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A logged-on approach to recruitment, Paul Bassat

27th May 2007

The Great Job Search Debate:

Logged-on OR Hands-on

The logged-on approach to recruitment.

By Paul Bassat of SEEK Communications.

The internet is having a massive effect on how business is conducted, and the recruitment industry is not - and cannot be - immune to this change.

Savvy recruiters recognise and welcome the extraordinary opportunities on offer, rather than feeling threatened by new ways of doing things.

Candidates are going online, and where qualified candidates gather there is compelling reason to follow.

One in three Australian households is online, and 46 per cent of Australian adults (6.4 million people) used the internet in the 12 months to May this year.  There are already a million Australians using internet employment classifieds and more than 20 per cent of them do not read print classifieds any more.

However, the impact of this revolution will not be uniform.  Different sectors and different recruiting functions will be affected in different ways.

For all the developing sophistication of online tools, the internet is not going to change the importance of personal networks and professional reputations when it comes to executive search, for instance.

However, the efficiency and utility of online recruitment tools are already changing graduate recruitment programs and other high-volume recruitment campaigns.  For instance, we are seeing this in recruitment for casual retail staff over the holiday season.  And in IT, the first industry sector to head online, the internet has become an essential part of the recruitment process. 

The internet offers unmatched benefits to advertisers.  It has proved a cost-effective and efficient advertising channel.

Candidates can find vacancies faster and access a range of services easily, quickly and at not cost.  And independent players are successfully breaking the stranglehold the newspapers have long enjoyed in the classified advertising market.

The websites are also always available - no print deadlines here.  It means recruiters can advertise vacancies right away, any time.  Without the space constraints of newspaper classifieds, recruiters can include more detail in their display advertising as well as agency or company branding, and they can provide links to more detailed profiles or position descriptions.

In the near future, recruiters will also be able to customise their online application forms so they can capture exactly the information they want from candidates.

As for candidates, they enjoy the speed, accuracy and convenience of immediately seeing on those vacancies that match their interests.  It is more timely, easier and more effective than trawling through weekly newspaper recruitment sections.


Many more companies are now managing the recruitment process electronically.  Filing cabinets full of paper resumes are becoming the exception rather than the norm. 

Applications via email and online resumes make the maintenance of electronic databases much simpler.

While the internet's strengths are already being exploited in the search for candidates, there will be opportunities to streamline other recruiting functions as well.

Communicating with candidates using WAP and SMS is already happening.  You can also expect to see online psychometric and skills-based assessment seamlessly integrated into the online application and hiring process.  Features like web-based video resumes or online interviewing are already available, although not yet widely used.  These developments are made possible by internet technology.  They empower recruiters to work faster and smarter.

Recruiters who are comfortable with online technology and who understand the benefits stand to gain an enormous advantage in the swiftly changing world before us.  Internet is not like "TV" or "newspapers" - or any other medium.  It is dynamic, immediate and interactive.  And it is the future.

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