A new
Internet-based graduate recruitment scheme at KPMG will save "hundreds of
thousands of pounds" and cut administrative time by 40 per cent, according
to the company’s director of graduate recruitment.
Last
September the company introduced an e-selection system to appoint 650 graduate
positions a year from 8,000 applicants. KPMG asked applicants to fill out an
Internet-based CV and questionnaire.
The
questionnaires are then screened by computer and the most suitable candidates
are chosen for a face-to-face interview.
Keith
Dugdale, KPMG’s director of graduate recruitment, said the company changed its
system to match the habits of graduate job-seekers.
He
said, "Only 50 per cent of undergraduates seek work in their final year.
This leaves us with a very small timescale to choose employees so we needed to
quicken the process."
Dugdale
now claims that the company can respond to applicants within 24 hours and offer
employment within a month.
He
said, "The Internet-based system has saved us 40 per cent of our time,
which in cost terms I estimate runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds in a
three- or five-year period."
E-selection
has been criticised for élitism. Dugdale responded, "The system is much
fairer than our original system as it does not take in to account the
university the applicants attend and puts more focus on softer
skills."
