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E-recruitment CIPD Article www.cipd.co.uk

Visit the CIPD site for further information and articles

This factsheet gives introductory guidance. It:

gives a definition of e-recruitment
provides details on the usage of e-recruitment
comments on the advantages and disadvantages of using e-recruitment
discusses future trends
includes the CIPD viewpoint.

What is e-recruitment?

E-recruitment, also known as online recruitment, is the use of technology to attract candidates and aid the recruitment process. For further details on the recruitment process more generally, see our factsheet on Recruitment.

The use of technology within human resource management has grown considerably in recent years: a CIPD survey in 2005¹ showed that 77% of organisations used some form of human resources information system and 51% of organisations reported that their use of technology systems were for recruitment and selection purposes. For more information on our research into HR and technology, see our research pages.

Similarly, almost two-thirds of respondees to our Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey² described themselves as using e-recruitment.

Eighty-four percent of respondents have made greater use e mail applications in the last three years. Over seven in ten organisations also say they are advertising jobs on their corporate websites and using online applications. Currently, online testing (used as part of the selection process in some way by a quarter of respondees) is less prevalent, although this is also growing.

The key drivers for e-recruitment identified in the survey among those making use of technology were reducing recruitment costs (cited by 71%), broadening the selection pool (60%) and increasing the speed of time to hire (47%). Over a third of respondees believed it brought greater flexibility and ease for candidates, and over a quarter believed it strengthened the employer brand. However the survey revealed some concerns that e-recruitment could increase the number of unsuitable applicants and that it could act as a barrier to recruiting older workers.

Many different organisations use e-recruitment as a cost-effective method of recruiting new staff. It is popular among job-seekers – latest figures from the British Market Research Bureau show that using the Internet is the favoured job-hunting method for one in four UK adults, with the most likely job hunter to be 33 years old with 11 years experience, according to the National Online Recruitment Audience Survey (NORAS). It is important to remember when designing a recruitment campaign that online job hunting is not the first choice for all.

Using e-recruitment

Technology can be used:

to advertise vacancies – on your organisation’s website, job sites, or on social networking sites
to deal with the applications – email enquiries, emailed application forms/CVs, online completion of application forms
to select candidates – online testing, information gathering
to enhance employer brand
to create a personal relationship with your talent pool.

Advertising vacancies

This is the most basic form of using technology to recruit. Vacancies can be placed on an organisation’s own website or on a commercial job board. In the US it has been estimated that 19% of an organisation's recruitment advertising budget is spent on e-recruitment advertising, but the UK has a long way to go to match this as presently the spend is only 7.5%, but rising.

Own website

The amount an organisation invests in its e-recruiting (from custom designed sites to basic information pages) will depend on organisation’s ‘e-strategy’, resources available and competitor activity. The basic option is to provide a list of vacancies and contact details. A more in-depth approach would involve a dedicated web site area that gives details of vacancies, person specifications, benefits, your organisation’s mission and values and the application process, for example, for online application forms. Large organisations may have areas for specific types of employees, for example graduates, technical specialists, or have a search facility for candidates to view all vacancies.

Job areas are often signposted directly from an organisation’s home page so that more general browsers can access them too. An intranet may also be used to host vacancies for internal staff to access.

Some organisations take a ‘partnership’ approach, working closely with recruitment consultancies and specialised web agencies who manage the online process for them as they don’t have the necessary skills in-house.

Commercial job boards

These are large databanks of vacancies. These may be based on advertising in newspapers and trade magazines, employment agencies, specific organisation vacancies, social networking websites and many other sources. They often have questionnaires or tests for applicants to improve their job-hunting skills to act as an incentive for them to return.

Some vacancies are purely extensions to ‘old media’ printed advertisements so that ‘online’ is merely an alternative communication medium, while other vacancies are only found online with no printed equivalent. The vacancies often have link back to the organisation’s website for candidates looking for further information and to get a ‘feel’ for the type of employer that is recruiting. Monster.co.uk and Fish4jobs.com are examples of commercial job boards. Some job boards target specific groups so it is important to explore who the target audiences for particular boards is.

Advantages of using e-recruitment

E-recruitment has the potential to:

speed up the recruitment cycle and streamline administration
allow organisations to make use of IT systems to manage vacancies more effectively and co-ordinate recruitment processes
reduce recruitment costs
reach a wide pool of applicants
reach a niche pool of applicants
make internal vacancies widely known across multiple sites and separate divisions
provide the image of an up-to-date organisation, reinforcing employer branding and giving an indication of organisation culture
offer access to vacancies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week reaching a global audience
be a cost effective way to build a talent bank for future vacancies
help handle high volume job applications in a consistent way
provide more tailored information to the post and organisation eg case histories of the ‘day in the life’ or self-assessment questionnaire or quiz to assess fit with role
be spontaneous for candidates as ease of use means there is the ability for applications to be instataneous.

Monitoring

E-recruitment may not be cost effective for all positions so it is important to review the use of technology along with the overall assessment of the effectiveness of the recruitment process.

