How Is Internet Recruitment Changing the World of Hiring - Research Paper Example

Letter of Transmittal Table of Contents Letter of Transmittal i 1. Introduction 1 2. Internet Recruitment 1 Changes in Recruitment for Job Seekers 1 Advantages of Internet Recruitment 1 Time saving and cost effective 1 Effective search options for suitable vacancies 2 Detailed descriptions for available jobs 2 Disadvantages of Internet Recruitment 2 Ignoring other mediums 2 Overshadowing of suitable candidates 2 Changes in Recruitment for Employers 2 Advantages of Internet Recruitment 2 Time saving and cost effective 2 Larger audience 3 Increased level of accessibility of information 3 Enhanced search operations 4 Analysis of competitors’ compensations 4 Professional networking sites 4 Disadvantages of Internet Recruitment 4 Number of unqualified candidates 4 Hiring of top management executives 4 Additional expense for companies 5 3. Conclusion 5 4. Works Cited 6 5. List of Figures 7 How is Internet Recruitment Changing the World of Hiring? Introduction Technological advancement has caused revolutionary changes in almost every field of life. Recruitment processes are no different. Internet recruitment or e-recruitment refers to the recruitment processes that take place on the web. The conventional modes of recruitment and job seeking have been substituted by internet recruitment; the online platform where job vacancies are uploaded by organizations and job seekers apply for the appropriate positions in the most reliable and fast-paced manner. Earlier, the technical concept was limited till the technologically savvy individuals but now, it has become one of the mainstay components of the modern recruitment activities. Internet Recruitment Internet recruitment industry is thriving year after year. Younger discussed the conclusions of a study; the annual revenues of the respective sector accumulated to more than $3 billion in 2003. This figure increased to $16 billion by the year 2007 and it was expected to reach $20 billion in 2008. Younger quoted some other results from a series of surveys that conducted studies on the number of applicants and job seekers who use internet to search for jobs. In 2003, the number of such job seekers accumulated to 45 %. In 2006, the number had increased to almost 96%1. The two main actors in this domain are job seekers and organizations. There are different platforms on the web on which the recruitment processes take place; job portals, company’s websites under the ‘careers’ sections and professional networking sites. The advantages and disadvantages will be analyzed in this paper, with respect to both of the identified actors: Changes in Recruitment for Job Seekers Advantages of Internet Recruitment a. Time saving and cost effective Job seekers can upload their resumes on the online recruitment agencies’ websites where organizations can select most suitable candidates from the uploaded resumes. The resumes are uploaded instantaneously on the job portals’ websites in a reliable manner, rather than mailing the resumes through an unpredictable and time consuming mode of postal system. This medium tends to be cost effective for the applicant, especially if the job application has to be sent across the border; international postal mail costs significantly more than the regional ones. b. Effective search options for suitable vacancies The search features of the job portals permit the job seekers to find jobs with specific requirements and experiences. Such search results can present suitable jobs for the job seeker and save time in browsing through hundreds of job advertisements. c. Detailed descriptions for available jobs Job seekers can benefit from detailed job descriptions of vacant positions that are posted on the web. The details can help the applicants judge their aptness for the position. The absence of details in other mediums gives the applicant counterfeit hopes about getting the position. On the contrary, the availability of the job descriptions gives him a pragmatic position of his chances of getting the job. Disadvantages of Internet Recruitment a. Ignoring other mediums Job seekers tend to rely on the online postings of job vacancies to such a great extent that they tend to disregard other mediums. b. Overshadowing of suitable candidates The process of applying for a position has become so easy that applicants tend to apply for vacancies that might not even totally comply with their skills and experiences. The excessive number of job applications for a post may result in overshadowing a deserving and experienced applicant. “Hire for attitude, train for skills”2 is a well-known approach adapted by employers. This approach directs the employers to evaluate the potential and caliber of the individuals. The impersonal mode of internet recruitment does not provide any opportunity for the analysis of the personality and confidence of the individual, unless the applicant is called for a personal interview in the later stages of the recruitment process. Changes in Recruitment for Employers Advantages of Internet Recruitment a. Time saving and cost effective Job advertisements on the web prove to be cost effective for companies since they cost much lesser than the advertisements in the newspapers. Job posting can be visible on the websites as soon as the companies send their requests to the job portals. On the contrary, newspaper advertisements do not appear in the newspapers immediately. This reduces the duration for recruitment activities since there is no gap between the request for posting and the actual publishing of the advertisement (Advantages & Disadvantages of E-Recruitment). The following graph