Blockchain-Enabled Decentralized Recruitment Platform with Verifiable Credentials and Privacy-Preserving Hiring

Abstract

The conventional online recruitment systems depend heavily on centralized systems which often create problems in transparency, resume fraud, data monopoly, and low levels of trust between employers and applicants. As a solution to such shortcomings, this paper considers a blockchain-based decentralized recruitment system, combining verifiable credentials, decentralized identity (DID), and hiring technology that respects privacy. The system suggested uses smart contracts to make the recruitment process a fully automated procedure (job posting, application, credential verification, and hiring decisions) that does not rely on centralized intermediaries. Candidate credentials (including education, certifications, and work experience) are cryptographically signed by authorized issuers, and will be stored as hashes on the blockchain, which cannot be altered, whereas documentation is stored in the decentralized storage (IPFS). To enhance privacy, the platform uses selective disclosure and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) features that also allow applicants to reveal their knowledge of skills without revealing sensitive personal data. The architecture also introduces DAO-based governance and score of reputation to increase responsibility of employers, credit issuers and applicants. Experimental testing using synthetic recruitment data proves that it has higher reliability in recruiting, with 91% accuracy in catching resume fraud compared to 78% with conventional applicant tracking system and has reasonable transaction latency and growth capability with a hybrid on-chain off-chain architecture. The findings indicate that the use of blockchain in the recruitment systems can significantly positively contribute to the transparency, authenticity of credentials, and trust in the modern hiring ecosystems.