OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY This e-recruitment study set out to answer the following questions, using evidence-based research:

What are the overall trends in e-recruitment use and practice? Which parts of systems are web-enabled and what are the related benefits and challenges?

What is happening in practice? What are the e-recruitment methods that are being used, and what are the real experiences from organisations attempting implementation?

Does it work? How do organisations evaluate the success of their e-recruitment initiative?

SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE

It is much faster than traditional modes of recruitment. One can post a job online in just 20 minutes and receive resumes within minutes of the job going live.

Access an online pool of resumes on a 24X7 basis. It allows the hiring manager to screen out unqualified candidates in an automated way, which saves over 65 percent of the hiring time.

One can track the progress that the candidate is making in various stages of the hiring process.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION e-recruitment is the process of personnel recruitment using electronic resources, in particular the internet. Companies and recruitment agents have moved much of their recruitment process online so as to improve the speed by which job candidates can be matched with live vacancies. Using database technologies, and online job advertising boards and search engines, employers can now fill posts in a fraction of the time previously possible. The buzzword and the latest trends in recruitment is the E-Recruitment. Also known as Online recruitment, it is the use of technology or the web based tools to assist the recruitment process. The tool can be either a job website like naukri.com, the organisations corporate web site or its own intranet. Many big and small organizations are using Internet as a source of recruitment. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae (CV) through an e-mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CVs in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements. The internet penetration in India is increasing and has tremendous potential. According to a study by NASSCOM Jobs is among the top reasons why new users will come on to the internet, besides e-mail. There are more than 18 million resumes floating online across the world.

The two kinds of e- recruitment that an organisation can use is

Job portals i.e. posting the position with the job description and the job

specification on the job portal and also searching for the suitable resumes posted on the site corresponding to the opening in the organisation. Creating a complete online recruitment/application section in the companies own website. - Companies have added an application system to its website, where the passive job seekers can submit their resumes into the database of the organisation for consideration in future, as and when the roles become available. The term e-recruitment means using information technology (IT) to speed up or enhance parts of the recruitment process. It ranges from the applicant interface for advertising vacancies and making job applications, to the back office processes, which allow a liaison between human resources (HR) and line managers to set up a talent pool or database of potential recruits. Used correctly e-recruitment can:

enhance the applicant experience communicate the employer's image and culture better make the recruitment process faster, more accountable and standardised increase the diversity of applicants provide better management information on applicants find the right candidate for the job

According to one survey, internet postings result in nearly ten times as many hires as newspaper advertisements.

E-RECRUITMENT In the era of globalization anyone who is interested in corporate world is aware of these sites. Using internet prospective applicants could search for positions in which they were interested. Contact with employers directly is viable. Feasibility of email overruled the use of telephone, fax or mail and the companies started accepting application through email. Today Organizations have their own sites or job postings are given in the placement sites. Again the candidates can visit the sites, post resume, contact the company directly without any delay. All these are just one click away. E-recruitment is a tool for many employers to search for job candidates and for applicants to look for job. Recent trend of recruitment is e-recruitment or the internet recruitment or on-line recruitment, where the process of recruitment is automated. The automation began in 1980 but was systematized in 1990 with the release of Restracs initial product. Erecruitment simply means the recruitment process through internet. Various methods can be used for it. There is no doubt that today online recruiting has overpowered traditional methods of recruitment. If you are going to be considered 'out of date' if you are not using erecruitment, then you can imagine how much of change the HR industry has seen because of IT.

10 COMPELLING REASONS TO CHOOSE ERECRUITING

A leading survey says that 73% of the world's largest companies would adopt an erecruiting strategy. Thinking why erecruiting is becoming so popular and is considered to be the most efficient way of recruiting? The following are the reasons:

It is highly cost efficient and promises increased ROI It gives accessibility to a big pool of resumes compared to other methods like newspaper ads

Erecruitment brings in an organized and proactive recruiting process Easy and efficient way of recruiting Shortened recruiting time span Reduced complexity, reduced paper work and streamlined workflow Establishes efficient communication channel between recruiter and candidate Helps in establishing a relationship between the recruiter and the candidate Dependable database applications available to support your recruitment process You cannot ignore the efficiency that internet brings in

E-RECRUITING METHODS Methods of e-recruitment are many, among those the important ones are JOB BOARDS: These are the places where the employers post jobs and search for candidates. Candidates become aware of the vacancies. One of the disadvantages is, it is generic in nature. Special skill candidates to be searched by certain job boards.

 EMPLOYER WEB SITES: These sites can be of the company owned sites, or a site developed by various employers. For an example, Directemployers.com is the first cooperative, employer-owned e-recruiting consortium formed by Direct Employers Association. It is a non profit organization formed by the executives from leading U.S corporations. Press release by Recruiters Network (February 20, 2003) showed the site has 98 members approximately 45 percent of which are Fortune 500 companies. PROFESSIONAL WEBSITES: These are for specific professions, skills and not general in nature. For an example, for HR jobs Human Resource Management sites to be visited like www.shrm.org. The professional associations will have their own site or society. WHY E-RECRUITMENT A CASE STUDY In May 1980 in Kolkata Amita being an MBA never expected any problem regarding job. She returned home exhausted with no satisfactory result in hand. She knew that the place is full of opportunities, and it wont be difficult to place herself in a job. But what she was not aware of was search for the company will be so tedious and tiring. First she went through the newspaper advertisement meticulously , then scanned those advertisements and selected the suitable ones. Then she visited each and every place just to submit the Resume. It was worse as she was restricted to Kolkata, as going and visiting companies at different places were not possible and due to postal service the Resumes were not properly forwarded. At that era this was the scenario for many candidates. Even the companies were not satisfied with the recent recruitment practices. Like, A1 electrical of Nagpur were to find a suitable engineer for them. The company wanted to collect Resumes of maximum candidates. Advertisement in employment news was not giving

them the satisfactory result. There came the need for e-recruitment, to overcome the barriers to easy access of the candidates. To be a successful Organization and to maintain the position recruiting high caliber staff is fundamental. Not finding the right person can lead to frustration. Employers like A1 electricals aren't limited to attracting candidates from their own country and can appeal to qualified candidates all over the world. The same holds true for job seekers like Amita. They can search and apply for jobs in areas where their skills are in demand regardless of geographical location. The widespread use of internet today has meant that advertising for candidates has become cheaper while at the same time appealing to the wider audience. This is the secret of e-recruitment gaining popularity in a short time span. The advantages are:

COST EFFICIENT: Advertisements in internet when compared to newspaper, magazines, and employment agencies is considerably cheap. As in the other sources continuously one has to revise the advertisement, for example a company wanted their ad to appear on every Sunday for a month thus was suppose to pay for four advertisements. But for internet it is not applicable. TIME SAVING DEVICE: Time to deliver; to communicate is minimized by this. Response is direct and immediate without any delay. Beforehand the postal services, fax was one way communication and was time consuming. Phones provided two way communications but resume management, communicating worldwide were not possible. WIDENS THE SEARCH: In the era of globalization the reach cannot be restricted at one place. It provides global reach that also within a fraction of second. Truly the process supports the definition of recruitment by creating a vast pool of potential candidates.

 PROVIDES CLARITY: Advertisements in employment news, other newspapers, magazines will have word limit, thus sometimes is misinterpreted. For an example a company advertisement announced vacancy for computer skilled person which was interpreted as MIS job which was rather a job for computer skilled receptionist. The advertisement was not clear enough to explain the full profile. In internet the word limitation is not there, the idea, opinion, profile can be expressed as anyone like. SCOPE FOR BETTER MATCH: Information in detail is provided with clarity therefore suitable candidate match is possible. The search is widened link with other websites are possible, these attracts the candidates and after the job profile matches, the candidates apply. STANDARDIZATION: The information of the candidates are collected in a standard format. Beside collecting the data it also consolidates information received from various sources. RESERVOIR: It acts as the reservoir of information. From the job profile to candidate profile is available along with past applicant data. LESSEN PAPER WORK: As the data collection, filing, administrative work are done electronically thus paper work or documentation has been lessened. DRAWBACKS OF E-RECRUITMENT REQUIRE BEING COMPUTER SAVVY: The process is restricted within computer savvy candidates. As the search is based on various websites, their screening, keywords application demands for a computer savvy person and company.