shows the results of a survey that aimed to evaluate the job advertisements budgets of different organizations. These organizations adapted online recruitment platforms to post job openings. Figure 1: Results of companies that adapted online recruitment sources for job advertisements (Williams) It can be seen from Figure 1 that almost half of the companies were able to decrease their job advertisement budgets due to the adoption of online recruitment sources. b. Larger Audience Newspaper subscribers are the targeted audience for the job advertisements in the newspapers, whereas online job postings can be accessed by any internet user. In this way, online job advertisements can reach a larger set of audience than newspapers. Newspaper advertisements also limit the message to a certain geographical region, for example a job advertisement posted in a UK newspaper will not be accessible to the people of Asia. Online job vacancies provide opportunities to hire employees from all around the globe. A survey was conducted by UK National Online Recruitment Survey; the study concluded that 45% of job seekers opt for online recruitment to search for jobs, 75% of the individuals in the sample had applied for jobs on the web and 59% of the online job applicants had been called for interviews (Statistics – the growth of online recruitment). Few other statistics from an online job portal “Career Junction” revealed that almost 1,5 million new applicants registered on their website in only one year (2003-2004) to search for jobs (Statistics – the growth of online recruitment). c. Increased level of accessibility of information The conventional methods of recruiting have always been paper-based and usually consumed lot of space to store the printed resumes. The printed resumes are not accessible to the managers around the clock since they are stored in the office premises. The innovative form of e-recruiting provides the opportunity to access the resumes online at any time of the day and eliminating the need to reserve a place for their storage. This factor facilitates faster decision making since required information can be accessed whenever it is required. d. Enhanced search operations The search options for certain keywords help the companies to scrutinize number of resumes in shorter span of time. The most time consuming activity in recruitment processes is to shortlist the individuals that have the required skills and experience for the vacant position. The reduced duration of this activity tends to speed up the recruitment process. e. Analysis of competitors’ compensations E-recruitment platform proves to be an effective platform to analyze the on-going campaigns, compensations and benefits that are being provided by the competitors. f. Professional networking sites Professional networking sites are also utilized by companies for recruiting capable professionals. Companies realize that some candidates might be very talented in their field but do not make their resumes available on the job portals (Gupta). Professional networking sites can be searched with respect to the requirements of the vacant positions. Another strategy that is adapted by companies is to join the discussion forums of their field of interest, for example, the group of supply chain management may be joined to scrutinize individuals who portray commendable knowledge regarding the respective field. Disadvantages of Internet Recruitment a. Number of unqualified candidates The convenience of job application on the web provokes individuals to apply for job vacancies even though their skills and experiences might not comply with the requirements of the job. This creates an influx of job applications and makes it a daunting task for the employers to select the most appropriate candidates. b. Hiring of top management executives Generally, top management executives do not upload their resumes on job portals or on the company’s websites. Therefore, head hunters and recruitment agencies might have to be hired to find suitable candidates. c. Additional expenses for companies If a company engages in frequent online recruiting postings then the influx of job applications might be too overwhelming for the human resources department to handle. Additional resources might have to be hired to discard the unqualified individuals to narrow down the applicants to a certain degree. The employers who do not reply or acknowledge the received job applications tend to earn unconstructive images for themselves. . Conclusion and Recommendations The concept of internet recruitment provides an effectual platform for job advertisements. This medium proves to be cost effective and saves time for job seekers and employers. It enables the employers to provide longer job descriptions; this aspect helps the job seekers since they can judge their suitability for the job opening. It is vital for the employers to define the scope and responsibilities of the job openings in a clear manner so that undesired job applications can be avoided. Works Cited “Advantages & Disadvantages Of E-Recruitment”, Recruitment-NaukriHub.com, 2007, Web. 16 April, 2011. Gupta, Vinita. Using social networking sites for hiring, Express Computer, 2008, Web. 15 April, 2011. “Statistics – the growth of online recruitment”, Global Online Recruitment Resource.com, 2005, Web. 17 April, 2011. Williams, Helen. E-recruitment: Rethinking recruitment, Personnel Today, 2009, Web. 16 April, 2011. Younger, John. Online Job Recruitment: Trends, Benefits, Outcomes, and Implications, Accolo Inc., 2008, Web. 15 April, 2011. List of Figures Figure 1: Results of companies that adapted online recruitment sources for job advertisements 3 Read More