The Internet Makes Online Recruitment Easier (And More Difficult)

It used to be that when recruiters were looking for new staff they would reach for the phone and place an ad in the newspaper classifieds. These days, they’re more likely to have success if they advertise online. As more people have internet access in their homes, and those that don’t spend more time at internet cafes, advertising jobs online is the surest way to attract the best applicants.

 
CareerBuilder, Monster, Craigslist, Bizcommunity and Gumtree are among the top job board sites in the world. Some, like Gumtree, have an international flavour and cater to recruiters and job seekers from all over the world. Others, like Bizcommunity, are designed to service only one country. In Bizcommunity’s case that country is South Africa.

 
Of course, finding employment opportunities and filling vacant positions online doesn’t end with web based recruitment software and reputable job portals.

Social media is becoming a recruiter’s best friend. What better place to find out more about prospective employees than Facebook? This only works if the applicant in question hasn’t protected their profiles by restricting access to non-friends, but if the profile is not restricted there is wealth mine of information to be mined.

Random status updates, shared links and photo albums all testify towards the applicant’s character. It’s important for recruiters to put what they find in context, however, as a few drunken pictures might not present an accurate picture (the person could be quiet by nature but have had one large night out). If the albums are full of booze-addled silliness and the shared links all point towards sites that are distinctly off colour then recruiters might want to rethink offering the applicant an interview.

Generally, it’s best to give applicants the benefit of the doubt.
Social media works both ways. While recruiters are finding out more about applicants, applicants are finding out more about prospective employers.

Google searches, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter come into play, as do company websites and company blogs.
Websites tend to be more factual and present pertinent business information, but blogs and social media accounts are designed to give people a glimpse behind the corporate wall and show a company’s human face. If applicants don’t like the tone or subject matter of blogs or social network updates they could decide to find out what opportunities are being offered by competitors.

Google searches are possibly even more important, as any and all negative press about the company will appear and the applicant could decide he or she doesn’t want to be tainted by a particular scandal, no matter how long ago it was.
Everything is recorded and nothing forgotten online. It’s a lesson that recruiters and job seekers would do well to learn.