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 LEGAL CONSEQUENCES: Alike other recruitment sources this source also should be aware of the words used in the advertisements otherwise it may lead to the charge of discrimination. For example, Disney World was sued for screening the resumes preferring the key words used by whites. VAST POOL OF APPLICANTS: This benefits the Organizations as well as it is disadvantage to them also. Because the huge database cannot be scanned in depth. Either first few candidates are called for interview or the resumes are screened based on some key words. On the other hand applicants also face global competition. NON-SERIOUS APPLICANTS: Lot of applicants forward their resumes just to know their market value. As personally the candidates are not checked thus whether they are serious is not known. At the time of interview the recruiter might realize that the candidate is not serious in leaving the current job. But by that time some serious candidates might have been rejected. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION: Candidates profile and company details are available to public. The applicants do not want their employer to know that they are looking for a change. Phone number, address information has lead to many security problems. Again the companies do not want their competitors always to know the current scenario. TRENDS IN E-RECRUITMENT There is growing evidence that organisations are using Internet technology and the World Wide Web as a platform for recruiting and testing candidates. The IES survey of 50

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organisations using e-recruitment reported that the primary drivers behind the decisions to pursue e-recruitment were to:

improve corporate image and profile reduce recruitment costs reduce administrative burden employ better tools for the recruitment team.

Fifty-five per cent of respondents expected their organisation to reduce its use of other recruitment methods in the future. The key limiting factors to e-recruitment most frequently reported were:

the cultural approach of the organisation towards recruitment the lack of knowledge of e-recruitment within the HR community Internet usage by target candidates commitment of senior management.

Issues raised as causing concern with e-recruitment included the quantity and quality of candidates applying using web-based tools (eg organisations being inundated with CVs attached by email, many of whom were not suitable for the post), the relevance of shortlisting criteria (eg the validity and legality of searching by keywords), confidentiality and data protection, and ensuring diversity of applicants. The trends in e-recruitment use suggest a changing landscape whereby in future the candidate is connected to the central system and there is involvement of the line manager in the process (see figure). In addition to the reported benefits such as cost efficiencies,

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the role of HR in this model is viewed as more of a facilitative role, in theory allowing time for recruiters to become involved in the strategic issues within resourcing. FIG. 1: THE E-RECRUITMENT LANDSCAPE

SOME EMERGING TRENDS IN E-RECRUITING Well it's over -- summer, that is -- and time for serious thoughts again. Whether the stock market is on the rebound or the economy is on the mend remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: e-recruiting is on the rise. A July article from IDC forecasts that the worldwide e-recruiting market will exceed $13 billion in 2005, and every recruiter sees how erecruiting has slowly, but inexorably, encroached on more and more parts of the recruiting cycle. It is impossible today not to incorporate the Internet into your recruiting efforts. Over the past six months or so, I have noticed several things occurring, which I believe are trends that will continue to unfold and evolve into the 21st century recruiting model. The first of these is the linkage of systems, the second is the increasing collaboration

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between old foes, and third is the convergence of functions and roles. Let's look at each of these.

LINKAGES The first trend is to the creation of linkages between what we use to think of as disparate systems. One year ago, Hire.com* was virtually the only player in the Internet-based talent relationship management (TRM) space, the first to promote email communication with candidates, and the first to advocate the development of an online talent community and web-based screening. RecruitSoft now has TRM capability and screening, as do PeopleClick, Hire Systems and others. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and what Hire pioneered others are now seeing as valuable. Conversely, Hire has recently added a back-end applicant tracking toolkit to its system to broaden its usefulness and attractiveness. Many software companies are forging linkages to provide screening, communications, database administration and contact management. Alliances and partnerships are common. PeopleSoft and SAP are working to develop integrated e-recruiting solutions linked to their HRIS tools. Look for a strong movement toward single solution systems and many more linkages between providers. COLLABORATION

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The Internet has also made collaboration a necessity. Hiring managers, recruiters, candidates and current employees are all working more closely together than ever to identify, attract, and retain good employees. A few months ago it was pretty common (and completely expected) for a hiring manager to "throw a req over the wall" to a recruiter whom she barely knew and expect good candidates to follow. Now, a good hiring manager may have already searched the Internet for possible candidates or asked her employees for referrals. She may present a short list to the recruiter for follow up and screening or may merge her search results with those of the recruiter's to ferret out the best candidates. Employees are getting into the act through referral programs that encourage them to act as recruiters and influence friends to consider positions in their organizations. Candidates who have been identified as exceptional may be presented numerous possible positions and allowed to "shop" for the one they feel fits them best. This may involve talking to many hiring managers and spending considerable time in selecting their ideal position. Most of this did not happen before the Internet opened up the communication and information channels on both sides. Candidates now have more complete information about organizations and jobs than they have ever had, and recruiters and hiring managers can get exposure and identify more candidates than ever before. You will find that collaboration such as this -- not competition -- marks 21st century e-recruiting. CONVERGENCE The third trend is a move toward convergence, or the blurring of boundaries and distinctions that used to be so clear. It is harder and harder to separate the impacts and responsibilities of third-party agencies, internal recruiters, job boards, and Internet search. 15

Each helps the other and none of them can work independently and be as effective as they can be as a team. It is likely that the person a third party presents may already be in the corporate database or be on a job board or be easily found by means of email communication. At first some of us thought that the Internet might eliminate recruiters or reduce the need for third-party search firms altogether. After all, if an internal recruiter can find the same person on the Internet, why pay an agency? But what has happened is almost the opposite. The third party can act as a neutral negotiator over the details of the job or advise the candidate on negotiating strategy. The real synergy comes when the parties converge and work toward a common goal of getting the best person in the right job. We still have issues over how we distribute costs and profits and -- in short -- what the business model will look like as this convergence continues. We know that recruiters, when coupled with the Internet, are more powerful than ever. The tools for communicating with candidates, for screening them and keeping them interested in our organizations are only useful when orchestrated by a master recruiter. And while the pressure grows to overcome the increasing skills shortages that organizations face, fill key positions with exceptional people and keep transaction costs lower; it will be a simple survival strategy to use linked tools, collaborate with everyone and embrace the convergence of many different people and roles. E-RECRUITING METHODS Methods of e-recruitment are many, among those the important ones are-

Job boards: These are the places where the employers post jobs and search for 16

candidates. Candidates become aware of the vacancies. One of the disadvantages is, it is generic in nature. Special skill candidates to be searched by certain job boards. Employer web sites: These sites can be of the company owned sites, or a site developed by various employers. For an example, Directemployers.com is the first cooperative, employer-owned e-recruiting consortium formed by Direct Employers Association. It is a non profit organization formed by the executives from leading U.S corporations. Press release by Recruiters Network (February 20, 2003) showed the site has 98 members approximately 45 percent of which are Fortune 500 companies.

Professional websites: These are for specific professions, skills and not general in nature. For an example, for HR jobs Human Resource Management sites to be visited like www.shrm.org. The professional associations will have their own site or society. ASSESSING YOUR ORGANISATIONS E-RECRUITMENT STRATEGY The experiences of Research Network members underline the complexity of considerations and possibilities of e-recruitment. The report also offers a series of selfassessment questions, which, if answered specific to your organisation and its HR function, provide the basis for an e-recruitment agenda. MODERN TRENDS OF E-RECRUITMENT SPEEDY COMMUNICATION: Company and the prospective employee can communicate with each other via the blogs. Thus blogs, podcasts, vodcasts are being considered a tool of e-recruitmant. No more the process can be blamed for being one way communication like mails, faxes only being speedy as done electronically. Podcasts are the services of digital media files. Vodcasts are the video podcasts. 17

 CANDIDATES PREFERENCE: History states that employers had the privilege to be selective in hiring process, especially in screening resumes but were not always fair. Because of the time constraint it was not possible to go through all the applications. Today the candidates can choose their employers as not only the financial state is known to them but also the culture is known. Applying for the Organization will no more be influenced only by the image. SEARCH ENGINE ADVERTISEMENT: Print ad is phasing out due the popularity of search engine ads. Pay-per-click is not only convenient but also more attractive. RSS FEED: Job boards are embracing RSS feed. Hotjobs, Google deserves special mention. Google offers one to upload the jobs on Google Base even when one doesnt have their own site. RSS can be read using software RSS reader. It is a family of web feed formats use to publish frequently updated works. Such as blog entries, news headlines in a standard format. ONLINE RECRUITMENT TECHNIQUES

To measure the effectiveness of online recruitment, set up the metrics for recruitment spending.

