Recruitment: it’s all about finding the right fit

According to Wikipedia, recruitment refers to sourcing, screening and selecting candidates suitable for job openings. Companies use a variety of methods to recruit job applicants. They can work with recruitment agencies, headhunt promising prospects, use online job boards, or recruit in-house.

Online recruitment agencies are big news in the employment industry. According to the Wall Street Journal, 73% of recruiters use online recruitment facilities. They serve two main functions, they host job boards so that companies who join up can post vacancies, and they maintain a pool of CVs or resumes that crop up when members search for new recruits. Good online recruitment companies are indispensable in helping companies find applicants that are most likely to meet their standards.

There are numerous pros and cons involved in making use of an online recruitment agency or job board, for both the recruiter and the recruited.

On the pro side, online agencies save companies time and money in setting up a recruitment process. They direct only relevant applications to the company concerned, so that they don’t have to waste time trawling through unsuitable candidates.

Wikipedia says that online recruitment agencies are likely to attract only those who are serious about their job hunt, and not those who are merely waiting for something better to come along. But there is no reason why passive seekers can’t create profiles simply to test the waters. Many people sign up to job boards to get an idea of their marketability, and only when they are pleasantly surprised, do they get serious.

Quintcareers.com lists some pros and cons of using job boards for applicants. They say that big job boards are a great place to start an online job search, for those who haven’t narrowed their criteria down yet, which counters the view expressed in Wikipedia. They also say that job boards are particularly helpful if you’re looking for something local, but not that good if you’re looking for something outside of your region. Companies are more likely to respond to local applications than those from across the country or even abroad.

An important con for companies to consider is that no matter how carefully the agency screens applicants, they will still get their fair share of chancers and nutcases. Screening online is tricky. The process is more impersonal and anonymous than face-to-face recruitment, and can mask a multitude of sins. An online recruitment agency can, however, ensure that these encounters are kept to a minimum.

The cons for applicants include rigid CV formats, limiting your ability to stand out from the crowd. Quintessential Careers recommends that you combat this by using important industry related keywords. They also warn that many employment agencies use job boards, so that you’re not actually applying directly to the job advertised. Instead you’re sending your details to an agency that will simply keep you on record or reject you out of hand. There is also the chance that you’ll be applying for positions that have already been filled as some companies can be lax in letting the agency know when positions have been filled. One way to counter this is to simply check the date that the job was posted. Anything older than a month is probably out of date.

Lastly, by posting your CV online you risk being caught by the company that currently employs you. They could then ensure that your hunt assumes more serious proportions as they use the agency to advertise your soon to be vacated position.

All things considered, the pros of using an online recruitment agency outweigh the cons for all parties concerned, thanks largely to their indisputable convenience.

Recommended sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recruitment

http://www.quintcareers.com/major_job_boards.html

Sandra wrote this article for the online marketers HR-SEO online job recruitment and job boards leading industry experts in the world of online job recruitments and the creation and management of job boards.