Recruiting

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CHAPTER 4 Electronic Recruiting

Long-time HR specialists undoubtedly recall receiving stacks of resumes sent either by employment services in response to newspaper ads, or via one of the other more traditional recruitment resources described in Chapter 3. Too busy to do them justice during a typical workday, you probably loaded these resumes into your briefcase and dutifully reviewed them during the commute home or after dinner in front of the TV (muted, of course). When you came across a resume longer than two pages (one page, as the evening grew later), you groaned, fighting the temptation to “file” it for violating the unwritten law against submitting a resume that’s too long for a tired HR professional to review at the end of a busy day.

The process of receiving and reviewing resumes has changed dramatically over the past decade. Increasingly, employers are using the Internet to recruit, either by developing web pages of their own or by linking up with web-based job search services. Applicants, too, are preparing and transmitting many more resumes electronically, thereby relieving recruiters from being inundated by thousands of paper resumes. The Internet, then, is rapidly moving up in the ranks of recruitment, as greater numbers of applicants and employers communicate with one another, computer to computer.

Definition of an Internet Applicant

To comply with record-keeping requirements and to preclude charges of discrimination, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) of the U.S. Department of Labor has provided organizations with this definition of an “Internet Applicant.”1

1. An individual submits an expression of interest in employment through the Internet or related electronic data technologies;

2. The contractor considers the individual for employment in a particular position; 3. The individual’s expression of interest indicates the individual possesses the basic

qualifications for the position; and 4. The individual at no point in the contractor’s selection process prior to receiving an

offer of employment from the contractor, removes himself or herself from further consideration or otherwise indicates that he or she is no longer interested in the position.

Applicant status is not impacted by level of qualification according to this definition. That is, even if someone does not meet the minimum requirements of a job, that person is still considered an applicant if he meets the applicant criteria. In this regard, the “basic qualifications” could be, but are not required to be, identified in a job description. These qualifications do need to be advertised to potential applicants or, if not advertised, established in advance by making and maintaining a record of such qualifications. Preemployment tests are not considered basic qualifications under the Internet Applicant rule. Basic qualifications must

Arthur, Diane. <i>Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting and Orienting New Employees</i>, AMACOM, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/capella/detail.action?docID=931154. Created from capella on 2019-09-30 19:21:35.

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be established prior to the beginning of the selection process. Here are some examples of when individuals would be considered applicants according to

the OFCCP’s definition:

• If someone completes a profile and forwards a resume in response to an ad posted by an organization.

• If a person posts a resume on an Internet resume bank without expressing an interest in a specific job with a particular employer, that person would become an applicant if the employer contacts him or her about a specific job and the person expresses interest.

Here are some instances whereby individuals would not be considered applicants:

• Transmitting a resume to the “jobs” e-mail address on a company’s website without indicating interest in a specific job

• Posting a resume on any major job board • Being passed along by a company that has an applicant’s resume to another company without first determining the person’s interest in a particular job

• Casually browsing the web

The OFCCP’s definition applies exclusively to the Internet and related technologies, including resume banks, job boards, organizational websites, resume databases, and online job listings. The 1978 Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures and their subsequent rulings issued in 1979 and 1980 continue to apply to those who submit paper resumes.

Electronic Resumes

Some employers still encourage applicants to submit paper resumes via snail mail or fax, while increasing numbers prefer resumes that are delivered electronically. Proponents of the electronic format offer the following as reasons for discouraging paper resumes:

• Paper costs considerably more than the average electronic file of six kilobytes. • Processing paper into an electronic format takes longer than processing an originally electronic file into a paper format.

• Mail delivery is slow: The average U.S.-based letter takes three days to deliver; the average electronic transmission takes three seconds.

• Electronic files can be formatted, extracted, and otherwise manipulated countless ways. They can also be incorporated with other data or stored in various applications or systems.

Paper resume supporters argue that electronic resumes are often difficult to read and lack a professional look. In addition, they argue, some applicants express concerns about

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confidentiality and privacy, as well as fear that one’s resume will get lost in a mile-high cyber pile, so they continue to favor a mailed paper resume. Accordingly, if businesses don’t offer a paper resume option, these applicants may bypass them entirely and ultimately become someone else’s employees.