A detailed job description should be given while posting jobs to attract candidates with the right skill sets.

Give a precise and unambiguous questionnaire to reduce time in searching for a suitable candidate.

Ensure that all the approaches related to recruitment are linked to and centred on your own recruitment site.

Integrate e-recruitment into your overall recruitment strategy. 18

Applicant tracking system should be of a high quality and should be integrated with the back-office.

Develop a comprehensive website to receive and process job applications whether through direct or online advertising.

FOR ENTRY AND MID-LEVELS Although e-recruitment caters to jobs at all levels, it is largely useful in exploring people at entry and mid-tier levels. As the base of candidates looking for these positions is very huge, the online recruitment process comes in handy for administering standard evaluation tests for screening and evaluation. For hiring senior professionals, online recruitment process does help in seeking the required skill sets and qualification, but the screening and evaluation is not done online. Corroborating this Shenoy says, Monster and Jobsahead.com cater to all career levels. In our database, about 31 percent belong to the entry level, 54 percent to mid-level and only 4 percent to senior level, including positions such as president, vice president, general manager and director. A WIDER REACH There has been a paradigm shift in the hiring process through online recruitment. In particular, accessing profiles from any corner of the globe, real-time communication and online automated assessment. Online corporate recruitment features include video profiles, virtual office tours, online presentations and interactive tests. These value-adds enable a firm to make a benchmarked peer comparison on a one-on-one basis and understand a prospective candidates suitability for a job. It has also increased the visibility for candidates on the options available in the market and reduced the

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recruitment cost drastically while improving the turnaround time. Online recruiting alsogives equal opportunity to all job seekers irrespective of their background. E-RECRUITMENT CHECKLIST This checklist looks at the main questions human resources (HR) managers will need to ask themselves when developing a business case and a project plan for an e-recruitment solution. It also provides useful references to case studies that will help you along the way. Links to the case studies can be found at the bottom of this page. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACHIEVE THROUGH E-RECRUITMENT? Automation of a traditional recruitment process will not fully achieve the potential of erecruitment to improve efficiency and effectiveness. However a complete redesign of recruitment practices may be over ambitious without the expertise of a major outsourcing partner, such as Manpower in the case of Hertfordshire County Council. Consequently, an incremental approach starting with directing applicants to the website, has been successfully adopted by several authorities featured in our case studies. Many now have plans to increase the scope of e-recruitment; see case studies for Derbyshire County Council and the London Borough of Lewisham. HOW DOES E-RECRUITMENT SUPPORT YOUR COUNCILS HR

STRATEGY? Adopting e-recruitment need not just be about meeting making short-term efficiency gains. It has helped local authorities to:

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promote the staff care package through the website see Kent County Council's case study

tackle longer-term recruitment issues see the London Borough of Lewisham's case study

enhance the reputation of the authority as part of a wider customer care strategy see Derbyshire County Council's case study

use management information captured by systems to target under-represented groups in recruitment campaigns better see Derbyshire County Council's case study

COULD THE USE OF TALENT POOLS ADDRESS LONGER-TERM RECRUITMENT ISSUES? Talent pools have been successfully used by some authorities in response to serious recruitment problems in certain professions (see Lewisham's case study). However they require greater resources so this may be best done collaboratively, particularly for generic staff or highly specialised staff (see North West People case study). The website www.surreyjobs.info is a cross-public sector talent pool. This approach may be particularly useful for areas such as childrens services where staff may work for a number of different employers in the public sector and beyond. WILL THE FRONT END BE SUPPORTED BY APPROPRIATE BACK OFFICE PROCESSES? Ideally, the introduction of a user interface where the applicant can download the recruitment pack or apply online should fit into a wider conception of recruitment as an

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end-to-end process. This involves designing procedures and processes from the point of view of HR customers applicants and service managers so that delays are minimised. Clearly technology can help to do this in many areas. For example, service managers should be able to access the talent pool database. There should be seamless links to e-HR applications if applicants are successful etc (see Lewisham's case study). WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT ON ACCESSIBILITY? Although e-recruitment can help to widen access to vacancies beyond the local authority boundaries and to under-represented groups, it can exclude people who have no access to the internet. Local authorities are tackling this issue with wider promotion of public internet access, such as libraries, which can help to increase use of web channels (see Derbyshire's case study). e-Recruitment cannot entirely replace more traditional channels (see Derbyshire's case study). Reduction in advertising spending should be considered in the context of the wider relationship between the council and the local press. Recruitment should be available through the councils telephone and face-to-face service channels. Hertfordshire County Council found that initial telephone interviews are useful particularly where applicants are not confident with application forms. Some councils are using SMS/text messaging to alert people in their talent pool to new vacancies (see the North West People case study). However, unlike email alerts, there may be additional costs. The channel used should be appropriate to the role being recruited. e-Recruitment, particularly at a regional level, may be best for professional or administrative roles. Nevertheless both Hertfordshire County Council and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) case study warn against stereotyping, 22

particularly as internet access is growing rapidly 55 per cent of households in 2005 compared with less than a third in 2000. WHO DO YOU NEED TO WORK WITH INTERNALLY TO DEVELOP ERECRUITMENT? A comprehensive e-recruitment solution should empower service managers but also requires considerable behavioural and cultural change. Managers in areas such as social care may not have easy access to PCs, so other channels should not be abandoned. Hertfordshire County Council found that such changes had to carefully managed and communicated. Information communication technologies (ICT) and procurement staff should be able to help with technical issues that fit with existing systems, the level of functionality required and the procurement process. Anecdotal evidence suggests that HR departments are sometimes insufficiently critical of supplier claims for their products. Finance, performance and internal audit staff are invaluable for advising on robust data collection and analysis. This contributes to value for money assessments demonstrated by authorities experiences in other areas such as sickness absence management. A dedicated project manager may be necessary for larger projects. The support of senior managers and members is needed both for resources and to sponsor the wider behavioural change that may result. WHO COULD YOU WORK WITH EXTERNALLY? In the past some local authorities have responded to shortages of professionals by poaching staff from other councils. A more collaborative regional or subregional 23

approach using e-recruitment may provide better value for money and reduce recruitment difficulties in the longer term. Authorities working together can:

negotiate better prices for press advertising (see North West People case study) develop more innovative approaches to recruitment (see WLGA and Essex case studies)

share the costs of developing e-recruitment solutions provide generic web-based information on local government careers (see North West People case study)

create a shared talent pool to address common recruitment difficulties (see North West People case study)

Many local authorities, individually and at a regional level have worked with the private sector on developing e-recruitment solutions. Hertfordshire County Councils contract with Manpower is an example of a comprehensive outsourced solution. HOW WILL THE INTRODUCTION OF E-RECRUITMENT CHANGE

WORKING PRACTICES? Service managers can play a greater role in the whole recruitment process, so that they may contact candidates themselves without going through HR (see Lewisham case study.) Talent pools can help service managers to take a longer-term approach to resourcing, reducing dependency on agency staff. They will require training on new systems and procedures. As Hertfordshire County Council found, HR should be responsive to different needs.

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e-recruitment and other e-HR systems will change the work of the local authority HR department. HR staff will need to support and advise service managers on using erecruitment system. As noted above, e-recruitment may be part of a wider programme to make HR more strategic, such as taking a more holistic approach to recruitment or conducting workforce planning. For more information please see our web resource on how a strategic people management approach impacts on HR. Suppliers may provide training on new systems but this may not be enough on its own (see Derbyshire case study). WHERE WILL EFFICIENCY GAINS COME FROM AND HOW CAN THEY BE MEASURED? Quantifying the benefits has proved to be a challenge for many authorities. Efficiency gains may be cashable (money that can be used elsewhere) or non-cashable (productivity gains allowing more work to be done). Efficiency gains from e-recruitment reported by local authorities include:

short-term cashable benefits reduced printing and postage costs reduced advertising spend from fewer and smaller adverts

Longer-term cashable benefits include:

economies of scale in advertising spend through partnership reduced need for advertising through use of talent pools

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reduced spending on temporary cover staff

Short-term cashable benefits include:

less HR staff time spent on basic recruitment tasks

Longer-term cashable benefits include:

HR staff carrying out higher value activities, for example workforce planning lower vacancy rates

It is essential that baseline information both financial and non-financial, such as staff time spent on certain tasks is collected to show the impact of e-recruitment. In the case of staff time this may be relatively straightforward but a cost per hire figure may be more complex to calculate. Local authorities working on other efficiency projects have found that close working with finance staff is essential to producing robust data. If the chosen e-recruitment solution involves more input from line managers, HR departments must be careful that real efficiencies are made rather than displacing work to line managers. Clearly targets and projected efficiency gains should be realistic and take account of how likely certain groups of applicants are to use web channels, and the need for continued press advertisements and paper application packs. The jobsgopublic savings calculator although designed to help local authorities implement e-government might also help you establish what you need to measure.

