|
 |
|
Creating Traffic Jams
It's hard to imagine why anyone would pick up a newspaper to find a job any more. With a seemingly endless array of career sites, mailing lists, corporate sites and newsgroups, job seekers have more options online than ever before. And the credit goes to the growth and advances in Information Technology (IT). Traditionally job seekers most preferred channel was Newspapers & Personal Referrals. As for online recruitment, the medium has come a long way in the last 3 years, but it remains a tool that has only been put to the test in a candidate-rich environment. Along with the IT revolution in the recruitment channel the current market has four clear segments - Corporate Sites, Personal Referrals, Newspapers, Recruitment Agencies & Job Sites. Online recruitment has an edge over other traditional media for four clear reasons: * REACH * SPEED * COST * QUALITY According to The Top-Consultants.com 2004 Recruitment Channel Survey result Corporate Sites have been slowly increasing their share of applications over the last 3 years ? up from 8 % to 13% of all application. Executive Recruitment Agencies generate 21% of direct applications, which was initially 50% of all applications. Job sites have significantly increased its share by generating more CV applications than any other recruitment channel. Newspaper advertising appears to be the channel that has declined as a result ? now generating less the 19% of management consultancy applications, or a fraction of what was being generated in the late 1990s. Personal Referrals generates 9 % - 10% of all applications proving it to be a secured channel for a new job or career shift. But this raises a question which recruitment to adopt. Currently the majority of companies are yet to make full use of the web as a recruitment tool. The key trends in these market depicts that Recruitment Consultancies & Job Sites are able to generate large volumes of applicants. Personal Referrals potentially is able to reach a wider pool of candidates, but only it succeeds only in generating a small number of applications. Newspapers: It is clear that candidates now use this channel less than in the past. Corporate websites is still unexplored tool. CORPORATE SITES It has the large potential to significantly increase the volumes of applicants in the next 1- 2 years. The share of applicants can be doubled & become one of the major recruitment channels. But they are the least-used channels in today's market, despite heavy investment made by companies in developing this technology. Inadequate marketing and a poor user experience are to be blamed. Its high time corporate understand that developing their career pages is equal to heavy investment made on ones own infrastructure or purchasing a costly software which will enable smooth functioning. Corporate websites have the considerable recruitment savings potential that is yet to be realized. They are the most attractive pool of jobs of any recruitment channel. Most jobs never get advertised on Internet job boards or in newspapers. But the fact is that they generate less than a third as many applicants as internet job boards is a reflection of how poorly this tool is utilized and poorly marketed. Corporate should design & develop their career pages in such a manner that attract more applications from the best candidates in other words a career site should be capable of maximizing the conversion rate of no. of people visiting the career pages. The hindrances can be overcome by the adopting following strategies: 1. SITES SHOULD BE INTUITIVE Good site navigation and structure not just in company profile section but also within the careers section that will encourage the candidates to explore & learn more about your company. Candidates are judgmental and bugs, errors or poor site design will make them question the caliber of the whole organization. Make your careers section visible. It should be tempt a candidate to visit your careers page if not for applying but at least to know what kind of career your company offers. Apart from this a candidate while leaving your site should have the images of your company vision, mission, recent achievement, future development, press releases etc. 2. JOB VACANCIES Many sites fail to provide clear job description about the opening. A vacancy posted should allow a candidate to self-select himself for the same and not waste his time applying for which he would be rejected. It should clearly define about the role, skills required ? technical skill & soft skill, education qualification, experience, and other details like work environment ? what your company/department is like, no. of openings, date specific posting, other benefits, bench marked industries, sales pitch questions etc can be included which will act as added role in convincing the candidate that the openings are real time opportunities. 3. TIPS FOR CAREER ADVANCEMENT Content of your career section also play a vital role. Candidates appreciate when apart from applying for job posting they are guided on their career advancement. Tips for case studies, interviews, securing job, presentations, handling office politics, communication skills, team work etc can be few topics that can form part of your career site. 4. CV SUBMISSION Candidates prefer sites where they are allowed to submit their existing CV rather than recreating a CV online. A long application form seems to be very tedious as most of candidates take the decision to apply sitting at their work place. And its logically not possible making a person to fill the lengthy application form sitting few yards away from his boss or from dial-up connection at home. CV submission not only comforts candidates but also attracts quality candidates by not forcing them to re-enter information that is already in his CV. 5. A CLEAR RECRUITMENT PROCESS Allowing online tracking of how the candidate application proceeds will make a candidate believe in the recruitment process. Transparency is what a candidate looks for. Giving a user id to the candidate, sending your Newsletter, career tips, current openings, etc will help you to retain the best candidates interest in joining your organisation. The recruitment process should be automated but it does not hold good of sending an automated rejection emails on submission of his CV. 6. INTERACTION & FEEDBACK According to The Top-Consultants.com 2004 Recruitment Channel Survey candidates like to provide information and then see that what is presented to them in turn has been tailored to their needs or circumstances. Candidates resent firms that do not keep them in the progress of their application this left candidates with a less favourable impression of the firm. Feedback form, site page rating, email to a friend can be a few content of your site which will save you from getting a feedback candidates as " sending my CV into a black hole". Incorporate a "refer this job to a friend" link on your careers pages, that allows readers to send a recommendation for a particular job on to their friend and colleagues. 