Ethereum-based system of CV smart contracts to save recruiters time and money

APPII, a UK-based technology start-up, is testing out a way of encapsulating verifiable recruitment-data within transparent, tamper-proof automated contracts run on the Ethereum blockchain.

The smart contracts allow for the verification of the career profile (curriculum vitae or resume) of students and workers by their former, and current, employers and education providers.

The system has been built on Ethereum by London based blockchain consultancy Applied Blockchain and aims to go live in the summer.

The co-founder and CEO of APPII, Gary McKay, told IBTimes: "Our use case is quite simple. We are just going to load people's resumes into the smart contracts and then individually the work experience at a particular employer or qualification – and we are going have the employers or the education prover verify that's correct.

"The difference between LinkedIn is that there is no method of truly verifying if it's correct information. We are going to try and remedy that by verifying with an employer or education provider that somebody has worked there or is qualified.

"In recruitment generally, because of the cost of verifying individuals, it tends to happen right at the end of the recruitment process. So if somebody is found to have anomalous details on their resume, it means the employer or recruitment agency has to start again. We can help that. Blockchain allows the trust parties to come together where before they didn't talk to each other, unless this was all facilitated by the recruiter."

McKay said early validation of career profiles will improve the recruitment process, reducing timeframes and cost to hire, providing students and jobseekers with a greater chance of being considered as a candidate by an employer.

Apparently, in any given year there are 2,000,000 workers that find new jobs, 200,000 graduates looking for jobs, and, on any given day, 1,500,000 temporary or contracting staff looking for new work. The process isn't at all easy for student, jobseeker or employer.

Some 90% of resumes are said to contain inaccuracies, which are costly to find. On average, an employer will have to wait 68 days to hire a permanent role, employers only see 15% of viable candidates, and the wait will cost employers anywhere between £18,000 to £35,000 in lost sales or productivity.

McKay said you can add role descriptions with accompanying legal and contractual information, which can be registered as smart contracts and also trigger automated activities during the recruitment process, such as candidate matching, distribute candidate offers, offer acceptance etc.

Kartik Natarajan, co-founder, Applied Blockchain, said: "APPII has surfaced a very interesting proposition that can significantly improve the recruitment process. Applied Blockchain look forward to supporting the development of their service moving forward."