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HOW WILL YOU SHOW THAT THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS HAS BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE? A cornerstone of the efficiency agenda is that quality is not compromised by increased efficiency. The impact of e-recruitment initiatives should therefore be assessed by looking at quality elements such as:

quality of staff (see WLGA case study) speed of recruitment process (see Lewisham case study) standardised procedures (see Derbyshire case study) applicant and line manager satisfaction surveys greater diversity of applicants better understanding of applicant behaviour online and improve the service accordingly (see Derbyshire case study)

HOW CAN RECRUITMENT RESOURCES BE RECYCLED AND USED MORE EFFECTIVELY? The main focus of the efficiency agenda is better use of resources rather than budget cutting. The introduction of e-recruitment may be an opportunity to use the saved recruitment resources to create a higher impact. Examples from our case studies include:

eye-catching colour advertisements (see WLGA case study) use of the ethnic press (see North West People case study) advertorials on local government as an employer

ONLINE RECRUITMENT TECHNIQUES

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Giving a detailed job description and job specifications in the job postings to attract candidates with the right skill sets and qualifications at the first stage.

E-recruitment should be incorporated into the overall recruitment strategy of the organisation.

A well defined and structured applicant tracking system should be integrated and the system should have a back-end support.

Along with the back-office support a comprehensive website to receive and process job applications (through direct or online advertising) should be developed.

Therefore, to conclude, it can be said that e-recruitment is the Evolving face of recruitment.

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ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF E-RECRUITMENT There are many benefits both to the employers and the job seekers but the e-recruitment is not free from a few shortcomings. Some of the advantages and the disadvantages of erecruitment are as follows: Advantages of E-Recruitment are: Lower costs to the organisation. Also, posting jobs online is cheaper than advertising in the newspapers. No intermediaries.

Reduction in the time for recruitment (over 65 percent of the hiring time Facilitates the recruitment of right type of people with the required skills.

Improved efficiency of recruitment process.

Gives a 24*7 access to an online collection of resumes.

Online recruitment helps the organisations to weed out the unqualified candidates in an automated way.

Recruitment websites also provide valuable data and information regarding the compensation offered by the competitors etc. which helps the HR managers to take various HR decisions like promotions, salary trends in industry etc

DISADVANTAGES OF E-RECRUITMENT

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Apart from the various benefits, e-recruitment has its own share of shortcomings and disadvantages. Some of them are:

Screening and checking the skill mapping and authenticity of million of resumes is a problem and time consuming exercise for organisations.

There is low Internet penetration and no access and lack of awareness of internet in many locations across India.

Organisations cannot be dependant solely and totally on the online recruitment methods.

In India, the employers and the employees still prefer a face-to-face interaction rather than sending e-mails.

THE BENEFITS OF ONLINE RECRUITMENT

It is much faster than traditional modes of recruitment. One can post a job online in just 20 minutes and receive resumes within minutes of the job going live.

Access an online pool of resumes on a 24X7 basis. It allows the hiring manager to screen out unqualified candidates in an automated way, which saves over 65 percent of the hiring time.

One can track the progress that the candidate is making in various stages of the hiring process.

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CHAPTER 2 LITERTURE REVIEW

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LITERATURE REVIEW
E-recruitment is not without its share of problem areas. Through the e-recruitment process, employers are inundated with millions of resumes; screening and checking the authenticity of resumes are two major problem areas. John Winchester, Vice President Engineering, Impetus Technologies says, In the traditional methods of recruitment, consultants did the authenticity check initially and saved time and effort. Sometimes applicants who post their resumes online are not active job seekers. In such a scenario, companies fail to keep a track of them and their contact details. Despite the IT boom in the country, there is low Internet penetration in many locations. Organisations are still hesitant to completely switch over to an online recruitment process because of the limited penetration of the Internet. Giving an analogy, Debasish Das, Vice President-HR and Training, Keane Worldzen says, Imagine a person sitting in Gangtok video-conferencing with an MNC in Mumbai for a job. Sadly, for now, its just in the land of imagination. He further adds that more emphasis should be given for greater penetration of the Internet and the advantages of communications-related infrastructure should be as obvious as that of other physical infrastructure such as roads. A significant drawback of the evolution of technology is the loss of human interaction, which is applicable to the online recruitment process. In India, the cultural shift is a

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challenge in the e-recruitment space, as organisations prefer to deal with people rather than e-mails. Online recruitment is here to stay. A Nasscom study indicates that jobs and matrimonials will be among the top reasons why new users will come on to the Internet, besides e-mail. A majority of IT companies still depend on traditional recruitment processes. However, the traditional recruitment process may fail in key parameters of time and cost advantage to the recruiter. E-RECRUITING'S ROLE IN A MIXED-BAG JOB MARKET The pendulum has swung from an employee-driven to employer-driven job market in areas such as technology; yet pockets of health care remain desperate for qualified candidates. Recruiters and employers are having to sift through too many resumes in same cases and too few in others. "This time last year, the employers were hunting the job market with a shot gun. The applicants then were taking the rifle approach and knew they could be very selective. Now it's flip-flopped. Now the companies are holding the rifle. The people are using the shotgun," said Joe Sommers, managing director for HRAlliance, LLC. Based in Dallas, Texas, HRAlliance is a management consulting organization specializing in employment retention and operational development. E-recruiting remains as an important tool linking recruiters and employers with potential employees; however, e-recruiting's role in the big picture is evolving, according to Mark Howard, account manager with Management Recruiters of Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif.

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"What I'm finding is that there has obviously been a large drain of talent back into the marketplace because of layoffs and folding companies," Howard says. "Recruiting has gone back to the basics. We are back to sourcing candidates through traditional means-networking through contacts, on the telephone, in person-to identify quality people." E-RECRUITING FOR RESEARCH Whereas e-recruiting was a huge hit last year because of all the activity, it hasn't worked as well as the marketplace has shifted, Sommers says and, as a result, the Internet has evolved into more of a research tool for candidates, employers and recruiters. Sophisticated users today use e-recruiting as a way to broaden their networking, according to Sommers. "I've got to use this as a sophisticated and important research tool in order to get the type of leads, connections and people to talk to that I need for my job search." Howard thinks e-recruiting has lost footing in areas in which there are oversupplies of workers because most employers need only a few jobs filled and are looking for specific skills. The problem is that with the oversupply and anxious workers the responses from erecruiting can be overwhelming and time-consuming for recruiters and employers, who have to sift through all the resumes. Howard admits, however, e-recruiting plays an important role in linking recruiters and employers with candidates they otherwise wouldn't have known existed. That's true especially in areas such as health care, where there are widespread worker shortages.

