Who Is Looking For Work?
According the article "As Job Seekers Multiply, So Can Empty Promises" by Julie Flaherty in the New York Times, the jobless rate now stands at an eight-year high of 6 percent, and economists expect little improvement when the Labor Department releases its next report. More than half (51 percent) of those currently unemployed have Internet access. On an average day, a tenth of the unemployed Internet users are online scouring job boards and corporate sites looking for work. In addition to the huge amount of unemployed individuals, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the average American changes jobs 10 times and switches careers three times over the course of a lifetime-indicating that many employed Internet users are also looking for work.

Sorting Through
Imagine the resumes your company receives are like the pages in a phonebook-without some type of search system it becomes inefficient and time consuming to leaf through all the pages trying to find a potential candidate. What's worse is you may miss the ideal candidate simply because you couldn't find their resume. The increased influx of people looking for work and variety of methods they send their resumes; FAX, email, regular mail, creates a document managing nightmare.

Online Hiring
According to the article, "Online Job Offerings Not Making Grade" by the Jupitermedia Corporation, Forrester Research says that although the tight labor market has kindled the rise of numerous job boards, today's online recruitment process is plagued with limitations. Multiple boards, low switching costs, and a lack of differentiation further impede the establishment of lasting relationships between these sites and their users.

Forrester interviewed 3,000 Internet users to assess the state of online recruiting. While job seekers are using the Internet in increasing numbers, they also report dissatisfaction with the experience. Job seekers must explore listings from both companies and recruitment agencies and submit multiple resumes. All the while unsure if the job postings are accurate, up-to-date, or they will ever receive a response.

Man or machine?
While online job boards can attract a huge number of potential candidates, in many cases it does not save the company time and money. The job boards cannot replace the time and energy a trained professional spends screening and pre-qualifying potential candidates. People may not use specific words on their resume to reflect experience that may be important to employers. For example, if the client is looking for online help people and would prefer RoboHelpT, will it identify Doc-To-HelpT people that could easily get the job done?

While most corporations today are increasingly cost-sensitive, many are augmenting their use of online job boards with qualified search firms that provide the pre-qualification of candidates which can be critical in time-sensitive staffing situations.

2003 - 2004 Claudine M. Jalajas. Printed with Permission.

About the Author
Claudine M. Jalajas is the owner of Ink Free Media, a company which focuses on content and copy for new media. Claudine frequently authors articles for many professional newsletters and websites on technology and consulting. Claudine can be emailed at Claudine@InkFreeMedia.com.

Return to KnowledgeStaff Newsletter
KnowledgeStaff Web Site
Back to top