7. BRANDING Whenever you post job adverts to job sites, be sure to include a link within your advert to your own careers website. Most job boards will not charge for this inclusion in your advert, but it is a great branding exercise for you as it ensures that candidate awareness of your corporate careers pages is magnified. Over time, more and more candidates will come direct to your site as a result. Putting theses strategies in to action will surely help you to attract lots of good traffic to your site. Poonam A Ashara, is a 23 yrs of age from India, having one year of experience in "Human Resource Development". By qualification, she is Bachelor of Commerce and Masters in Business Administration.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
More Companies Using Job Interview Phone Screening Planning and preparing before you begin to send out resumes could save you some embarrassing moments when you receive that unexpected call. Ten Tips to a Powerful Resume A new resume can jump-start your career. Your network contacts may ask for a resume and some industries absolutely, positively demand a resume as the price of admission. Pebbles in Your Shoe Dont Only Hurt your Foot But Cause Back and Hip Problems! CIO Magazine ran an article entitled, "Ten Mistakes CIO's Too Often Make" written by Susan H. Cramm, former CIO and vice president of IT at Taco Bell and CFO and executive vice president at Chevys, a Taco Bell subsidiary. How to Write a Resume That Stands Out From The Crowd Today's job market is competitive. Many companies receive hundreds of resumes a year, making it difficult for yours to stand out from the crowd. However, that should not keep you from getting interviews. The following 10 tips will help you learn how to get employers to read your resume and get your phone ringing. What to Do if You are Over 40 and Have Lost Your Job Unexpectedly loosing your job can be a very traumatic and distressing experience at the best of times. If you are over 40 and can't find the job you deserve, you will need great inner strength and self belief to come out on top. CV Writing ? How to Write a CV A winning CV has 2 objectives: To illustrate your strengths and maximise your chances of getting through to interview and to put factual information, such as dates, places, names together in a presentable and readable form. Focal Point It is claimed that the human eyes are naturally drawn to a focal point one third down from the top of the page. Therefore, put your most useful information in this area. It might be your Profile, Key Skills, Professional Qualifications or details of your most recent employment. You can choose whichever you think is most important and relevant to your application. Always get a second opinion when you have put your CV together. It is difficult to be objective about oneself. Presentation It is often thought that a CV should be fitted on to one side of A4. This can be difficult if you are a mature applicant with a long employment history. If you need to go on to a second page make sure that the CV is spread out over 2 whole pages, not one and a half pages as this looks messy. As a 'rule of thumb' there should be more white than black on a page to make it easier to read. Always write a rough draft first. It can be as long as you like as you will edit it later. Always start with your Career History as this will highlight your Key Skills and help you write your Profile. Once you have compiled your draft copy you must edit it. 1. Take out anything that will not help you get where you want to be. 2. Write in the 'third' person as much as possible keeping 'I' to a minimum 3. Never use the past tense e.g. use "supporting senior management" rather than "supported senior management". 4. Use short sharp sentences cutting out any waffle and jargon. Headings Name Print your name in bold type at the centre top of your CV. If there is any doubt as to which is your surname, e.g. James Martin, indicate by using capitals or underlining. Address Top left of CV. Full address including post code. Telephone Top Right of CV. Full dialing code and daytime and evening numbers if possible. Date of birth Put in full such as 13th December 1962. Do not put your age. Bearing in mind that you will be close to the Focal Point now, this might need to go at the end of the CV under 'Personal' along with other details such as marital status and children. Marital status You do not have to include this at all. If you choose to, make sure you use only "married" or "single". Do not use divorced or co-habiting. Put at the end of the CV under 'Personal'. Children Its up to you whether you include this information or not but if you include it put it at the end of the CV under 'Personal' Profile This is an introductory statement about who you are and what you have to offer. You should complete this last although it is positioned prominently in the CV, possibly in the Focal Point. It should be no more than two sentences and include the most important facts about yourself. You can include skills, achievements, responsibility or personal qualities. e.g. Highly motivated Account Manager with successful direct and telesales experience in hardware and software industries. Key Skills Several Key skills should be highlighted after you have analysed and edited your employment history. Pick out no more than six. Make sure they are relevant. Do not include dates. A key skill can come from an earlier job or an outside interest. If you are short on direct experience and qualifications you may have skills arising from your personality, i.e. Interpersonal skills, e.g. "the ability to relate and communicate with others". Some examples of descriptive words to use in key skills are: Administering Implementing Budgeting Leading Reorganising Forecasting Advising Employment History Always start with your most recent employment. Break down your job functions as much as possible. The job description on your