Whatever your personal preference, everyone agrees on one thing: Reading electronic resumes is unlike reading paper resumes. While the focus remains the same—searching for information that reflect a person’s ability to perform a job—the presentation and format of that information is dramatically different. As one recruiter put it, “What pleases a computer is likely to bore a person.”

Electronic Cover Letters

Resume-writing guides recommend including cover letters regardless of whether the resume is submitted in paper or electronic form. Indeed, few employers seriously consider a resume without an accompanying letter that identifies the specific job or type of job sought as well as highlights of the submitter’s qualifications. Cover letters can grab a recruiter’s attention by suggesting a preliminary fit between job and applicant, so savvy applicants word theirs carefully.

These are critical components of an electronic cover letter:

• Including the cover letter in the body of the e-mail rather than as an additional attachment, as some systems either block multiple attachments or can’t handle them.

• Using the subject line wisely. That means including the job number as well as a succinct statement about the applicant’s qualifications. Generally, this means extracting key words that are likely to grab the recipient’s attention, such as “5 yrs.’ mgr. exper. in finance.” The key words here—5 yrs.; managerial; finance—match the job requirements and are therefore likely to catch the reader’s eye.

• Presenting a professional look. E-mail cover letters are no different from traditional paper letters in terms of salutations, spacing, punctuation, grammar, spelling, and closings. Typos can make the difference between a resume that’s considered and one that’s not. Also, the content of the first paragraph should both hook and sell the reader.

• Highlighting key job-related words. Since electronic cover letters and resumes will likely be filed in a database, recipients are looking for job-specific words.

• Using a simple format, as in black font, normal size (12-point), and standard typeface, e.g., Times Roman, on a white background. • Following company requirements and not sending more or less than what’s requested. • Making it easy on the reader. State, in clear and concise terms, the job you’re applying for and why you’re the best fit, including brief examples demonstrating relevant accomplishments and how they can benefit a potential employer. In other words: here’s the job, here’s the person. If it’s an exploratory letter, identify possible suitable job titles.

• Demonstrating knowledge of the employer. This is a nice touch if not overdone. For example, an applicant might write, “Now that Bixby Industries has expanded its product base as a result of its acquisition of Triad Inc., I would like to offer my extensive

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expertise in marketing and become a part of your exciting new work environment.” This shows that the applicant has taken the time to do some research and, further, has bothered to incorporate that research into a personalized letter.

• Keeping it brief. If it takes more than fifteen or twenty seconds to read, it’s too long.

A sample electronic e-mail cover letter reflecting these components appears in Appendix C.

Electronic Resume Formatting

Employers expect all resumes—paper or electronic—to be organized either by function (whereby skills are grouped into categories) or chronologically (jobs and education are listed in reverse chronological order). In addition to education and experience, resumes should reflect honors or awards, publications, and other accomplishments.

Successful electronic resumes, however, reflect a different format and wording than traditional paper resumes. A major distinction has to do with the emphasis on nouns instead of verbs. Since searches are done by key words that describe required skills and tasks to be performed, computers are programmed to zero in on terms such as “team leader” as opposed to “lead a team.” Buzzwords or descriptors that refer to the essential traits required to perform a job are also relevant. The more buzzwords the computer picks up, the more qualified an applicant appears. Savvy applicants know to place the most relevant buzzwords at the beginning of their resumes since many programs are limited in the number of items they will scan for and so usually start at the beginning of the document.

Computers like things to be kept simple:

• No more than seventy characters per line to preclude problems with different e-mail programs

• Lots of white space to show where one topic has ended and another has begun • Design elements that preclude the use of underlining or italics and rely instead on strategically placed asterisks or dashes

• Minimal use of abbreviations and special characters, such as the copyright symbol (©) and the ampersand (&).

• The use of all upper case letters for headings

Computers also favor typical words that everyone is likely to know, although they also seek maximum usage of industry jargon. These resumes are usually in an ASCII format, that is, plainly formatted and unadorned.

