ONLINE RECRUITING "NETS" RESULTS
Written for Jeff Taylor, CEO of The Monster BoardOne example is Oakwood Homes, a retailer, manufacturer and financier of manufactured homes in Greensboro, North Carolina. Last November, Internal Auditing Manager Tom Wilson needed a new Internal Auditor. Tom tried online recruiting to search for candidates with a suitable financial background. He found and hired Derek Surrette.
A self-confessed "non-computer guy," Derek had been surfing the 'Net using a friend's AOL account, and found Oakwood Homes' advertisement on The Monster Board, a leading employment site on the World Wide Web.
Since November, Oakwood Homes has recruited 50 percent of its new hires for internal auditing from online job postings. As a result of its success with online recruitment, Oakwood Homes now places ads online and in local newspapers in the specific areas of the country where it is searching for employees.
The Oakwood Homes experience is not unique. The Internet has become a flexible component of an HR professional's arsenal, offering the opportunity to reach qualified candidates quickly and access industry information. It also allows companies to post information about themselves to "sell" the organization to prospective employees.
The 'Net offers job seekers access (often at no cost ) to thousands of job listings, opportunities to post resumes and the capability to "do their homework" on prospective employers.
A recent national survey of 525 active career candidates by Drake Beam Morin Inc. showed that 19 percent logged on to the Internet to look for work. Each applicant who logged on recorded an average of 5.6 job leads and 1.2 interviews for their efforts.
Demographics have also revealed that well-educated professionals make up a good percentage of Internet users. Therefore, as more companies "rightsize," it is likely that some of these professionals will incorporate the Internet into job searches.
In recognizing this trend, many major daily newspapers have also started online editions, and include Help Wanted ads as part of their content.
How many people can a company reach via the Internet? While there's no clear answer - studies vary -- an unscientific answer is "many." According to a November, 1996 study by Louis Harris & Associates, there are over 35 million Internet users in the U.S. alone. International Data Corporation's October 1996 study claims over 31 million Internet users in the United States. Other surveys show slightly different numbers - some more, some less.
IntelliQuest says that 23 percent of those 16 and older in the U.S. have access to the Internet, while an Advertising Age/Market Facts telephone survey (September, 1996) of 1,000 randomly selected U.S. residents 18 and over, says that 27 percent have been online in the past six months.
The surveys do agree on one thing - Internet use is growing steadily and significantly. A May 6, 1996 article in U.S. News & World Report claims that growth in connections to the Internet is doubling annually, and will continue to do so through the turn of the century.
In 1994, the Internet did not appear in surveys of recruiting methods. Many HR professionals now say that it ranks as one of their top five recruiting methods, along with traditional approaches such as classified advertising and recruitment services. By the year 2000, industry experts expect the Internet to be the tool of choice for HR professionals.
An October, 1996 study by Forrester Research, Inc. projects that spending on online will double from $4 million in 1996 to $8 million in 1997, then increase more than six fold to $52 million in 1998.
Cost & Space Advantages
Online recruitment offers HR professionals several advantages. It is significantly less expensive than using a recruitment firm or placing a classified ad in a newspaper.
World Wide Web (WWW) sites such as The Monster Board enable companies to post jobs on the Internet for $125 for two months, a fraction of the 20-30% annual salary fee charged by recruiting firms. And, unlike traditional classifieds, Internet recruitment ads are not limited by space, allowing for more detailed job descriptions with links to corporate information.
The Internet's global reach means that job opportunities can be explored by online job seekers worldwide. And, because the majority of Internet users are college-educated, well-trained and comfortable with technology, HR executives reach a desirable audience in a cost-efficient and timely manner.
The Internet's interactive nature can yield quick results. Job seekers can access Web sites 24-hours a day, seven-days-a-week. Human resource executives can receive resumes directly by e-mail, eliminating the lag time of "snail" or regular postal mail.
"When I post a job online in the morning, I'll often have a significant number of qualified resumes either in my e-mail system or on my desk by fax by the afternoon of the same day," said Liz Corey, human resource manager of Management Consulting Services at Price Waterhouse. Subsequently, interviewing and hiring can be made significantly shorter.
Another advantage is adaptiveness to change. Because the Web is interactive, hiring executives can "fine tune" job postings if they find they are not attracting appropriate candidates. By tracking responses, a company can determine if an ad needs to be reworded. If it does, the change can be made immediately so career seekers have instant access to the listing rather than waiting for next Sunday's newspaper.