Some tips

Integrate with other recruitment methods so that all recruitment ‘tools’ work in harmony.
Evaluate and monitor use – get feedback from applicants about how they found the process and take appropriate actions.
Keep content fresh – don’t display vacancies out of date vacancies. If you don’t have any, say you don’t have any.
Avoid jargon and ‘company speak’ in advertisements.
Invest the same time in preparing online copy as you would for printed.
Have a policy on how to deal with unsolicited applications.
Provide contact telephone numbers in obvious places for those having technical problems.
Ensure the site is accessible.
Conduct research into the most appropriate job board to host vacancies.
Make it easy for search engines to find your vacancies – think what keywords job hunters will use and how to improve your website's ranking.
Realise your own limitations – think about partnership working to develop your e-recruitment.

Recent developments and future prospects

E-recruitment is becoming a more powerful and important tool in the current ‘war for talent’ environment. Research conducted by DEMOS³ looks at the trends that will shape the recruitment industry for years to come. Recommendations with implications for e-recruitment include:

companies should align human resources, public relations and marketing, and be clear on core organisational values
companies should find ways to connect with the passive job seeker
companies should broker and make use of peer-to-peer relationships
companies should use Web 2.0 technologies (such as blogs, web-based communities and hosted services including social-networking sites) to build personalised relationships online.

Creating relationships with potential employees is important, the key way being through employer brand. In order to maximise a brand’s potential to attract the right people, it must express core organisational values and messages and be found in the right places. Find out more about employer branding.

Specific opportunities for e-recruitment include:

Tailored messaging through multimedia and social networking sites
Using specific web channels relevant to candidate talent pools
Using employer and employee blogs to build personalised relationships with your talent pool.

Online testing

Companies are extending the electronic recruitment process by conducting assessments, such as psychometric or aptitude tests, online. The process significantly reduces the administrative overhead of distributing and collecting written test papers though care needs to be taken in how feedback is given. For more information see our factsheet on Psychological testing.

Broadband

According to internet consultancy Point Topic there are now 14 million broadband users in the UK⁴. Broadband access makes the transmission of live images via the Internet a feasible alternative to a conventional video linking. For recruiting purposes, broadband enables the hosting of ‘live’ employee video profiles and virtual office tours to illustrate life within the organisation and create engagement and commitment early in the recruitment process.

Social networking and blogs

A number of companies have started to make use of recruitment ’blogs’ (or online diaries) from employees as part of the information they offer to potential candidates about working for the organisation (for example based on the experiences of graduates on a development scheme). This is a potential way to build relationship with would-be candidates - and to feature different areas of your company and vacancies. The use of social networking sites to target different talent audiences is a new opportunity also.

A rise in the number of employers using the web to gain information on prospective employees has highlighted a number of challenges that need to be considered. For example, there are employment law risks associated with using social networking sites to vet job candidates⁵.

These include:

not processing personal data fairly under the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998, and breaching guidelines in the DPA code
claims for discrimination on any unlawful grounds
breaching trust and confidence.

Employers can make the practice of using the web and social networking sites to gain information safer if they:

tell candidates that website checking may be part of the vetting process
separate the web-vetting from recruitment decision-making
give applicants a chance to explain discrepancies in CVs and applications
ask if the job justifies such in-depth vetting, and whether the information could be gathered in another way.

CIPD viewpoint

An effective recruitment strategy is essential to all organisations. There are no fundamental philosophical differences between recruiting using ‘old media’, such as advertising in newspapers, and the ‘new media’ such as e-recruitment. Organisations may use a mix of traditional and online methods depending on what meets their strategic recruitment needs and as which reaches their talent market in the most appropriately way. Making use of technology has great potential to speed up the recruitment process and provide cost savings giving recruiters more choice and flexibility in how they wish to fill their vacancies and attract talent. It also provides an opportunity to achieve a more personalised approach to recruitment.

The purpose of both is to fill a vacant position with the best fit candidate, cost-effectively and on time. Using e-recruitment involves expertise in both the technology and the recruitment cycle, so it is important to have the resources and expertise to achieve this. Ensuring that the technology is used effectively and is fully integrated into the recruitment strategy is also key. The method chosen should be appropriate to the vacancy to be filled. As technological change moves so quickly, organisations need to keep abreast of new developments and opportunities for e-recruitment as they emerge.

Useful contacts

People Management
For details of vacancies in people management and development

National Online Recruitment Audience Survey (NORAS)

References

CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PERSONNEL AND DEVELOPMENT (2005) People management and technology: progress and potential. London: CIPD. Available at http://www.cipd.co.uk/surveys
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PERSONNEL AND DEVELOPMENT (2006) Recruitment, retention and turnover survey report 2006. London: CIPD. Available at http://www.cipd.co.uk/surveys
DOKE, D. (2007) Opening up the future. Recruiter. 2 May. pp14-16.
WRAY, R. (2007) Broadband spreads across globe [online]. Guardian Unlimited. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/jun/13/
newmedia.media
CRONLY-DILLON, M. (2007) Face up to rules on researching recruits online. People Management. Vol 13, No 21, 18 October. p20.