Company Career Websites

Companies that put up their own career websites or that advertise on a job opportunity section on their corporate site are recruiting proactively and increasing their chances of finding suitable employees.

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Company Career Website Objectives

Before spending a lot of money and effort loading up your website with attractive graphics and inviting verbiage, be clear about your primary objective. Think twice if you’re tempted to answer, “to lure applicants.” Any recruiter who has ever used a recruitment source that did not carefully target applicants with the required credentials or skills knows that this answer is not totally accurate. As awful as it is to run an ad and only get a handful of responses, it’s far worse to get inundated with responses from unqualified applicants. This can happen if your job posting fails to clearly identify the parameters of the position.

Rather than taking a hit-or-miss approach targeting no one in particular, plan your postings with a specific objective in mind: attracting qualified applicants whose backgrounds and interests are compatible with the culture and offerings of your organization. This statement identifies your company as unique and immediately sets it apart.

What Applicants Are Looking For

Many job hunters report that they can learn a great deal about a potential employer from its website. Based on photos, terminology, design, and areas of emphasis, applicants can determine if a company is likely to be a good fit for them.

To succeed at attracting applicants to their career websites or career opportunity sections, businesses need to focus on four areas: content, navigation, branding, and functionality. In this regard, here are some factors to consider:

• Make job listings easily accessible. • Keep postings current. • Avoid slow-to-load images. • Don’t get carried away with the latest bells and whistles unless they serve a purpose and are consistent with your corporate image.

• Keep screening questions simple and to a minimum. • Allow submission options, e.g., online applications or e-mail. • Offer a resume builder tool. • Offer cut-and-paste capability so applicants can edit an existing resume. • Provide information about the history of your organization, its products or services, the culture, and benefits of working there.

• Provide information about the geographic area, including housing, taxes, schools, and recreational and cultural activities.

• Enable applicants to register to receive updates about new jobs. • Ensure that the contents are in full compliance with employment laws. • Provide a calendar of career-related events. • Review visits to your website to identify patterns. • Test out your website numerous times before launching it.

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In addition, talk with colleagues and competitors to determine who uses their web pages and the kind of feedback they’re receiving. Consult with your technical staff, other employees, and even external applicants about what they expect to find on a web page and what turns them off. Information from these sources can supplement advice from outside web experts.

Getting Started

New websites are generally organized according to job function, geographic location, or business unit. A statement of the organization’s mission is offered, as is generic information about the work environment and benefits of working there. A table of contents allows job seekers to browse topics of interest, including specific job offerings. Experiment and ask for feedback from staff, consultants, and applicants as to which format is likely to draw the greatest number of qualified job hunters.

The overall appearance and visual design of a website creates an important first impression on applicants and affects their interest in continuing. For example, too much text can cause readers’ eyes to glaze over, and huge graphics that slow loading down to a crawl are likely to make viewers impatient. Strike a balance between smaller graphics that load quickly and meaningful text to capture and retain the interest of job hunters.

Companies generally start with a web presence. This is a bare-bones home page that provides the company name, geographic locations, contact information, basic information about the company’s history and primary product areas, and whom to contact. The site’s text, tone, and look should reflect the company’s corporate culture. These pages are later upgraded, depending on requests received for more information, as well as the company’s own observations and advice from consultants. On average, start-up pages are redesigned two to three times in the first twelve to eighteen months.

Solicit Professional Help

Many organizations solicit professional help in setting up their websites. Before making a commitment to outside consultants, however, verify their effectiveness by talking with businesses, preferably ones similar to yours, that have used them. Here are some questions to ask previous clients of potential consultants:

• Do they have both technical expertise and design experience? • How helpful were they in a setup situation? • How patient were they in explaining terms and processes to nontechnical HR people? • Did they bother to find out what your company was all about in terms of products, market, and direction?

• Did they acknowledge that you know your business best and therefore should either write the text for your site or at least contribute to it?

• Did they make suggestions as to the best format and design of your website? • Did they advise you as to appropriate equipment for high-speed access? • Did they try to start you off with more than you needed?