Another example is Poppe Tyson, a leading high-technology public relations agency. The agency was looking for an "account executive with technical experience" to work on a program targeting technical services to consumers. It received a number of resumes from candidates who had experience speaking "technical jargon" with trade reporters but did not have experience explaining technical services to a lay audience. Once the agency saw this trend, it revised its on-line ad to clarify the background expected of potential candidates. Because of the space allowed on Intenret postings, Poppe Tyson was able to insert a more in-depth, comprehensive job description, that helped reduce the number of unqualified candidates.
Better Informed Candidates
Most recruiting Web sites also provide career seekers with easy access to corporate background information by providing the applicant with a link to extensive information at the prospective employer's corporate Web pages/site.
Through online sites such as The Monster Board, companies like Bradlees, Digital Equipment Corporation and NovaCare provide access to corporate information that applicants find helpful. This helps ensure that interview candidates are knowledgeable about the company while minimizing the HR department's administrative costs of mailing information.
A More Exact Search
Using a recruitment Web site's search engine to explore online resumes, employers can identify qualified candidates from thousands of resumes. For example, an employer using The Monster Board's Resume City would submit information on the type of candidate sought, such as "job title," "location" and "key skills." After submitting the search criteria, the search engine would select matches from the resume pool. The employer would then contact The Monster Board to get information needed to contact the prospective candidate.
Through the development and use of "intelligent agents," HR professionals and career seekers can now take their searches one step further by conducting electronic "themed searches" where the "software does the looking" as opposed to key word searches. A human resource professional can indicate in Resume City that he/she is looking for an individual with approximately "20 years of experience in corporate communications and knowledge of high-technology." The search engine goes to work yielding not only individuals with those specific key words on their resumes, but it also other individuals that closely - but not exactly - match the job description. For example, it might identify a person with 18 years of experience in public relations and knowledge of the Internet.
It's Not Just for Techies
While the number of high-tech jobs available via the Internet still outnumbers "non high-tech" jobs, the gap is closing. In 1994, 80 percent of The Monster Board's job listings were for high-tech related positions. Today, non-tech job postings have increased to 40 percent. There has been tremendous growth in the number on non-technical postings. For example, the HR manager of a major accounting firm has been using online recruiting since October 1995. As of today, five percent of the department's total new hires are from online recruitment sites, and the HR manager expects that number to double by the end of the year.
Making Online Recruiting More Efficient
With the growth of online recruiting, there has also been a surge in the number of tools that complement and improve the capabilities of online recruiting efforts.
Resume scanning and tracking software, such as Restrac and Resumix, allow employers to turn the resumes they receive into a database that can be searched to fill job vacancies. The software not only searches resumes by key words, but it also keeps resumes in the database for future reference, giving new meaning to the old saying, "we'll keep your resume on file."
E-mailed resumes can be stored on the hiring companies' servers, so they can also be easily accessed by a search which will only turn up candidates with relevant experience. This also significantly reduces the amount of paper handled since a large number of resumes are submitted via e-mail. With these types of scanning systems, key word searches and retrieval software, companies are able to put all applications from around the world into one central database from which any hiring manager can draw upon for candidates. And since HR professionals still rely on newspaper ads, many classified sections now include the company's Web site as part of the ad or the address of the online career sites on which they post jobs.
With continued improvements and growing acceptance of the Internet
as a communications tool, online recruiting will provide companies
with even more benefits. Moving toward the year 2000, the momentum
will increase dramatically for the "new network recruiting."
ONLINE RECRUITING TIPS FOR HR PROFESSIONALS
1. Jump in with both feet -- today. There's no time like the
present -- have someone help you.
2. Keep your expectations in check. No tool is magic. Use the
Internet as one of your tools..
3. Post a number of different kinds of jobs, not just technical
jobs.
4. Do it for more than a week. The type of job and company
affects time it takes to find the appropriate candidate. Leave
your posting up until you fill the position.
5. Go to a credible site to post your job. Credible sites treat
you professionally and generate the traffic necessary to get a
good response.
6. Set up an e-mail address and check it often. Establish e-mail communications with applicants immediately after they contact you and establish e-mail communication with your line managers. A "hot" candidate will go fast. Speed is your advantage.
Jeff Taylor is executive vice president, Interactive of TMP Worldwide and founder of The Monster Board. He has worked in recruiting and HR communications and strategy for more then 12 years.
To arrange an interview with Mr. Taylor, contact: Jon Boroshok - Poppe Tyson Public Relations - 201/539-0300 x 272.
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