THE E-RECRUITING EVOLUTION

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Experts say as recruiting becomes more targeted to fill fewer vacancies, e-recruiting must become more precise. According to Sommers, the Internet as a whole is taking on a more sophisticated role in recruiting. Research on the Web is becoming more highly developed as professional "sourcers" gather information for employers about sources of employees on the Internet. According to Sommers, USENET, a worldwide bulletin board system featuring thousands of forums or newsgroups, is a great research tool. Sommers and Howard cite specialty job boards that are regional and cover specific industries as being a move in the right direction. "But the bottom line is a job board is only as good as the quality of people that view it," Howard says. Howard says that e-recruiting will have to reach out and touch active and passive job seekers, perhaps by using more traditional methods, such as direct marketing. Personalizing the e-experience will also become more important as the job market evolves. According to Howard, health care is a unique area in which nurses and others who are in high demand are often too busy to post on several job boards or look through the available jobs. Job boards that respond by e-mailing nurses jobs that fit their specific needs might solve the problem. It's all toward making it a more personalized eexperience, Howard says. "I think the fact is that e-recruiting needs to become more personalized, more one-on-one, more targeted. As a job seeker, if I were a nurse, I don't want to hear about opportunities that I'm not qualified to do or spend my time reading through those." Frank. Heasley, PhD, CEO and president of MedZilla, Inc., agrees with the concept of personalization. Dr. Heasley established Edmonds, Wash.-based Medzilla in 1994. 35

MedZilla is the original Internet site to serve professionals and employers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine and science. "Job boards per se are more successful based on how personally they can serve their candidates and clients. The more human energy you can bring through the system, the better it works because the Internet is actually a very personal medium--it's just that it happens through computers and a lot of the people who deal with computers tend to be fairly impersonal people. If the personality of the site comes through, the chances are that it will work better for people because they'll relate to it better," he says. However, Dr. Heasley also says, the basic premise of the job board remains as a vehicle to lower barriers between employers and candidates. "The recruiter's function is to go out and find people who are perhaps not looking for jobs, interview them and select the very tip-top of the group to present them to his client. That's not the way a job board works. That's not our primary function," he says. "The value that job boards provide is to more easily bring employers and candidates in contact with each other. It is to provide that first level of contact and interest and do it in a way that is more efficient and requires less energy, is less expensive and is more precise." MedZilla, Dr. Heasley says, plays a role in capturing both active and passive candidates. "In very general terms, 'passive' candidates tend to post resumes and have job agents which notify them about new positions that match their needs. That conserves their time, and requires the least effort on their part. 'Active' candidates tend to dig for and apply to job advertisements, proactively find recruiters and mail their resumes to them and to employers."

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All agree that the role of e-recruiting, whether used as a research tool or a means to actively post for jobs, continues to have a place in finding the right person for the jobregardless of demand. The reasons people will turn to e-recruiting and the degree to which it will be used in this topsy-turvy job market in the coming year is yet to be seen. E-RECRUITMENT: A NEW PARADIGM Human resource is no longer considered a business requirement; rather it has distinguished itself as one of the core assets of any organization. The statement by Mr. Narayan Murthy, My Companys assets walk out of the door every evening, truly captures the dynamics of new economy. With such a great emphasis on human capital, it is critical for every organization to resort to means that offer quality recruitment solutions at competitive costs. This is where the realm of e -Recruitment starts. The Internet is no longer just a rage; it has now become a very powerful and effective tool at everybodys disposal. e -Recruitment is simply using this tool To Hire Whom You Desire . Some facts to ponder By 2005, expenditure on Internet -based recruiting will be $ 7 billion - Forrester Research Institute. 96% of all companies will use the Internet for their recruitment needs. In the U.S., some companies claim 30% of new hires are from the Internet and 77% of Internet users who are seeking a change, use the Net to do so. A recent survey conducted by Employment Management Association, U.S.A, the cost -perhire of print Ads was estimated at $3295 and Online Ads, a mere $ 377. Over 16 million resumes floating online. Evolving Face Of Recruitment: E-Recruitment Conventional recruitment has always been a time consuming and paper intensive process. They also tend to stress out your monitory resources. Online recruitment agencies are looking to remove the headaches associated with finding the right pe rson or job.

Appealing to both active and passive job seekers, recruitment web sites save companies 37

and job hunters both time and money. Online recruitment is not just restricted to specific web sites either; many major companies are using some form of e -Recruitment, enabling candidates to e -mail their CVs to the human resources department. e-Recruitment, though at nascent stage, is becoming a part of corporate strategy with increasing numbers of companies setting aside budgets for online recruitment. e-Recruitment practices -using the Internet to find candidates for job openings -- have established some roots in the business world, but are far from refined. However, the primary benefit is clear and convincing: You can get your message out to more candidates, faster. Emerging market opportunities for e -Recruiting firms include the following: Market demands are shifting to end -to-end services. Skills assessment has become a key -differentiating factor. Contingent workforce services are the next frontier o f the e-recruiting market landscape. Using the power of Internet to achieve your HR goals not only increases your productivity but also saves you time and money to give you a competitive advantage. The pluses are many: Posting jobs online can cost less than half as much as Sunday newspaper postings and far less than employment agency fees. Online ads can be longer, more descriptive, written any time of the day or night, and posted almost immediately. For employers, online recruiting allows far better targe ting of candidates than does advertising in general newspapers, resulting in a greater percentage of qualified applicants. In addition, because 24/7 online job hunting is private and convenient, your companys Internet presence is more likely to draw in p assive job seekers highquality candidates who may be curious to know whats out there but who have not launched all -out campaigns. As online recruitment sites continue to multiply in numbers these value -added services may well prove crucial to their long time survival. Although e -Recruitment addresses the initial phase of job hunting and applications the challenge is to go beyond the virtual value, and prove the value of the initial contact. One industry, 38

which has most logically impacted by the e drive, is IT industry itself. e -Recruitment for IT organization has another facet to it: Use of software solutions for effective and efficient recruitment. Recruiters in an IT company, use software solutions for not only searching the best skilled candida tes but in the hiring process also. Recruitment in an IT organization is different from other traditional ones by ways of selection & training. Since IT companies recruit in large numbers, recruiters in these companies always keep looking for solutions, wh ich can save them, time and effort; while at the same time provide them with the best talent.

MEANING OF RECRUITMENT According to Edwin B. Flippo, Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation. Recruitment is the activity that links the employers and the job seekers. A few definitions of recruitment are: A process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applications from which new employees are selected. It is the process to discover sources of manpower to meet the requirement of staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force. Recruitment of candidates is the function preceding the selection, which helps create a pool of prospective employees for the organisation so that the management can select the

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right candidate for the right job from this pool. The main objective of the recruitment process is to expedite the selection process. Recruitment is a continuous process whereby the firm attempts to develop a pool of qualified applicants for the future human resources needs even though specific vacancies do not exist. Usually, the recruitment process starts when a manger initiates an employee requisition for a specific vacancy or an anticipated vacancy.

RECRUITMENT NEEDS ARE OF THREE TYPES PLANNED i.e. the needs arising from changes in organization and retirement policy. ANTICIPATED Anticipated needs are those movements in personnel, which an organization can predict by studying trends in internal and external environment. UNEXPECTED Resignation, deaths, accidents, illness give rise to unexpected needs. PURPOSE & IMPORTANCE OF RECRUITMENT Purpose & Importance Of Recruitment Attract and encourage more and more candidates to apply in the organisation. Create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organisation.

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 Determine present and future requirements of the organization in conjunction with its personnel planning and job analysis activities. Recruitment is the process which links the employers with the employees. Increase the pool of job candidates at minimum cost. Help increase the success rate of selection process by decreasing number of visibly under qualified or overqualified job applicants. Help reduce the probability that job applicants once recruited and selected will leave the organization only after a short period of time. Meet the organizations legal and social obligations regarding the composition of its workforce. Begin identifying and preparing potential job applicants who will be appropriate candidates. Increase organization and individual effectiveness of various recruiting techniques and sources for all types of job applicants RECRUITMENT PROCESS RECRUITMENT PROCESS The recruitment and selection is the major function of the human resource department and recruitment process is the first step towards creating the competitive strength and the strategic advantage for the organisations. Recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews and requires many resources and time. A general recruitment process is as follows: IDENTIFYING THE VACANCY:

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The recruitment process begins with the human resource department receiving requisitions for recruitment from any department of the company. These contain: Posts to be filled Number of persons Duties to be performed Qualifications required

Preparing the job description and person specification. Locating and developing the sources of required number and type of employees (Advertising etc).

Short-listing and identifying the prospective employee with required characteristics.