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• Did they continue to offer support services after building your website? • Did they recommend upgrades to your site after a probationary test run?

Website Upkeep

Once established, maintaining a website is crucial. Job listings should be current; few things prove more irritating for applicants than sorting through old listings and dated information. Also, keep up to date with regard to new capabilities, colors, backgrounds, and effects, such as flash demos. And to keep from appearing complacent, give the site a facelift every six months or so.

The issue of exposure is also essential. Even the most expensive website is ineffective if not seen or accessed. Employers often purchase hypertext links or hotlinks, buttons that lead directly into its server from popular employment service sites. This allows web surfers to jump from one site to another, ensuring easier access and greater exposure.

It’s also a good idea to track how often the site is being accessed and what pages are the most popular. Tracking the number of hits on each page can offer insight into how the website should be redesigned and what features should be revised, included, or eliminated down the road.

Company Career Website Guidelines

Here are some additional guidelines to help make your career website a success:

1. Make searching for job openings easy. A user-friendly website means making available an employment button in a prominent place on your homepage and offering a resume- building service or forms that route the data into your e-mail or database.

2. Make the site navigable. Broad appeal is an important ingredient to website success. For people who know exactly what they want, speed and easy access are crucial. People who like to browse, on the other hand, will want to explore, interacting with stimulating graphics and interesting text.

3. Be prepared to respond to applicants quickly. In describing the recruitment capabilities of the Internet, a frequent user accurately notes that it “offers incredible new opportunities to disappoint.” After applying for a position within only minutes, applicants expect a quick response. If they don’t get it, chances are they’ll lose interest and move on.

4. Maintain an up-to-date employment opportunity database. The importance of keeping a website current cannot be overemphasized. If you cannot manage this internally, hire the services of a company that can.

5. Balance content with design. Maybe appearances shouldn’t matter to job seekers, but they do. As with display newspaper ads, visual appeal will draw applicants to your page and the content will pique their interest.

6. Keep it organized. Serious job seekers want to focus on the relevant data right away. While some may want to browse the entire site, taking it all in, others will zero in on what you have to offer, decide if they’re interested, and apply. If this can’t be done with ease, chances are they’ll move on to another site.

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7. Take advantage of all the information you can learn about your web visitors. You will not hire every applicant expressing an interest in your company, but you can collect data about them that may prove useful to recruitment strategies later on. One of the pluses of electronic recruiting is that everything is measurable. Decide what you want to know and there’s bound to be an Internet service that can provide it. For example, it may be helpful to determine which schools or organizations visitors of your website have attended and belong to, respectively. Or perhaps you’re interested in what other pages visitors look at. This kind of information can be valuable to the ongoing re-evaluation of your career website.

8. Don’t say too much. Many companies believe that applicants can make more informed decisions if they have access to a maximum amount of information. In fact, it’s more effective to provide just enough information to create a level of interest on the part of job hunters, encouraging them to apply. Think in terms of supplying answers to these questions: What are the primary duties and responsibilities of the job? What are the qualifications required to perform the job? Why would someone want to work for you? How can they apply?

Internet Job Boards

In addition to advertising on your company’s career website, you can post job openings on a variety of Internet job boards. Here are some of the most popular types of job boards (Note: The author does not, by referencing specific job boards, necessarily endorse these sites or ensure their continuation beyond the date of this writing):

• General Job Boards. These are the most commonly used means of online recruiting. Companies post jobs and applicants respond, either to the system, which sends the application on to the company, or directly to an e-mail address.

Resume banks are extensions of general job boards, providing employers with the option of previewing resumes and paying for the contact information. Some of the most popular, enduring job boards include Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com.

• Industry-Specific Boards. Industry-specific boards target applicants with experience or interest in your particular type of business. It’s not uncommon for these boards to offer free trials and rock bottom sign-on prices. Some examples include computerwork.com (owned by JobServe.com) for computer jobs; healthcareers.com (owned by TargetJobs.com) for positions in the health care industry; higheredjobs.com for education; engcen.com for engineering; jobsinthemoney.com (owned by Dice.com) for the field of finance; ultimateinsurancejobs.com for insurance jobs; and pharmadiversityjobboard.com for work in the pharmaceutical industry.

