In-house job sites have been a catalyst in the recruitment process, but more investment is needed in key stages for organisations to get the most from the talent pool. With a tightening labour market, many organisations are actively seeking ways to attract top talent, speed up the recruitment process, broaden the talent pool and develop or reinforce a strong brand within the market.
With this agenda being pursued by so many organisations, through establishing or extending the use of in-house job sites and pushing agencies to produce good quality candidate profiles in shorter time frames, the future of recruitment websites looks rosy – particularly considering the potential speed of response and the global reach. But is it going to be plain sailing?
The number of recruitment websites has risen rapidly and there have been major technological advances.
In-house corporate sites have developed from original standalone sites to become an integral part of the HR systems armoury. They can be accessed with ease by authorised company users, as can the application process by candidates.
Commercial sites have also become an established part of the recruitment landscape. This is despite some reluctance from many senior executives to regularly use the sites, particularly to register their CVs online due to concerns over confidentiality and data protection. Most major sites have already taken this area of concern into account with their confidentiality policies, and continue to update and improve them.
The benefits of using job sites are clear:
– The continual refinement of sites ensures ease of use by recruiters and candidates
– They can be used quickly
– Sophisticated graphic and editorial content attract high calibre candidates
– The talent pool is global for all candidates who can access the technology
– They provide an opportunity to strengthen corporate brands within the labour market, with subliminal market positioning.
So, are there any downsides? There can be.
The job site can look great and the candidate application process may work like a dream, but what happens next can sometimes change a positive into a negative.
For both the in-house site, or the company or recruiter using the commercial site, the loop has to be closed professionally, which means investment in the follow-through. This includes:
– A timely initial response to each application
– Effective evaluation of each candidate’s application
– A personalised post-evaluation response, with outcomes and next steps, if any.
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How sad it is therefore, that so many opportunities are lost because of the lack of investment in these key stages, or at best, a perceived lack of investment by the candidates.
We should introduce a customer/candidate service measurement, to define what recruiters think of their service, and how it is perceived by the candidates.
