Infographics in Construction Recruitment

Sight is the predominant sense with which one perceives the world and collects knowledge and in this day and age of high technology, civilization is bombarded with visual imagery. This is particularly true in the cityscape of Hong Kong- there is barely a square inch left in the urban landscape that isn’t covered with a plasma television screen or vibrant neon signs.

With this in mind, it is a wonder that infographics (illustrating concise data through one or a series of simple graphics) haven’t been more successful - or even proposed as a valid method - for construction recruitment job advertisements. Why is that? It seems like it is a mixed bag at this moment in time. There are traditionalists out there who like to argue the concept of infographics is simply a novelty or trend which adds nothing, and even potentially degrades the professionalism of a recruitment company or construction industry employer. On the contrary, there are internet users who are keen to progress with the times and encourage the use of infographics especially in terms of promoting jobs – check out the likes of Jobgram.

It really is a matter of opinion though, and probably depends on your profession. Coming from an architecture background where I have dealt mostly with images, the use of infographics is obviously appealing- the images add depth and interest for me compared to a large chunk of words. However, a lawyer or accountant may prefer to get straight to the point with a piece of well written text that is equally interesting. My worry relates to the longevity of infographics- the age of information has led us as a population to become bored very quickly and demand a quicker, newer option. Like I mentioned before, the visual landscape of Hong Kong is so dense already – there are signs and lights and posters wherever you look, so much so that people don’t even notice them anymore. I will be personally very interested to discover the fate of infographics over a long term period...........  

In the meantime, whilst the recruiters at Maxim consider this further, I will be continuing to use mostly traditional methods - please check out the range of jobs we have available on good old fashioned text!

Donald Leung
Maxim Recruitment in Hong Kong