• Professional Associations. As with industry-specific boards, professional associations target applicants with experience or interest in your field. Most professional associations offer either free posting as a benefit to their members or they post and review resumes for a nominal fee. An example of a professional association for human resources is jobs.shrm.org.

• Resume Blasters. Resume blasters, such as resumeviper.com, are free for employers; applicants pay to “blast” a resume to recruiters who have identified desirable skills and competencies.

• Government Sites. Government sites are often thought of as a wasteland, difficult to

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navigate and difficult to find anyone whose skills match your needs. You can narrow your focus, however, by posting jobs on state sites and clearly identifying the skills you’re seeking. Government sites include usajobs.gov, federalgovernmentjobs.us, and federaljobsearch.com.

• Diversity Sites. Targeting diversity sites for various ethnicities, people with disabilities, and the like can not only produce qualified applicants but help you meet affirmative action goals as well. A word of caution: Some diversity sites claim to focus on placing specific groups, e.g., minorities, when in reality they’re little more than links to larger, generic job boards. Here are some diversity sites: womenforhire.com for women; nul.org/employment- network for African Americans; nativejobs.com for indigenous peoples; latpro.com for Latinos; aaede.org for Asian Americans; and eop.com for people with disabilities.

• Targeted Applicants. If there’s a way to personalize a largely impersonal recruitment source, this is it. A project manager works one-on-one with you to prepare a virtual profile of your business and then helps you with specific job postings. These postings are then e-mailed to a specific group of registered applicants who have been targeted based on their skills. After reviewing your profile, these applicants can contact your company to discuss job opportunities.

• Streamline Services. These services automate your recruitment efforts and applicant tracking, saving you time. They usually link a job-posting page onto your home website and allow you to post your openings on several job boards. One of the benefits to these streamline services is that they are flexible and customize according to your needs. Most charge a monthly fee.

• School Job Boards. Most colleges and universities, as well as high schools, offer job boards. These sites are similar to traditional job boards, generally targeting seniors and graduates. Look, too, for national sites that link schools.

• Outplacement Services. Outplacement firms will often post your jobs for free on their job boards. You can also keep in touch with companies issuing layoffs or experiencing mergers; they will usually allow you to post your job openings on their job boards.

Some employers prefer using their company websites over job boards, viewing the latter as largely ineffective because of the amount of competition on them, as well as the number of resumes the employers have to peruse before finding a viable candidate. According to one study, companies review more than two hundred resumes per job on job boards before finding the right match, while only going through about thirty per job on their own career site.2 Many believe applicants applying for jobs at a certain company’s website are more likely to have relevant experience. Still, even though job boards may attract a range of qualified applicants, it is said that about 25 percent of hires come through job boards.3

Additional Electronic Recruitment Alternatives

Some employers prefer electronic recruitment tools that fall somewhere in between full-out company websites and job boards, such as LinkedIn, a business/social site used primarily for professional networking. The site allows individuals to connect with prospective employees as well as colleagues and business prospects. For organizations with job openings, this means

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a greater scope of contact with prospective employees. LinkedIn members can create professional profiles detailing their professional skills and employment experiences; companies can add the “Apply with LinkedIn” button to their job postings. Then, with one click of the mouse, interested applicants can apply using their LinkedIn profile. As part of the submission process, employers can request a cover letter as well as other pertinent information.

Still others are following the lead of Marriott International Inc., which screens applicants according to how well they perform on a unique social media game.4 Patterned after the Facebook games FarmVille and CityVille, the game at Marriott—entitled My Marriott Hotel— lets applicants manage various aspects of a hotel, beginning with the restaurant’s kitchen. Players score points for good customer service and turning a profit. The game also allows applicants to create and manage their own restaurant.

My Marriott Hotel is used primarily to interest applicants up to the age of 35 (a possible EEO red flag), acknowledging that social media in general appeals to younger workers. Once a viable interest is established, applicants are directed to Marriott’s career site.

