I was sifting through a seemingly endless virtual stack of resumes, i.e. LinkedIn profiles. My head was about to explode as I got to the 500th one. Out of nowhere, Kissing Frogs popped into my head, made me smile, and got me thinking…

I can easily recall when it was not possible to screen 500+ prospective candidates in a single sitting. The good news is that I can now search literally for anyone, anywhere, any time. It’s also the bad news.

A lot of frogs to kiss…a lot of cacophony.

Information saturation. Candidate saturation. Resume saturation. Keyword saturation.

Too much “noise” leads to confusion. Confusion leads to cost and inefficiency.

The latest development in recruiting is the emergence of aggregators using algorithmic formulas. Better results? Or just more noise? I dare say – higher cost, lower efficiency.

Not to mention embedded key words. Genius social media marketers? Or superb candidates? This is a topic unto itself – personal branding. We’ll save that for another time.

At this very moment, the world of recruiting is characterized by an out of control cacophonous system. It is further complicated by a structural problem in the labor force. There is huge demand and a lack of supply – in certain sectors. And vice versa in others.

Key players have yet to figure out how to make sense of all this, how to listen selectively, and how to search efficiently.

The people who master this in the coming years will hold the keys to the talent kingdom.