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Technology is often referred to as disruptive because it changes the ‘usual’ way we do things. Every sector has - in one way or more - been disrupted by technology and in today’s feature we look at how technology is changing the way things are done in healtcare.
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Job hunting can be aheadache. It is for thisreason that many areturning to recruitingcompanies which offer
different job postings. The role ofa recruting specialist is to find theideal candidate for any companywhich has decided to use theirservices.
What does all this have to dowith technology? You mightremember sending your CV andapplication letter via post whenapplying for a post, right? Thishowever has changed in thesepast years.
Today, CVs are sent via emailand usually the covering letter issent within the email itself. Sucha change has triggeredresearchers to assess newrecruiting styles as well as toassess what influences recruitersto choose one candidate overanother.
A recent study by VrijeUniversiteit (VU University) inAmsterdam shows that recruitersmade a firm distinction betweenformal and informal emails. Itseems that the way an email iswritten reflects the personality ofan individual and therefore itautomatically has an influence onthe perception of a recruiter. The
resumes of applicants allowrecruiteers to perform their initialscreening of whether applicantspossess the knowlegde, skills,abilities and other characteristicsrequired for the job. Some reportsactually state that recruiters formtheir impressions about acandidate within just 10 seconds.
Participating in this study were73 recruiters who filled an onlinesurvey after assessing sixfictitional resumes, four beingformal and the other two beinginformal. What affected their
decision whether the individualwould be hirable or not wherethree factors: Email format(formal vs informal) spelling andtypeface (font: Arial orTimesNewRoman - TNR).
Results were clear. Recruitersdo indeed assess the hirability ofan applicant with a resumefeaturing a formal email addresshigher than that of an applicantwith a resume featuring aninformal email address. It seesmthat the effect of using aninformal email address turned
out to be as detrimental as theeffect of spelling errors.According to this study, informale-mail addresses are related tolack of reliability.
Some advice for those applyingfor jobs via email: • Use a formal email such as
[email protected] than something informalor ‘cute’ [email protected] [email protected]
• Use Arial font • Check and check again for any
spelling mistakes
The Malta Independent | Saturday 4 April 2015 1110 The Malta Independent | Saturday 4 April 2015
Technology is oftenreferred to asdisruptive because itchanges the ‘usual’way we do things.
Every sector has - in one way ormore - been disrupted bytechnology and in today’s featurewe look at how technology ischanging the way things are done
in healtcare. Technology has also disrupted
the recruitment process. It’s notuncommon to apply for job offersonline and via email. In today’sfeature we look at a study whichanalysed different types of emailapplications and found some in-teresting results; including thatpeople’s email addresses may be
hindering them from getting ajob.
We also analyse the findings ofa study by my.com that looked atthe mobile habits of those be-tween the ages of 13 and 24 ascompared to older generations.
All ICT Features are available onwww.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature
The Malta Independent ICT Feature
RoderickSpiteri
Roderick Spiteri is Marketing andCommunications Manager at
MITA and editor of MaltaIndependent ICT feature
Your email address couldstop you landing a job
Advances in technologyare to alter healthcaredelivery and insur-ance, according to anew consumer survey
by PNC Healthcare. Online shop-ping for doctors, web-based di-agnostic tools and research abouttreatment options at the finger-tips are informing healthcare de-cisions for millennials, replacingthe single-source, primary carephysician favoured by older gen-erations.
The survey of more than 5,000American consumers exploredthe impact of patient-centeredcare among various age groups,including millennials (ages 21-32), Generation X or Gen-Xers(ages 33-49), baby boomers (ages50-71) and seniors (age 72+).
“Millennials will overtakeboomers as the nation’sbiggest consumer buyinggroup, shifting the purchasingpower,” said Jean Hippert,senior vice president, PNCHealthcare. “The rules of evo-lution dictate that those insur-ers and healthcare providersthat survive or thrive will bethose that adapt sooner thanlater to the preferences of thisfast-paced, technology-drivengeneration.