Arranging the interviews with the selected candidates. Conducting the interview and decision making

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1. Identify vacancy 2. Prepare job description and person specification 3. Advertising the vacancy 4. Managing the response 5. Short-listing 6. Arrange interviews 7. Conducting interview and decision making The recruitment process is immediately followed by the selection process i.e. the final interviews and the decision making, conveying the decision and the appointment formalities. SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT Every organisation has the option of choosing the candidates for its recruitment processes from two kinds of sources: internal and external sources. The sources within the organisation itself (like transfer of employees from one department to other, promotions) to fill a position are known as the internal sources of recruitment. Recruitment candidates from all the other sources (like outsourcing agencies etc.) are known as the external sources of recruitment

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SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT

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FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT The recruitment function of the organisations is affected and governed by a mix of various internal and external forces. The internal forces or factors are the factors that can be controlled by the organisation. And the external factors are those factors which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The internal and external forces affecting recruitment function of an organisation are:

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FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT

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RECRUITMENT POLICY OF A COMPANY RECRUITMENT POLICY OF A COMPANY In todays rapidly changing business environment, a well defined recruitment policy is necessary for organizations to respond to its human resource requirements in time. Therefore, it is important to have a clear and concise recruitment policy in place, which can be executed effectively to recruit the best talent pool for the selection of the right candidate at the right place quickly. Creating a suitable recruitment policy is the first step in the efficient hiring process. A clear and concise recruitment policy helps ensure a sound recruitment process. It specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for implementation of recruitment programme. It may involve organizational system to be developed for implementing recruitment programmes and procedures by filling up vacancies with best qualified people. COMPONENTS OF THE RECRUITMENT POLICY

The general recruitment policies and terms of the organisation Recruitment services of consultants Recruitment of temporary employees Unique recruitment situations The selection process The job descriptions

The terms and conditions of the employment

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A recruitment policy of an organisation should be such that:

It should focus on recruiting the best potential people. To ensure that every applicant and employee is treated equally with dignity and respect.

Unbiased policy. To aid and encourage employees in realizing their full potential. Transparent, task oriented and merit based selection. Weightage during selection given to factors that suit organization needs. Optimization of manpower at the time of selection process. Defining the competent authority to approve each selection. Abides by relevant public policy and legislation on hiring and employment relationship.

Integrates employee needs with the organisational needs.

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT POLICY

Organizational objectives Personnel policies of the organization and its competitors. Government policies on reservations. Preferred sources of recruitment. Need of the organization.

Recruitment costs and financial implications. RECENT TRENDS IN RECRUITMENT Recent Trends in Recruitment

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The following trends are being seen in recruitment: OUTSOURCING In India, the HR processes are being outsourced from more than a decade now. A company may draw required personnel from outsourcing firms. The outsourcing firms help the organisation by the initial screening of the candidates according to the needs of the organisation and creating a suitable pool of talent for the final selection by the organisation. Outsourcing firms develop their human resource pool by employing people for them and make available personnel to various companies as per their needs. In turn, the outsourcing firms or the intermediaries charge the organisations for their services Advantages of outsourcing are: 1. Company need not plan for human resources much in advance. 2. Value creation, operational flexibility and competitive advantage 3. turning the management's focus to strategic level processes of HRM 4. Company is free from salary negotiations, weeding the unsuitable resumes/candidates. 5. Company can save a lot of its resources and time

POACHING/RAIDING Buying talent (rather than developing it) is the latest mantra being followed by the organisations today. Poaching means employing a competent and experienced person already working with another reputed company in the same or different industry; the organisation might be a competitor in the industry. A company can attract talent from another firm by offering attractive pay packages and other terms and conditions, better than the current employer of the candidate. But it is 49

seen as an unethical practice and not openly talked about. Indian software and the retail sector are the sectors facing the most severe brunt of poaching today. It has become a challenge for human resource managers to face and tackle poaching, as it weakens the competitive strength of the firm.

E-RECRUITMENT Many big organizations use Internet as a source of recruitment. E- recruitment is the use of technology to assist the recruitment process. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae i.e. CV through e mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CVs in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements. Advantages of recruitment are:
o o o o

Low cost. No intermediaries Reduction in time for recruitment. Recruitment of right type of people.

CRITERIA FOR EFFECTIVE E-RECRUITMENT The requirement for it is to benefit the selection procedure. Thus to make the process effective, the Organizations should be concerned about various factors. Among them most important are- Return on investment (ROI) should be calculated to compare the costs and risks. It facilitates to evaluate benefits and to calculate the estimated return.

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 Recruitment policy should be flexible and proactive, to adapt market changes. The companies will have their own mix and match sources according their objective. The guidelines to be provided in the policy. Unemployment rate, labor turnover rate are considered. As the whole process depends on the availability of candidates in the market. For every post, position it is not viable to spend too much of time. These rates will determine whether to be stringent or lenient. Impact of supplying compensation details to be considered. That is the wage, salary, benefits, when disclosed on line then it should follow the legal norms. Chance for negotiation will not be there. Compensation rate of the company not only reaches to the candidates but will be known to all. Precautions to be taken for resume screening. Words that discriminates gender, age, religion etc to be avoided. For an example, recent college graduates only in an ad are not preferable. Review the results periodically and also update regularly to achieve a better result. Otherwise pool of candidates will remain static and will not serve the purpose. Organizations need to selective while choosing the sites. It refers to whether it is required to be giving to the job search sites like www.monster.com or in their own site. When special skill candidates are searched then generic job search sites to be avoided. HOW HAS ERECRUITMENT CHANGED THE WAY HR FUNCTIONS? From talent hunt to applicant tracking to the core recruitment process, online recruitment has changed everything. "The Internet's impact on recruiting has been astronomical. The

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Net lets companies hire faster. You don't have to wait for your ad to run in the Sunday classifieds or for resumes to arrive by mail. The Internet lets you reach applicants more cost effectively than any medium ever has." IS ONLINE RECRUITMENT HERE TO STAY? Forrester Research says that the online recruitment industry will grow from being a $1.2 billion industry to $7.1 billion by 2005. It is not yet late to get on board with the competition and prepare your organization for the challenges. HOW CAN I MAKE THE BEST USE OF ERECRUITING? Organize your HR process and get the right recruiting solution:

which is flexible customizable to match the needs of your organization and which gives you enough room to experiment and use creative recruiting methods

WHAT IS THE COST TO MIGRATE FROM TRADITIONAL RECRUITING METHODS TO ERECRUITING? The costs for registering in any online job portals like monster will be a much cheaper bet than advertising in a newspaper. With regard to the existing recruiting process, you will have to see some changes. Though it will cost you what it would to embark onto a new work process, it will be worth it.

You will need a recruitment solution

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You have to organize a new process, but this is surely a step forward Your HR personnel will need to be trained to adapt to this new method

On the whole erecruiting is considered to be one of the most efficient tools of human capital acquisition and management. You might just need to take a call on if you want to find yourself at par with your competition. RECRUITING YIELD PYRAMID1 TO BE FORMULATED: The process of recruitment cannot stand without a proper estimation, proper plan. It is required to calculate the number of applicants to be generated to hire the required number of employees. The illustration of DESSLER will make it more clear- A company knows it needs 50 new entry level accountants next year. From experience, the firm knows the ratio of offers made to actual new hires is 2 to 1; about half the people to whom it makes offers accept them. Similarly, the firm knows that the ratio of candidates interviewed to offers made is 3to 2, while the ratio of candidates invited for interviews to candidates actually interviewed is about 4 to 3. Finally, the firm knows that of six leads that come in from all its recruiting efforts, only one applicant typically gets an interview. Given these ratios, the firm knows it must generate 1200 leads to be able to invite 200 viable candidates for interviews. Thus the pyramid will be as follows-

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E-recruitment facilitates by increasing the lead generation number. Thus 1200 can increase to 2000 and the ratio of estimation can be more accurate. For instance if candidates interviewed do not reach 100, 50 new hires will be difficult. But if from the base the numbers are increased selecting 50 candidates wont be a problem. E-RECRUITMENT FOR EFFICIENCY E-recruitment can produce cashable savings, such as reduced advertising spend or postage costs and non-cashable productivity gains as HR staff are freed up to carry out higher value tasks. Using average figures for the public sector, the recruitment firm, jobsgopublic have estimated that a unitary authority with 14,000 employees could save over 1million by moving 20 per cent of its recruitment from press to online. The same authority could save a further 140,000 in costs of printing and administering application packs. Reducing press advertising by 80 per cent could save an average 3.8 million, with 600,000 saved on printing and administration costs.

