelly, recently told Forbes that “people in the working world are now seeking mobile technology, ‘self-service’ and the ‘platform economy’, as opposed to conventional hiring methods of the past”.

Using Blockchain Technology is not all plain sailing, as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe means people must be able to have their personal information changed or deleted. Alongside this, the USA the Fair Credit Reporting Act means people have rights about how they are personally presented to companies when being considered for a job. Blockchain Technology potentially prevents people from removing information, such as a job they had in high school, which may not be relevant now.

However, with the existence of nearly 40,000 recruitments firms in the UK alone, recruitment firms and employers are looking to see how such technology like Blockchain can help find the best possible talent, in what is increasingly becoming a global and on-line digital market place.