Introduction to Online Recruitment

In association with HR Portal

What is online recruitment?

Online recruitment uses the power of the internet to match people to jobs. Fundamentally, it is about advertising vacancies on either job sites or corporate websites. At this very basic level it is particularly effective at getting a high level of response. While it may generate hundreds more applications than traditional print advertising, simply attracting more candidates is only part of the job. The current view is that truly effective online recruitment could be as low as 10% of the top blue-chip corporate companies.

The real strength and power of online recruitment, when done properly, lie in harnessing internet technology to not just attract candidates but to deal with them too. In this sense it is also about streamlining the recruitment process -so busy HR departments can give a better recruitment service to their colleagues in finance, marketing, sales and manufacturing. Plus it frees up more of their time for more value-added tasks.

A specialist software provider, such as HR Portal, can develop bespoke application programmes for recruiters that will save time, effort and money. They can automate the pre-selection process by setting 'killer questions' (that only the top candidates will answer correctly), profiling and scoring, psychometric tests and automatic CV scans to look for key words such as qualifications and experience.

What are the benefits of online recruitment over traditional recruitment?

There are many benefits to be had by recruiting online: here area few.

1) Wide geographical reach

Advertising online opens up a much wider candidate pool than advertising in print. This gives you a much better chance of finding the right candidate for the job. Note, however, this is only a benefit if sifting, sorting and grading tools are applied to the applications coming in. Otherwise you'll have hundreds to go through manually which becomes a liability. As we said, the advertising is only part of the effective online recruitment.

2) Speed

Jobs posted online go live in literally minutes and candidates can - and do - respond immediately. HR Portal has a great statistic from one of its clients HFC Bank: from the vacancy appearing online to the candidate appearing in the interview room took just three hours. While this was an exception, it proves it can be done.

For companies needing to recruit staff quickly to handle extra work, cover sickness, leave or other staff shortages, the option to advertise, select and appoint people within (typically) 48 hours is a huge bonus.

3) Lower Cost

This may surprise you but technology in online recruitment is not expensive. By saving on time, design and print costs and targeting precisely the best sites for the best candidates, online recruitment is a very cost-effective option.

Not only that, but the hours saved through automating the pre-selection process represent a considerable cost cut in terms of HR time needed to get candidates to the interview stage. Suddenly, HR staff have time to do more productive things.

4) Automating the Process

The pre-selection process can be tailored to individual companies' needs. This way, you can sift and sort candidates who meet your exact needs. Not only does this save time (and cost) it also results in a better quality of candidate reaching the interview stage having already established they meet certain key criteria.

Automating the application process also gives a level playing field to all candidates - whether they come directly to your company's site, via a recruitment consultant or in response to a print advertisement. For many larger organisations, achieving consistency of handling candidates across many branches or regional offices can be a problem: online recruitment solves it.

5) Interaction with candidates

Working online via websites and email is the way of the future. It's not just the youngsters who are logging on to find jobs either. Recent results from NORAS shows 35% of all users are over 35. It's quick, personal and direct. Questions are answered in seconds and information is immediately accessible. What better way to establish whether the candidate is right for you (and indeed that you are right for them)?

Another benefit is that candidate information can be held on file (your own searchable CV database). So if someone is not quite right for the job for which they're applying, you can see if their skills and profile match another job better. Working online opens up communication channels and enables you to go directly to the candidate either immediately or at a later date when an opportunity arises.

Introduction to Online Recruitment - Part 2

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