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E-recruitment is part of a wider move in HR away from transactional activities, which are increasingly automated or outsourced, towards strategic activities supporting

organisational goals. This is a major goal of the Local Government Workforce Strategy. BEYOND THE ONLINE JOB AD The full benefits of e-recruitment are often realised when it is part of an end-to-end process. Examples of this include allowing line managers to view applications online and seamless transfer of candidate information to employee records. While this may be in part an IT procurement issue, careful measurement of costs and employee time can provide quantifiable efficiency gains. Greater use of e-recruitment can also help combat longer-term recruitment issues through the use of talent pools and better management information about applicants and new hires. The case studies for the London Borough of Lewisham and North West People/Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council provide good examples. FEATURE Despite low Internet penetration, online recruitment in India is likely to pick up momentum due to speed and cost benefits. A Bangalore-based software major was in urgent need of professionals with a unique set of skills to develop a financial planning package. Initially, headhunters were approached, and recruitment ads were placed in newspapers. The response was discouraging and the company was able to meet only a handful of people in India, who matched the requisite skill mix. It decided to opt for an alternativeposting the job on its website and online

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databases. The result was instantaneous, the company was inundated with applications from across the country and other geographies (people were willing to relocate to India). Online recruitment facilitates just-in-time hiring. When an organisation needs a candidate it can access the database of job portals, screen resumes and send a mass mail. It can also shortlist people based on skills, location, salary and availability and move on to the interview stage. A MATTER OF FLEXIBILITY The traditional boundaries that separated print media, job boards, recruitment advertising agencies, recruitment consultancies and technology companies are breaking down. Resume databases have been increasing manifold and the availability of a database (number of candidates) is much higher than what manual recruitment modes can offer. The growth in the e-recruitment industry has been fuelled with the adoption of technology by prospective employers and Internet penetration. Organisations have cut costs by almost 80 percent over traditional recruitment modes by moving over to the online recruitment process. Manual recruitment process has its own limitation in terms of time, cost, technology, wider platform and ease of applications. The costs involved in manual recruiting process include advertising costs, the cost of hiring a placement agency, administrative expenses and the cost of time. Recruiting online would ideally be more focussed, fast paced, effective and give higher RoI (Return on Investment) on the administrative expense. By breaking geographical boundaries, online recruitment gives maximum reach. On the contrary, to get similar benefits through the manual recruitment process one has to devote more resources.

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Online recruitment offers candidates the advantage of knowing the job profile, responsibilities expected and the nature of the organisation, which are well defined at the outset. Regular communication with potential employees in the manual recruitment process is almost nil, whereas communication with job seekers and within the team is seamless in online recruitment. It takes a while for the manual recruitment process to become operational and yield results whereas in e-recruitment, one can look at the first response to a job advertisement in just 20 minutes, claims Shenoy. RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES Recruitment is of the most crucial roles of the human resource professionals. The level of performance of and organisation depends on the effectiveness of its recruitment function. Organisations have developed and follow recruitment strategies to hire the best talent for their organisation and to utilize their resources optimally. A successful recruitment strategy should be well planned and practical to attract more and good talent to apply in the organisation.

For formulating an effective and successful recruitment strategy, the strategy should cover the following elements: 1. IDENTIFYING AND PRIORITIZING JOBS Requirements keep arising at various levels in every organisation; it is almost a never-ending process. It is impossible to fill all the positions immediately. Therefore, there is a need to identify the positions requiring immediate attention and action. To maintain the quality of the recruitment activities, it is useful to prioritize the vacancies whether to focus on all vacancies equally or focusing on key jobs first.

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2. CANDIDATES TO TARGET The recruitment process can be effective only if the organisation completely understands the requirements of the type of candidates that are required and will be beneficial for the organisation. This covers the following parameters as well:
o

Performance level required: Different strategies are required for focusing on hiring high performers and average performers.

Experience level required: the strategy should be clear as to what is the experience level required by the organisation. The candidates experience can range from being a fresher to experienced senior professionals.

Category of the candidate: the strategy should clearly define the target candidate. He/she can be from the same industry, different industry, unemployed, top performers of the industry etc.

3. SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT The strategy should define various sources (external and internal) of recruitment. Which are the sources to be used and focused for the recruitment purposes for various positions. Employee referral is one of the most effective sources of recruitment. 4. Trained recruiters The recruitment professionals conducting the interviews and the other recruitment activities should be well-trained and experienced to conduct the activities. They should also be aware of the major parameters and skills (e.g.: behavioural, technical etc.) to focus while interviewing and selecting a candidate. 5. How to evaluate the candidates The various parameters and the ways to judge them i.e. the entire recruitment

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process should be planned in advance. Like the rounds of technical interviews, HR interviews, written tests, psychometric tests etc

HR CHALLENGES IN RECRUITMENT Recruitment is a function that requires business perspective, expertise, ability to find and match the best potential candidate for the organisation, diplomacy, marketing skills (as to sell the position to the candidate) and wisdom to align the recruitment processes for the benefit of the organisation. The HR professionals handling the recruitment function of the organisation- are constantly facing new challenges. The biggest challenge for such professionals is to source or recruit the best people or potential candidate for the organisation. In the last few years, the job market has undergone some fundamental changes in terms of technologies, sources of recruitment, competition in the market etc. In an already saturated job market, where the practices like poaching and raiding are gaining momentum, HR professionals are constantly facing new challenges in one of their most important function- recruitment. They have to face and conquer various challenges to find the best candidates for their organisations.

THE MAJOR CHALLENGES FACED BY THE HR IN RECRUITMENT ARE:

ADAPTABILITY TO GLOBALIZATION The HR professionals are expected and required to keep in tune with the changing times, i.e. the changes taking place across the globe. HR should maintain the timeliness of the process

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LACK OF MOTIVATION Recruitment is considered to be a thankless job. Even if the organisation is achieving results, HR department or professionals are not thanked for recruiting the right employees and performers.

PROCESS ANALYSIS The immediacy and speed of the recruitment process are the main concerns of the HR in recruitment. The process should be flexible, adaptive and responsive to the immediate requirements. The recruitment process should also be cost effective.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIZATION The emerging new systems are both an opportunity as well as a challenge for the HR professionals. Therefore, reviewing staffing needs and prioritizing the tasks to meet the changes in the market has become a challenge for the recruitment professionals.

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FORMS OF RECRUITMENT The organisations differ in terms of their size, business, processes and practices. A few decisions by the recruitment professionals can affect the productivity and efficiency of the organisation. Organisations adopt different forms of recruitment practices according to the specific needs of the organisation. The organisations can choose from the centralized or decentralized forms of recruitment, explained below: CENTRALIZED RECRUITMENT The recruitment practices of an organisation are centralized when the HR / recruitment department at the head office performs all functions of recruitment. Recruitment decisions for all the business verticals and departments of an organisation are carried out by the one central HR (or recruitment) department. Centralized from of recruitment is commonly seen in government organisations. Benefits of the centralized form of recruitment are:

Reduces administration costs Better utilization of specialists Uniformity in recruitment Interchangeability of staff Reduces favoritism Every department sends requisitions for recruitment to their central office

DECENTRALIZED RECRUITMENT Decentralized recruitment practices are most commonly seen in the case of conglomerates operating in different and diverse business areas. With diverse and geographically spread business areas and offices, it becomes important to understand the needs of each department and frame the recruitment policies and procedures accordingly. Each

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department carries out its own recruitment. Choice between the two will depend upon management philosophy and needs of particular organization. In some cases combination of both is used. Lower level staffs as well as top level executives are recruited in a decentralized manner. RECRUITMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Recruitment management system is the comprehensive tool to manage the entire recruitment processes of an organisation. It is one of the technological tools facilitated by the information management systems to the HR of organisations. Just like performance management, payroll and other systems, Recruitment management system helps to contour the recruitment processes and effectively managing the ROI on recruitment The features, functions and major benefits of the recruitment management system are explained below:

Structure and systematically organize the entire recruitment processes. Recruitment management system facilitates faster, unbiased, accurate and reliable processing of applications from various applications.

Helps to reduce the time-per-hire and cost-per-hire. Recruitment management system helps to incorporate and integrate the various links like the application system on the official website of the company, the unsolicited applications, outsourcing recruitment, the final decision making to the main recruitment process.

Recruitment management system maintains an automated active database of the applicants facilitating the talent management and increasing the efficiency of the recruitment processes.

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Recruitment management system provides and a flexible, automated and interactive interface between the online application system, the recruitment department of the company and the job seeker.

Offers tolls and support to enhance productivity, solutions and optimizing the recruitment processes to ensure improved ROI.

Recruitment management system helps to communicate and create healthy relationships with the candidates through the entire recruitment process.

