Using the Internet is an increasingly effective recruitment strategy when carefully integrated into a broader campaign of experience-tested techniques. Depending on whose numbers you accept, however, there are somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 employment-related sites currently operating on the Internet and World Wide Web. It`s a daunting task just keeping track of them and an even harder challenge to figure out which sites can best contribute to your recruiting requirements.
The following two-step process can help you solve both aspects of this dilemma. Step 1 involves an environmental scan, enabling you to narrow the range of alternatives you need to consider to a manageable number. Step 2 provides you with a number of criteria you can use to select the site or sites most likely to maximize your return on investment in on-line recruiting.
Step 1: Conducting an Environmental Scan The goal of this step is to explore the universe of recruitment Web-sites on the Internet and World Wide Web to locate those which have the potential to meet your recruiting needs. Obviously, you can do both the exploration and the assessment yourself, but the rapidly expanding and ever-changing nature of cyberspace makes that a time consuming and difficult proposition. Therefore, a more efficient approach is the "guide-assisted scan" in which you use one or more resources that have already done much of the legwork involved in searching out and evaluating recruitment Web-sites.
There are a number of such resources available, including:
CareerXroads (1999 Edition) by Gerry Crispin & Mark Mehler;
The Employer`s Guide to Recruiting on the Internet by Ray Schreyer and John Carter;
The Internet Recruiting Edge (1999 Edition) by Barbara Ling and;
WEDDLE`s Wildly Useful, Up-to-the-Minute Newsletter about Internet Resources for Successful Recruiting.
All of these guides can help you to sort through the thousands of on-line recruitment sites and narrow the field for your consideration. Although each is different from the other, they all provide information on various sites` features and programs, services and products, and fees.
Step 2: Selecting the Best Sites For Your Recruiting NeedsObviously some sites are better than others, either in the general caliber and/or value of services they offer or in their ability to support your specific recruiting needs. The following criteria will help you evaluate the alternative Web-sites identified in your environmental scan and select the best for you, at this particular moment in time and in the future, as new requirements emerge.
General
How long has the site been in operation?
How many people, counted just once, have visited the site in the last month? This figure, called "unique visitors," is a relatively good measure of the potential candidate pool likely to see your job posting.
How many pages of information did the site visitors open and look at? This figure, called "page views," is a relatively good indication of how long people stayed at the site, and therefore, the probability that they will read your ad.
What is the demographic profile of the "average" site visitor?
How is the information on visitors acquired? verified?
What kinds of jobs does the site typically post (e.g., full time, part time, contract, contingent)?
What is the fee to post jobs? do they offer special deals?
How long do the job openings stay posted on-line?
Are jobs linked to a recruiter`s Web-site if it has one?
Can candidates apply for the job or send their resume to the recruiter directly from the job posting? Or do they have to send their resume through the posting site?
Are the job postings also provided to other Web-sites (e.g., to search engine home pages and classified ad sites)?
How many recruiters have posted jobs similar to yours in the last 90 days?
Does the site offer display or banner advertising?
Does the site offer virtual job fairs or targeted recruiting programs appropriate for your job opening?
How many resumes or candidate profiles are posted on the site?
What is the cost of accessing those resumes/profiles?
Are there any restrictions on who can post a resume/profile?
What are the primary occupational fields of those posting a resume/profile in the database?
How often is the database updated and purged of out-of-date resumes/profiles?
How are the resumes/profiles acquired (e.g., are they posted directly by candidates or acquired from other sites)?
Because you`re using the same factors to describe all of the sites, these criteria will enable you to set up a good, old fashioned, side-by-side comparison test. Although not exhaustive, they will provide enough information about each site`s relative benefits and costs that you can identify the site or sites most likely to meet your current needs.
Finally, in making your selection, keep in mind....
Source:
http://www.recruitersnetwork.com/articles/article.cfm?ID=1405
The following two-step process can help you solve both aspects of this dilemma. Step 1 involves an environmental scan, enabling you to narrow the range of alternatives you need to consider to a manageable number. Step 2 provides you with a number of criteria you can use to select the site or sites most likely to maximize your return on investment in on-line recruiting.
Step 1: Conducting an Environmental Scan The goal of this step is to explore the universe of recruitment Web-sites on the Internet and World Wide Web to locate those which have the potential to meet your recruiting needs. Obviously, you can do both the exploration and the assessment yourself, but the rapidly expanding and ever-changing nature of cyberspace makes that a time consuming and difficult proposition. Therefore, a more efficient approach is the "guide-assisted scan" in which you use one or more resources that have already done much of the legwork involved in searching out and evaluating recruitment Web-sites.
There are a number of such resources available, including:
CareerXroads (1999 Edition) by Gerry Crispin & Mark Mehler;
The Employer`s Guide to Recruiting on the Internet by Ray Schreyer and John Carter;
The Internet Recruiting Edge (1999 Edition) by Barbara Ling and;
WEDDLE`s Wildly Useful, Up-to-the-Minute Newsletter about Internet Resources for Successful Recruiting.
All of these guides can help you to sort through the thousands of on-line recruitment sites and narrow the field for your consideration. Although each is different from the other, they all provide information on various sites` features and programs, services and products, and fees.
Step 2: Selecting the Best Sites For Your Recruiting NeedsObviously some sites are better than others, either in the general caliber and/or value of services they offer or in their ability to support your specific recruiting needs. The following criteria will help you evaluate the alternative Web-sites identified in your environmental scan and select the best for you, at this particular moment in time and in the future, as new requirements emerge.
General
How long has the site been in operation?
How many people, counted just once, have visited the site in the last month? This figure, called "unique visitors," is a relatively good measure of the potential candidate pool likely to see your job posting.
How many pages of information did the site visitors open and look at? This figure, called "page views," is a relatively good indication of how long people stayed at the site, and therefore, the probability that they will read your ad.
What is the demographic profile of the "average" site visitor?
How is the information on visitors acquired? verified?
What kinds of jobs does the site typically post (e.g., full time, part time, contract, contingent)?
What is the fee to post jobs? do they offer special deals?
How long do the job openings stay posted on-line?
Are jobs linked to a recruiter`s Web-site if it has one?
Can candidates apply for the job or send their resume to the recruiter directly from the job posting? Or do they have to send their resume through the posting site?
Are the job postings also provided to other Web-sites (e.g., to search engine home pages and classified ad sites)?
How many recruiters have posted jobs similar to yours in the last 90 days?
Does the site offer display or banner advertising?
Does the site offer virtual job fairs or targeted recruiting programs appropriate for your job opening?
How many resumes or candidate profiles are posted on the site?
What is the cost of accessing those resumes/profiles?
Are there any restrictions on who can post a resume/profile?
What are the primary occupational fields of those posting a resume/profile in the database?
How often is the database updated and purged of out-of-date resumes/profiles?
How are the resumes/profiles acquired (e.g., are they posted directly by candidates or acquired from other sites)?
Because you`re using the same factors to describe all of the sites, these criteria will enable you to set up a good, old fashioned, side-by-side comparison test. Although not exhaustive, they will provide enough information about each site`s relative benefits and costs that you can identify the site or sites most likely to meet your current needs.
Finally, in making your selection, keep in mind....
Source:
http://www.recruitersnetwork.com/articles/article.cfm?ID=1405
