 | Online Recruitment: an introduction What is Online Recruitment? How can you use online recruitment as part of your recruitment strategy? In this article we aim to provide an introduction to main aspects online recruitment and how it is used by employers as part of their recruitment strategies. |
Online Recruitment: what is it? There are as many definitions of Online Recruitment as there are people involved in online recruitment. However, we like the definition of online recruitment given by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development: “Online recruitment, also known as e-recruitment, is the use of technology to attract candidates and aid the recruitment process." What this usually means is the use of a company’s own website, third-party job sites and job boards, CV databases and search engine marketing to fill vacancies. Online Recruitment: Careers websitesA basic aspect of online recruitment is the use of a company's own website to list its job vacancies. Increasingly, however, companies are using the careers site to manage the entire recruitment process. Candidates not only apply for jobs via the website but employers manage these applications via the website back-end. Employers can monitor, rate and track applications and, in some cases, set up candidate screening processes or conduct psychometric tests. Another important role of careers websites in online recruitment is to promote the employer brand to potential candidates. Many careers websites act as advertisements for the company as a place to work. They outline the company ethos and culture, employee benefits, feature “day in the life” articles about typical employees, have recruitment videos and even online recruitment fairs. Online Recruitment: Job sites and job boardsMost employer who have invested in any form of online recruitment will, at some time or another, use third-party job sites and job boards as part of their online recruitment strategy. Job sites and job boards are websites that advertise large numbers of job vacancies from many different recruitment agencies and employers. They fall into two main categories. “Generalist”, or “generic” job sites, advertise jobs across a wide range of job types and industry sectors; “Specialist,” or “niche” job sites, usually focus on particular job type or industry sector. For job seekers, job sites make searching for jobs much easier. Rather than having to trawl hundreds of employer websites, job seekers can find lots of vacancies in one place. Often job sites and job boards will provide daily emails of new jobs, up-to-the-minute RSS feeds, or SMS’s of new vacancies. Many job sites and job boards allow job seekers to create online profiles and/or upload their CVs for recruitment agencies and employers to view. Job sites may also provide other services to job seekers such as careers advice, web forums, salary surveys etc. Online Recruitment: CV DatabasesA CV database is another important product in online recruitment. Candidates upload their CVs to the CV database and these CVs are then released to recruitment agencies and employers to view and purchase. There are a number of dedicated, stand-alone CV database providers, but many job sites and job boards offer access to CV databases as an additional service to basic vacancy advertising. Online Recruitment: Search Engine MarketingSearch Engine Marketing is slowly becoming another part online recruitment strategies. Search engine marketing for online recruitment advertising generally involves utilising Per-Per-Click advertising on search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN to drive potential candidates to careers websites. However, as it is quite intricate and involved, search engine marketing for recruitment remains the preserve of larger online recruitment campaigns rather than one-off vacancy advertising. Article Updated: August 2007 For more information on topics covered here, please visit the following links:
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