The Benefits of Online Recruitment

Gone are the days when online recruitment was the exclusive domain of the technologically savvy, the curious and the ultra-sophisticated. Today, with this medium tried, tested and proven to be true and more importantly indispensable, professional recruiters and employers alike rely on job portals as a primary source of professional talent both on a stand-alone basis and in some cases to complement traditional hiring methods. There has been a paradigm shift in the way companies recruit thanks to the value, efficacy and ease-of-use of today's career sites and with internet penetration levels ever skyrocketing, geographic boundaries blending when it comes to professional mobility and the quest for top talent at fever pitch in booming regional economies, this medium is definitely here to stay.

So what are the benefits of online recruitment that have led to such a meteoric rise in its use and revolutionized the way companies hire and candidates search for jobs in such a short time span? Below we list some:

Reduced time-to-hire

E-cruitment allows for immediate real-time interaction and 24 x 7 hiring/job search activity. Employers can post a job in as little as 20 minutes on a career site such as bayt.com with no limits to ad size and start receiving CVs in response immediately. The posting typically remains active for as long as 30 days and continues to receive applicant CVs immediately as job seekers come across it. This is in comparison to traditional methods where a newspaper ad may take appear a week later and only for a day, or a recruiter has to wait till month-end to reap the benefits of an ad in a monthly industry or geography-specific publication. Typically, e-cruitment hiring is on average 70% faster than traditional hiring methods and the recruiting cycle is speeded up at every stage from posting, to receiving CVs to filtering to managing the contacts and workflow.

Reduced cost-of-hire

Costs of posting jobs and/or searching for candidates on job portals can be up to 90% lower than the costs of using traditional search firms and/or advertising methods. Online postings at approximately USD250 on a site like www.bayt.com are substantially more cost-effective than the 30% of annual salaries fee that many traditional recruiters charge or the costs of newspaper/publication ads for the same reach and time period.

Wider reach for employers

Unlike traditional methods which are usually restricted by career level, geography, industry or other parameters online recruitment portals typically have current and active talent databases that cover all career levels, industries and regions. Top marketing dollars are spent ensuring the databases are diverse, updated regularly, relevant and high quality. Sprawling business development teams also ensure that affiliations are established whereby the portals are always prominent and top-of-mind with the relevant candidates and are visited by the target job seekers regularly.

Wider reach for candidates

Candidates benefit immensely from the wider scope they gain through online job sites. They are able to access jobs in companies, industries and locations they may not otherwise have learned of and can apply immediately with the click of a mouse. By posting their CVs online they can be contacted by employers/recruiters directly for opportunities that may not even be advertised.

State-of-the-art filtration tools

State-of-the-art on-line screening/filtering tools allow employers/recruiters to immediately hone in on the right candidate using up to 20 criteria on a site like bayt.com including country of residence, skills, education, career level previous experience etc. This dramatically increases the efficiency of the e-cruiting process and the quality of the candidates selected. Eas y to administer online Questionnaires which can be used to administer standard evaluation tests provide another level of objective screening. State-of-the-art tools and technologies usually also allow for the establishment of automated "Search Agents" which once set up search the database on a 24*7 basis scouting for CVs that match all the employer's selection criteria.

Branding opportunity for employers

Employers can use their job ads to project a consistent brand and company image/values to prospective job seekers. With the heat on for top talent, candidates can be very particular about who they work for and these company descriptions often serve as a basis for their application decisions.

Sophisticated management tools

The entire recruitment process is managed from one location which allows the employer to post vacancies, receive CVs, screen, prioritize and contact candidates individually or collectively and track all activities from the confines of a private and highly functional employer Workspace. job seekers similarly can track the progress of their application at every stage of the hiring process from their own functional Workspace. This allows for an enhanced user experience for both employer ad job seeker.

Allows for confidentiality

Both employers and job seekers can elect to maintain their confidentiality. Employers can elect to search the databases without posting a job if the vacancy is sensitive in nature, or they can post a vacancy while keeping the company name confidential. Similarly, candidates can post their CVs online while keeping their names and present employer's name confidential.

Allows for proactivity

The employer/recruiter is in full control of the hiring process with online recruitment, can contact candidates real-time and directly and does not require a middleman to sift through, filter, assess or select the required candidates. By being in the driving seat the employer gains valuable insight into the nature of the marketplace and the competitive landscape for the position. He is also able to ensure a superior match and a better fit for the long term.

Allows for database build-up

Employers can save high profile or particularly attractive CVs from an existing online search to build a priority database of pre-screened star talent for future use.