A new
web-based recruitment service, which is to be launched in the next few weeks,
aims to help HR managers and recruiters secure top-quality IT staff and
dramatically cut the time and cost of finding the right candidate.
Intagen
is a software-based system that sits either on a corporate website or company
intranet and automatically sorts, ranks and scores candidates’ applications.
It
is designed to manage applications from the broad mix of channels that HR and
recruitment managers have to deal with, including job boards, employment
agencies, direct referrals, as well as internal and direct applications.
"Intagen
enables companies to identify only the most appropriate candidate for their
vacancy. Companies will no longer have to plough through piles of CVs, resum‚s
and manually filter and rank the application – only to miss the perfect
candidate," says Brian Forbes, who co-founded Intagen with Gordon
Davidson.
The
company claims it will be possible to cut more than 50 per cent of resourcing
costs, including the direct and indirect costs involved in identifying and
interviewing candidates, and hiring
technical professionals.
Both
Davidson and Forbes have worked in IT for the past 12 years and are mindful of
the scale of the crisis currently hitting the IT sector. Estimates from
statistics and research company EITO show that by 2003 there will be 620,000
more IT vacancies than candidates in the UK and 3.8 million unfilled vacancies
in Europe.
"It’s
no exaggeration to argue that there is a global war for IT talent. On a
worldwide basis, virtually every private and public sector business is
screaming out for IT professionals and the situation is only going to get
worse," says Davidson.
Intagen
is based on a bespoke software package developed by Inform Software Solutions
of Glasgow and Infogistics of Edinbirgh, and supported by Oracle, Sun and
Hostmark technology. Because it is an Application Service Provider, there are
no compatibility issues: HR and recruitment staff can access it seamlessly from
their own site or intranet. The system’s design and navigation have been kept
very simple, and Intagen could sit comfortably under the IT or vacancies
section of a site.
Its
range of functions includes: l Analysing CVs submitted in digital form and
extracting the relevant details
–
Presenting CVs in a consistent format
–
Ranking and presenting candidates’ profiles against a firm’s specified criteria
–
Undertaking skills analysis such as psychometric and technical testing
–
Scheduling interviews.
Companies
can add further testing to the system if they choose. Intagen plans to expand
its own staff numbers from 16 to 120 people in the next three years to
facilitate proper client servicing and management. The system is HR-XML
compliant.
Companies
pay a "negligible" monthly charge to access Intagen and then a
standard rate for each client they recruit. There is no initial set-up cost.
Potential candidates can register for free with Intagen.
Reaction
to date has been positive and the fact that the company managed to secure
funding in the middle of last year when the dotcom bubble burst demonstrates
its relevance.
It
is too early to name clients, says Forbes – the system does not officially
launch until they have completed its testing – but he claims to have a number
of "letters of intent" from both UK and international organisations.
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"The
competition for candidates is fierce and no one wants to be left behind,"
says Davidson. "Businesses realise that online IT recruitment needs to
deliver far more simply than bulletin boards and candidate databases. That’s
why we have already been approached by major organisations in an attempt to
help them combat the IT skills crisis."
