Recruitment as we know it has come a long way since its birth in the 1940s.

In the wake of military conscription for World War II, the workforce was found wanting, and it
was out of this lack of workers that the recruitment agency was borne. Having initially served
to replenish the workplace after soldiers had gone off to war, recruitment was also necessary
in assisting returned soldiers with finding new employment after the war had ended.

During its formative years, recruitment depended greatly on word-of-mouth referrals and job
postings on bulletin boards, or in newspapers and magazines. With such a minimal reach, it
was possible for recruiters to help and advise each individual candidate. Of course, with the
advent of the CV in the 1950s, the pool of candidates began to expand and it was not long
before employers began to reach out to recruitment agencies in order to find employees for
their own companies.

Founded in 2006, RMS Staffing’s journey shares many similarities with early recruitment.
Our founder, Shona Kelland, recalls how CVs used to be posted or faxed through by
candidates, and how the CVs of prospective candidates had to be hand-delivered to clients.
While she recalls a time when the employer was king, Shona describes how the small pool
of candidates at that time also meant that recruiters were able to pay greater attention to the
candidates themselves, helping them find work and giving feedback on their CVs. “People
just had more time to go for interviews back then. We used to go for coffee and just chat,”
reminisces Shona.

Of course, the introduction of the Internet and the development of technology has been a
game-changer for the recruitment industry as a whole. Thanks to the World Wide Web and
sites such as LinkedIn, recruiters now have one extensive, universal database of candidates
and their CVs. The interviewing process is faster and more efficient than ever before due to
the technological advances in video calling. And with a greater reach and a larger variety of
candidates, recruiters have been able to streamline their approaches and place more focus
on candidates’ skills and cultural backgrounds. As a result, recruitment has seen a shift in
focus away from the client, and back onto the candidate.

At RMS Staffing, job seeking sites such as Gumtree and PNET play a large role in our
current method of searching for candidates. Along with making filing and storage more
efficient, the advancement of computers and software has also allowed for us to reach a
wider range of candidates through the placement of job advertisements online. Head-hunting
exceptional candidates has never been easier! Having access to online databases like
PNET and LinkedIn means that RMS Staffing has also been able to specialize its selection
process. Today, we are not only able to find a multitude of skilled candidates, but we are
also able to narrow our search for the perfect recruit according to personality and the cultural
atmosphere of the prospective workplace.

Considering all of the changes that recruitment has undergone over the last seven decades,
it will be no surprise when the industry is met with another set of changes. In an ever-
changing world, progress is only to be expected, and RMS Staffing is fully prepared to adapt
and tackle head-on whatever comes next to ensure that we continue to deliver the best level
of recruitment to our modern society!