Growing trends among the mil-lennials that are driving changein healthcare include:• Speedy delivery
When it comes to the drive-thru generation, millennialsprefer retail (34%) and acutecare clinics (25%) double that ofboomers (17% and 14% respec-tively) and seniors (15% and11% respectively). On the flipside, seniors (85%) andboomers (80%) visited the pri-mary care physician (PCP) sig-nificantly more thanmillennials (61%). • Word-of-mouth marketingNearly 50% of millennials andGen-Xers use online reviews(e.g. Yelp, Healthgrades) whenthey shopped last for a health-care provider, compared to40% of baby boomers and 28%for seniors.• Kick the tires onlinebefore buying
50% of millennials and 52% ofGeneration X-ers checked on-line information about their in-surance options during theirlast enrollment period com-pared to 25% of seniors. Sen-iors prefer printed materials(48%) or a company represen-tative (38%) before selectingtheir plan. • Good faith, upfrontestimatesOne out of five people sur-veyed listed unexpected/sur-prise bills as the number onebilling-related issue. With out-of-pocket costs on the rise, mil-lennials are more inclined(41%) to request and receive es-timates before undergoingtreatment. Only 18% of seniorsand 21% of boomers reported
asking for or receiving infor-mation on costs upfront. Un-fortunately, 34% noted the finalbill was higher than the esti-mate; only 8% reported a billlower than estimate. • Kicking care down theroadAll age groups agreed that
medical care is too expensive(79%) and healthcare costs areunpredictable (77%). But morethan half of the millennials(54%) and Gen-Xers (53%) re-ported delaying or avoidingtreatment due to costs com-pared to seniors (18%) andboomers (37%).
Youngsters stand at thefront end of today’suber-connected world.Studying or chatting,shopping or dating, en-
tertainment or work – everythinghappens on the go. But does mo-bile actually change digital be-haviour of the new generation?
My.com surveyed over a thou-sand users in the U.S. about theirmobile habits – how much timethey spend using mobile internet,which platforms and apps preferand what gadgets they carry. Thefindings are quite curious –“youngsters” (users aged 13-24)are much more wired than olderfolks, but share the same risksand concerns about online be-haviour.
Mobile habitsAlmost every youngster is con-stantly plugged in – 91% of themspend at least half an hour onlinedaily. More than 55% of young-sters spend over 4 hours and 32%over 5 hours online a day. Only20% of people aged 25-54 aresuch heavy users.
Communication is the numberone activity on mobile for peopleunder 25. Over 71% of young-sters check out social network ac-counts daily. Facebook, YouTube,Instagram, Twitter and Google+are top priority mobile apps foryoungsters – and they use Insta-gram almost twice as much whencompared to older people (30%vs 19%).
54% of youngsters are plugging
into mobile games and 40% useinstant messaging daily. Email,though, has proven to be morepopular as a daily activity forthose who are 25+ years of age.
Users aged 13-24 tend to preferAndroid over iOS, although olderpeople are even less likely to owniPhones (42% vs 31%).
Security issuesDespite mobile preferences, allusers found to be at equal risk forhacking. Around 15% of peoplein both age groups have experi-
enced it – and the most commonreason for hacking across allusers was setting the same pass-word on different accounts (23%).
Older users, though, are lesscareful with passwords – 23% getbusted for using a simple pass-word, while people under 25 are
more exposed to maliciousviruses. Amazingly 30% of those25+ years of age still write theirpassword down on paper, when55% of younger ones remembertheir data.
Digital FootprintsYoung tech users are not as care-less as they seem – 45% of themare somehow concerned aboutcompanies tracking their onlinebehaviour. The most concernedare those aged between 23 and 29years - more than 36% are veryconcerned about being tracked.
Only 1 in 5 youngsters thinkthat companies are doing enoughto protect their privacy online.55% feel that privacy policiesneed to be better communicated– only a quarter of young peoplefeel they adequately understandtheir contents.
Some statistics from this study bymy.com have been visualised in
today’s ‘Did You Know Box’.
Technology-driven healthcare
Youngsters are constantly plugged-in