Because Marriott is an international operation, the game can be played in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Mandarin.

Marriott International is a credible member of the hospitality field. It has appeared on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list since the list’s inception in 1998, and was named one of the Hottest Employers of 2010 by Bloomberg Businessweek.

Marrriott’s use of a Facebook game to attract applicants is an example of how popular social media is now. The public relations and communications firm of Burson-Marsteller tells us just how popular social media has become.5 It reports that in 2011, 77 percent of Fortune Global 100 companies relied on Twitter, 61 percent had a presence on Facebook, 57 percent had YouTube channels, and 36 percent had corporate blogs. At the time of this writing, one out of every ten of these companies used social media for career information or jobs. Chapter 14 explores the use of social media as a selection tool.

International Electronic Recruitment

Websites offer a global presence as an increasing number of companies are posting their job openings online in more than a hundred countries. Not surprisingly, most of these sites are produced in English. Since English is the most widely spoken language in the world, this may seem advantageous. For many people, though, English is a second language. They may be familiar with the basic structure of the language and be able to converse in it or read it, but they may not be aware of the nuances we so often use without regard to whether they constitute “proper English.”

It’s impractical, costly, and excessively time-consuming to prepare variations of each web page in several different languages. You can, however, develop one site in one language that most people will be able to understand. This requires a focus on how you speak and read the English language. Here are some guidelines:

1. Avoid jargon. These are made-up words that can interfere with a clear, precise

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message. The meaning may confuse readers and slow them down. Clearly, industry-unique buzzwords or acronyms are appropriate, but only if you’re fairly certain that the vast majority of your readers will understand their precise meaning.

With terms that are ambiguous, provide a definition the first time the word or term appears in the text. It’s also a good idea to review the document from the perspective of someone outside the culture of an American organization. If you have the slightest suspicion that readers will not share the intended meaning, either spell it out or make a clearer choice.

2. Select proper word usage. The English language is full of words that are confused with one another. For example, do you know the difference between assure, ensure, and insure; affect and effect; adapt and adopt; advise and inform; or accept and except? We all probably learned the meanings of these words at some point in our education, but when it comes time to use these words in a sentence, we often play a guessing game as to which one is correct. To people for whom English is a second language, correct word usage is very important. They probably know the difference between continual and continuous and would find disturbing text that confuses the two.

3. Use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Web writing is unique in that spaces between many words are eliminated and periods often appear in the middle of sentences. Despite this, the actual text of your job offerings should consist of proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Again, people for whom English is a second language are more likely to be aware of rules of grammar and pick out errors. These errors could be viewed as a carelessness that is representative of your organization, which could influence an applicant’s decision to submit an application.

4. Do not avoid clichés. For business writing, I would say the opposite, but in writing Internet text for a population consisting largely of people for whom English is a second language, clichés can actually be helpful. Certain overused, stock phrases are probably familiar and more likely to accurately convey your meaning.

5. Be careful about how you use numbers. Something as simple as noting a resume filing date can be incorrectly interpreted by someone from another country. For example, in Europe, the numbers are reversed; a filing date of 12/11/13 would be interpreted as meaning November 12, 2013, instead of December 11, 2013.

6. Consider the colors you select for graphics. In many countries, colors have distinct, important, and sometimes religious meanings. Misusing a color on your website can result in lost applicants. For example, in some cultures, purple is the color of royalty, while in others it is associated with mourning and death.

You may choose to have your current website translated, graphics included, into another language. Many translation companies will do this for a nominal per-page fee, priced according to the content, number, and complexity of graphics involved. While doing this may appear to solve any potential problems associated with presenting your web page in English, there is a wrinkle that comes with translation. The alphabet of other languages may have characters not found in English; therefore, you may need a separate product that can create websites in multiple languages. Likewise, if you decide to browse foreign-language websites,

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enlist the services of companies that will translate pages into English.

