Find employees online

Everyone's talking about online recruitment. It's simple, right? Just post your openings on the Internet, and wait for resumes to flood in via e-mail. It sounds so easy. But wait -- how do you decide where to post your ads? Which site on the World Wide Web is best for you?

The options are endless: Monster Board, E-Span, Career Magazine, Job-Center, Career Mosaic, plus dozens of others. All of the Web sites offer different services at different prices – but they all promise to provide the best candidates.

In reality, there's no one right place to do online recruitment. Instead, each organization must design an online recruitment strategy to meet its own needs, then find a service to match. By following the steps below, you'll have a clearer understanding of the selection process and, you'll likely, find an option that will provide the best online results for your organization.

1. Understanding the Internet

The “key” is understanding and experimenting with the Internet. For human resources professionals and future employers to use the Internet's recruitment services successfully, they first need to learn the basics. A lot of professionals don't understand the Internet, so they try to delegate it and then, are frustrated with the results.

It's important not to delegate Internet recruitment. Go to a class and get comfortable with the technology to just learn what the Internet has to offer.

The key is: Don't be afraid to learn the basics. Once you pick up a rudimentary understanding, you'll be able to better use the tools -- and the language -- of the Internet. It's important in forming your online recruitment strategy.

2. Research

Once you've mastered the basics of the Internet, discover what the Web can offer you in terms of recruitment. Most active electronic recruiters suggest you use an online index or directory to find out which recruitment services are available.

A popular directory is Yahoo!, developed by students at Stanford University. Other similar resources are Lycos, WebCrawler and AltaVista. By searching relevant keywords -- such as "jobs," "employment" or "careers" -- professionals can find out just what options exist.

It's essential that recruiters research the various services to obtain specific information on the size and makeup of the candidate pool. Also, by doing a generic search and visiting each site -- then calling representatives to get more information about each individual service -- firms can determine whether the services fit their budget and provide the expected result.

3. Define Your Target Audience

To determine whether a specific service will meet your expectations, you must first define your needs. An important consideration involves your target audience. Each company has its own unique recruitment needs, and these require exposure to different types -- and numbers -- of applicants.

For some users, the greater the exposure, the better the site. If you aren’t looking for employees from a specific geographical region, select a service that will give you the most exposure possible. There are sites that maintain a presence on the Web and on the major online services (CompuServe, America Online, etc.), so when you post jobs on the service they're distributed to a larger audience.

In addition to looking at the number of visitors to a site, companies, also, should try to ascertain who those visitors are. Some services measure their effectiveness in size and volume and they have databases that are as large as five years' worth of Sunday classifieds. Traffic does matter and high volume is sometimes a good sign. But, what employers need to worry about is finding the right traffic every time. Like newspapers or magazines, most Web sites attract a certain segment of the population. Some are oriented toward a specific industry; others are geared toward college graduates.

Some services reach only a certain limited geographical area -- even though they claim to be national services. For these services, it's usually more a question of penetration than reach -- even though anyone in the world can access those job listings, usually only those interested in jobs in, say, the North East, actually do. The important thing is that recruiters identify each service's target market before advertising.

Ask for this information when you call the service representative. If you're trying to recruit someone from Michigan, you shouldn't be spending advertising dollars on a service that targets the New York metropolitan area. It can't hurt to get a geographical breakdown of the candidate pool to determine if applicants come from the area you desire.

Overall, the message is this: If your advertisement isn't reaching your target audience, you're unlikely to fill your job openings, regardless of the volume of Web users. For best results, define your audience, then find a Web site that most closely matches your description. Target industry-specific sites. The key to success is narrowing your search.

4. Examine Your Search Needs

You can narrow your search further by studying the features offered by each service and selecting one that appeals most to you. Each service works in its own way: Some store resumes in a database and registered employers perform searches for qualified applicants. Other sites allow employers to create profiles of their companies and post their jobs -- allowing applicants to send resumes, directly, to the company when positions are of interest to them.

Finally, some services also perform what is called job-matching, storing resumes and job postings online and actively contacting both parties when an applicant looks right for a job. For many recruiters, this latter approach is a major benefit. Active systems really help with tracking. You can see the activity because the services send you matches.

However, most often, matching services operate according to keywords, which recruiters use to describe their openings. Success depends on your ability to identify keywords appropriately. Avoid general job titles such as "administrative assistant" or "technical support specialist." Titles mean different things to different people and you may end up with many resumes you don't need. Not all of the keywords must be present on a resume for it to be considered a match.

What words are appropriate? Use nouns to describe the skills and qualifications needed for the position. This will get you a better bunch of applicants.

5. Compare Costs

With all of these options and different types of services, it's no surprise that the costs vary immensely. In fact, some services are free, while others charge thousands of dollars. When selecting a service, it's important that you ask about the pricing philosophy for each site and stay within your budget.

At present, the greatest problem with the cost of online recruiting is predicting what you may get for your money. Be prepared to get silence on the other end of the phone, if you ask these services questions about their effectiveness. They'll give you lots of numbers and percentages but 'Does this work effectively?' isn't easily answered.

6. Continue your Search

No matter which online service you choose, remember, the Internet is constantly changing. According to the Internet Business Network, the Internet is growing at a monthly rate of 12%. Lots of people are logging on. A survey by CommerceNet/Nielsen Internet Demographics tells us that 17% of people aged 16 or older in the United States and Canada (approximately 37 million people) have access to the Internet -- and 11% of the same group have used the Internet in the past three months. Tomorrow, these numbers will be even higher. Because of this rapid growth, employers and human resources professionals should frequently reevaluate their online recruiting choices.

A Web site that wasn't successful for you two months ago, could be your best option, today. Be sure to return to the search engines, often, to reassess your approach

Perhaps, the most important fact to remember as you navigate the Net is: There aren't any simple, straightforward answers. Only by thinking through your expectations -- then experimenting with a variety of services -- will you discover the sites that meet your recruitment needs. If you haven't yet joined the Internet revolution, consider testing the water. Try a few services and track your results, especially, before committing to a long-term contract. Over time, you'll find a strategy that works for you.