Online Job Hunting: Somethings Never Change
Once upon a time, some 10 years ago, applying for a job involved buying the local newspaper and laboriously going through the wanted section, line by line, and then stuffing typed envelopes with your resume to be snail-mailed to the prospective employees. Then you would sit by the phone and the mailbox and pray.Today with Internet recruiting and job searches, the picture is entirely different. There is no faster, simpler, more convenient or more cost effective way to reach hundreds of thousands of qualified candidates or job opportunities 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week. Responses occur instantly and the results are measurable. On-line candidates have enhanced opportunities and geographic reach, as well as an excellent method to gather information about comparable salaries and benefits.
Richard Freeman, a Professor Harvard University pointed out at a recent conference that online recruitment brought benefits to the economy as a whole but that these had not yet been quantified: finding the right candidates and filling vacancies quicker; better matching of applicants to the role; and improved retention of staff as right people filled the right posts
Yet, this apparent ease of use is deceptive. The basic rules havenò€™t changed despite the technology revolution, and job seekers and recruiters alike seem to have missed this in their eagerness to adopt the new world of quick and to the point ò€“ the world of emails that are short and in lower case because the sender canò€™t be bothered to press on the shift key.
For example, the C.V. is still the single most important tool for a recruiter to choose among worthy candidates. While recruiting technology helps match the employer to the employee, the recruiter still ends up with hundreds of resumes to choose from. Each resume is given a once over which lasts about ten seconds; if the points which they are looking for are not readily apparent in that short time, or there are spelling or grammar mistakes, the resume is put at the bottom of the pile or even worse, the circular file. Even if the resume gets in the pile, without a follow up, or a thank you, the resume might shift into the wrong pile. And of course the interview is the still the deciding factor ò€“ as yet, the human element has not gone away.
There is another thing to consider when seeking a job via the Internet. There are thousands of job sites on World Wide Web. If you do not know what you are looking for or at, you could waste hours of your valuable job search time. Plus, you want to avoid Internet scams and scoundrels. Evaluating web sites is an essential step in using the Internet for a job search.
What type of value does the site provide to the job seeker as well as the recruiter? Does the site offer job search advice or other resources? There are a flurry of new job sites out there, like RealMatch, that are trying to take the job search to a different level by creating assessment environments where the job seeker puts in a profile and the company puts in a job description. Then technology magically brings those two personalities, people, and company togetherò€”hopefully for a good match, for the perfect match. That"s an example of technology trying to bring people together for a human connection.
RealMatch has a revolutionary matching technology that goes above and beyond antiquated keyword searches. By matching specific jobs with specific skills, RealMatch screens, ranks and grades jobsjobs based on your profile and preferences. Real-Time alerts inform you when new jobs match your skills and preferences. Traffic reports inform you about potential employers viewing your profile and those that are interested in you. Business Week even called it ò€˜scary competition to Monster.comò€™ one of the largest online recruiting online recruiting sites on the Internet. These types of sites are the future of online recruiting.