Electronic Recruiting Risks

Joseph Beachboard, a partner in the law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nask, Smoak & Stewart, alerts employers to some of the risks associated with electronic recruiting.6 His first concern has to do with resume-screening software. While screening software is intended to, and often does, help recruiters select the best applicants by searching for key words or phrases, Beachboard suggests that there is significant legal risk if one selects software that categorically excludes members of certain protected groups. For example, if the software isolates words and terms that people in various protected categories do not typically use, then they could not possibly be selected for consideration. Stated another way, if the software identifies words that are most commonly used by Caucasians and not by members of other ethnic groups, then only Caucasian applicants would be contacted, considered, and ultimately hired. This practice creates a disparate impact and could result in charges of systemic discrimination, the denial of equal employment opportunity through an established business practice—in this instance, recruitment.

Another risk associated with electronic recruiting has to do with Internet access. For instance, as a population, older workers are reportedly less comfortable with searching for jobs online than are younger workers. Therefore, if employers rely heavily on electronic recruitment, they are potentially excluding many qualified older applicants, again potentially supporting claims of disparate impact and systemic discrimination.

Applicant tracking is another electronic recruiting risk. With employers receiving thousands of resumes electronically, it can be an overwhelming task to maintain applicant flow data; that is, maintaining information about who’s applying.

Because it’s so easy for individuals to submit resumes electronically, many do so without much thought as to where the jobs are; they just send their resumes to as many sites as possible. Someone in Texas could apply for an opening in California and not even realize it. This creates a potential electronic recruiting risk for employers: which states’ laws govern the collection of data? Texas laws are more liberal than those in California when it comes to the amount of information employers can collect. Hence, if you’re collecting information from someone in California and the job is in Texas, you have to carefully determine whose laws govern. Matters such as these are best reviewed and determined by legal counsel.

Beachboard also cautions recruiters against saying too much on a website. His concern is that with an unlimited amount of space on a website, employers have a tendency to volunteer more than they should about who would make the best applicant. Depending on just what’s said, this could result in charges of discrimination. This concern extends to e-mail communications between employers and applicants. By their very nature, e-mails are informal; accordingly, inappropriate statements or non-job-related questions could be posed, resulting in charges of discrimination.

Many of these risks can be reduced if employers vary the recruitment sources they use. Despite the many advantages of electronic recruiting, employers must remember that there are many other effective means for finding qualified applicants, as identified in Chapter 3. Constantly ask yourself, “Am I reaching a wide range of people and sidestepping legitimate

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charges of disparate impact and systemic discrimination?”

Summary

The Internet is moving up in the ranks of recruitment as greater numbers of applicants and employers communicate with one another computer to computer.

To comply with record-keeping requirements and to preclude charges of discrimination, employers are urged to become familiar with and comply with the OFCCP’s definition of an “Internet Applicant.” It applies exclusively to the Internet and related technologies, including job boards and organizational websites.

While electronic resumes currently dominate the marketplace, paper resumes still have their supporters. The focus remains the same—searching for information that reflect a person’s ability to perform a job—but the presentation and format of that information is dramatically different. As one recruiter put it, “What pleases a computer is likely to bore a person.” Differences between electronic and paper resumes begin with the cover letter and go on to include resume formatting.

Many organizations favor establishing a company career website as their primary recruitment tool. Before proceeding, employers are advised to consider what applicants are looking for and seek professional help for advice on efficient setup and upkeep.

Other businesses prefer to post job openings on a variety of Internet job boards. These include general sites, industry-specific boards, professional associations, resume blasters, government sites, diversity boards, and school job sites. Still others favor electronic recruitment tools such as LinkedIn that fall somewhere between full-out company websites and job boards.

Electronic postings for international recruitment produced in English require an understanding of factors that will determine how clear your message is likely to be. This includes avoiding jargon, selecting proper word usage, and using numbers and graphics carefully.

Increased Internet exposure brings with it a host of electronic recruiting risks. For example, employers need to be concerned about the legal risks of selecting resume-screening software that may categorically exclude members of certain protected groups. Applicant tracking is another electronic recruiting risk. Many of these risks can be reduced if employers vary the recruitment sources they use.

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