contract might provide a starting point or, consider how your employer might advertise your job. You should have more to say about your most recent, and therefore most relevant, employment. Include successes and achievements especially if it saved the company money. Don't have any employment gaps. If these occur explain them briefly. Qualifications If you are a mature applicant you can leave these out as career history is more important. Put the highest qualification first with year achieved. If you have a degree you can leave out the lower qualifications altogether or include the basic information. Do not include poor grades or failures. Professional qualifications Only include those that are still current. Training Only include training that is relevant to the position for which you are applying. Interests Only include interests that are unusual or which indicate transferable skills, achievements or responsibilities. Reasons For Applying This finishes the CV off with a concluding statement and puts the application into context. Don't imply you are out to gain advantage to yourself such as "I would like to join the company to gain additional experience". Instead, concentrate on what you have to offer, "my experience at??would be useful to the company because????." Finally Your CV should be available soft copy or on good quality plain white A4 paper. Do not use double sides. Only fold once and enclose an SAE Copyright 2005 CVwriting.net Fun At Work Leads to More Success Common sense at work: Such qualities as loyalty, energy, intelligence and hard work are certain to be in any consensus of what it takes to build a successful career. What You Need To Know Before Committing To Vocational Retraining You've thought a lot about the kind of work you want to do. The duties, the pay, the hours, the environment ? everything sounds right. According to the newspaper ads, there is a big demand out there. You find a program that sounds really good. You are all ready to sign on the dotted line. Surviving Office Politics It's your first month in a new position and it's rougher going than you'd anticipated. You feel like an outsider and you're miserable. Interview Presentation Skills: Dealing With Your Nerves Sooner or later, the interview invitation is going to say you are required to give a presentation as part of the selection process. And like most people you may dread having to do it. You may think that you cannot speak publicly because of nervousness but all good speakers are nervous, and you can overcome those nerves. How to Give Job-Winning Answers at Interviews Human Resources personnel, professional recruiters and various other career experts all agree: one of the best ways to prepare yourself for a job interview is to anticipate questions, develop your answers, and practice, practice, practice. Networking Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them 'Fear of rejection' is the major reason why individuals looking for a career change hesitate to use networking as the most powerful weapon in their job search armoury. This is even the case with senior people who you would have thought anybody would be delighted to receive a call from. In 99.9% of cases this fear is unfounded - most professional people are pleased to receive calls from like-minded people and are a pleasure and delight to talk to. What Me? Lie On My Resume? Who Will Know? The temptation to lie on a resume is great! How can it hurt if I stretch the truth a bit? Employers see lots of resumes. How are they going to know who lies and who doesn't? Job Hunting Tips: Organizing Your Attack Looking for work is an energy-devouring ordeal, often leading to running in circles and not getting anywhere. A systematic approach can help you focus on your goal, avoid wasting the energy you need to conserve for interviews and employer contacts, and lower your stress level. What To Do When HR Calls... Generally, when you present yourself as a prospective candidate for a new employment opportunity, your information will filter through the Human Resources department. Since every company has their own hiring process, understand that you cannot always control when HR will call you. Our philosophy is that a prepared candidate will have a higher chance of success than an unprepared candidate. When All Is Not Well With Work When all is not well with work, what do you do? Do you quickly get frustrated and feel discontent? Do you look at each situation as a tiresome challenge or as an opportunity to learn something new? Have you ever considered looking at work problems from a spiritual point of view? Revitalize Your Recruiting for 2005 Happy New Year! The forecasts are in agreement: Hiring is on the rise. 2005 will mark the revitalization of our economy. In fact, hiring plans may rival 1999 statistics, when the economy was at its strongest. Finding the Right Travel Nursing Placement Agency Travel nursing is becoming one of our nation's fastest growing professions, and it's no surprise. If you love seeing new places and enjoy exciting new experiences that evoke the feeling of taking an extended vacation, then the career of a traveling nurse might be just what the doctor ordered! Travel nursing enables many people to stay on vacation for two to six months in free luxury accommodations while earning high hourly wages at the same time. Reactions to Job Loss; Getting Past the Emotions Without doubt, job loss through downsizing or redundancy, is a major event for everyone when it happens. Most of us invest so much of ourselves in what we do that job loss can take away our sense of status and belonging, as well as the routine and support that work provides. With our job forming so much of our identity, it leaves us feeling disoriented and lost - but it can also be a first step to positive job or career change. Everybody reacts differently in the hours and days following being told that they are to lose their job. Taking Charge During An Interview! Perhaps you've found yourself in the position of seeking a new position due to a layoff, cutback or downsizing and are now facing the interviewing process. As scary as that may seem, one of the most critical points to remember is that just because you're sitting in the seat opposite the potential employer doesn't mean you have no control. There are a number of ways for making the interview a more equal experience and the first starts with knowing you have the right to ask questions.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2008 |