The Recruitment Management System (RMS) is an innovative information system tool which helps to sane the time and costs of the recruiters and improving the recruitment processes. THE ROI ON RECRUITMENT Before making any investment, every organisation would want to evaluate the investment by answering the following questions in quantifiable terms: What are the costs and the corresponding and related risks on the investment? What are the expected returns of the investment? What is the expected pay-back period of the investment? An organisation makes a tremendous amount of investment in its recruitment processes. A lot of resources like time and money are spent on recruitment processes of an organisation. But assessing or quantifying the returns on the recruitment process, or, calculating the return on investment (ROI) on recruitment is a complicated task for an organisation. Indeed, it is difficult to judge the success of their recruitment processes.

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Instead, recruitment is one activity that continues in an organisation without anyone ever realizing its worth or measuring its impact on the organisations business. According to a survey, 38 % of organisations do not prepare or produce any kind of documents or reports on their recruitment processes, and there is no accountability of the HR department for the costs incurred and the opportunities missed. With the increasing strategic focus on the human resources, more and more organisations are adopting one or the other way for calculating the ROI on its recruitments. Many organisations are examining their HR functions and processes and are trying to quantify their results and returns. A recruitment professional or manager can calculate and maximize the return on investments on its organisations recruitment by

Clear definition of the results to be achieved from recruitment. Developing methods and ways measuring the results like the time to hire, costPer-Hire and effectiveness of the recruitment source etc.

Estimating the costs associated with the recruitment project Estimating the tangible and intangible benefits to the organization including the payback period of the recruitments.

Providing and ensuring proper training and development of the recruitment professionals.

Assessing the ROI on recruitments can assist an organization to strengthen its HR processes, improving its recruitment function and to build a strategic human resource advantage for the organisation. RECRUITMENT VS SELECTION

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Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process. The differences between the two are: 1. Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation WHEREAS selection involves the series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts. 2. The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organisation, by attracting more and more employees to apply in the organisation WHEREAS the basic purpose of selection process is to choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the organisation. 3. Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and more employees to apply WHEREAS selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates. 4. Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human resources WHEREAS selection is concerned with selecting the most suitable candidate through various interviews and tests. 5. There is no contract of recruitment established in recruitment WHEREAS selection results in a contract of service between the employer and the selected employee.

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CHAPTER-3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research is common parlance refresh to a search for knowledge. One can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learners dictionary of current English lay down the meaning research as a careful investigation and inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch knowledge.

Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense. According to Clifford woody research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusion; and at last carefully testing the conclusion to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.

The systematic approach concerning generalization and the formulation of theory is also research. As such the term Research refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts of data, analyzing the facts and reaching certain conclusion either in the form of solution towards the concerned problem or certain in certain generalization for some theoretical formulation.

TYPES OF RESEARCH
There are the following types of research, which are as follows.

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1. Descriptive vs. Analytical: Descriptive research includes surveys and factfinding enquiries of different kinds. The majors purpose of descriptive research is description the set of affairs it exists at present. In analytical research, on the other hand, the research has to use facts or information already available, and analyze these to use fact or information already available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of material. 2. Applied vs. Fundamental: Research can either be applied research or fundamental research. Applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or and industrial / Business origination, Whereas Fundamental research is mainly concern with generalization and with the formulation of a theory. 3. Quantitative vs. Qualitative: Quantitative research is based on the

measurement of quantity or amount. It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity. Qualitative research, on the other hand is concerned with Qualitative phenomenon, that is, phenomenon relating to or involving quality or kind. 4. Conceptual vs. Empirical: Conceptual research is that related some abstract idea or theory. It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones. On the other hand, Empirical research realizes on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory. It is a data based research.

RESEARCH DESIGN
A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analyses of data in a manner that aims to combined relevance to the research purpose with

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economy in procedure. In fact, the research design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted; it is constitute the blue print for the collection, measurement and analyses of data.

DATA SOURCES
The task of data collection begins after a research problem has been defined and research design/plan chalked out. While deciding about the method of data collection to be used for study, the researcher should keep in mind two types of data. 1. Primary data 2. Secondary data

1. Primary data: These data are collected afresh & for the first time and thus happen to be original in character.

2. Secondary data: These data are already collected by someone else and which have already been passed through the statistical process. The researcher would have to decide which sort of data he would be using for his study and accordingly he will have to select one or other method of data collection.

COLLECTION OF PRIMARY DATA

We collect primary data during the course of doing experiments in an experimental research but in case we do research of the descriptive nature and perform surveys, whether sample survey or census surveys, then we can obtain primary datas either through observation or through personal interviews. This in other words means that there

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are several other methods of collecting data, particularly in surveys & descriptive researches. Important ones are: 1. Observation method 2. Interview method 3. Through questionnaire 4. Through schedules 5. Other methods

COLLECTION OF SECONDARY DATA

Secondary data means data that are already available i.e.; they refer to data, which have already been collected and analyzed by someone else. When the researcher utilizes secondary data, then he has to look into various sources from where he can obtain them. In this case he is certainly not confronted with the problems that are usually associated with the collection of original data. Secondary data may either be published data or unpublished data. Usually published data are available in: Various publications of central, state and local governments Various publications of foreign governments or of international bodies and their subsidiary organizations Technical and trade journals Books, magazines and newspapers etc Reports and publication of various associations connected with business and industry, banks, stock exchanges etc. Reports prepared by research scholars, universities, economists etc Public records and statistics, historical documents

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Our project is based on secondary data also which we have collected from various sources Annual reports Websites Journals

In this research project, secondary data were used. Magazines, journals, annual reports, statements and periodicals were consulted to fetch the information about Venture Capital in India. Research project is also based on the information collected from various websites and e-links.

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CHAPTER-4 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

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FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

E-RECRUITMENT COSTS SAVINGS ARE TYPICALLY ACHIEVED BY: 1. Reducing the size of adverts in conventional print media the print advert only needs limited information, directing applicant to the e-recruitment system to view a much richer range of information and the opportunity to apply online immediately. 2. Gaining occasional candidates for free by ensuring the e-recruitment website is easily found from the front page of the corporate website, interested applicants have the opportunity to apply for specific vacancies which are available now or registering a speculative application for the future. 3. Building a Talent Pool of candidates retaining speculative and star candidates for the future, and then contacting them when an appropriate vacancy is advertised effectively generating applicants for free. 4. Reduced Administration as all applicants are held on a single e-recruitment system they can be contacted individually or collectively with ease at the click of a mouse, reducing the time, effort and cost of the administration staff. 5. Pre-filtering candidates the use of job specific (killer) questions and selection techniques allows the employer to focus quickly on the most appropriate applicants and efficiently communicate with them very important in a candidate short market where good candidates have many options and expect instant response to their applications.

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6. Using e-recruitment rather than conventional print media or agencies - offering considerable cost savings (90% or more) and extensive candidate reach for most roles. ADDITIONALLY:

Applicants received a much higher quality of service, ranging from prompt and timely communications through to the ability to select their own interview time through an online interview zone all of which enhances the employer's brand making it easier in the long term to attract staff

Reduced time to hire all major employers using e-recruitment systems report reduced time to hire which can have a major economic impact for the employers, getting productive employees in role quicker.

Management reporting giving the employer the knowledge to evolve the erecruitment process.

E-RECRUITMENT HAS BEEN GAINING MOMENTUM FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS. Despite the earlier trepidations among firms, it has gained acceptance. It cannot solve the problem of quality but it can handle quantity. Hence e-recruitment firms have grown rapidly. While the biggest conventional recruitment agency is not more than Rs 30 crore in size, the biggest e-recruiter, Naukri.com, which is much younger, is Rs 100 crore.

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While e-recruitment has speeded up recruitment, the quality of manpower available is often not up to the mark since the claims made in resumes posted on the Web do not give a correct picture of the candidate. Now, e-recruiters are considering ways to address the quality issue. Among the plans up their sleeve is outsourcing the process of short listing the candidates for a job. This is important as out of every 10,000 resumes received, only some 500 can be placed and fewer actually recruited

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CHAPTER-5 CONCLUSION

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CONCLUSION
Traditional methods should not be replaced by the e-recruitment, it should supplement. The loopholes of e-recruitment can be covered by the traditional methods and recruitment process will be faster, global due to e-recruitment. One method should not replace the other. When two vacancies are there and two candidates are available the companies do not have much choice, thus they prefer to widen their search and attracts numerous applications. But when for two vacancies a company receive 2000 application, the in depth screening process is not possible. While other methods like campus interview, internal search has a personal touch. But receiving application in hand, communicating with candidates becomes time consuming without internet. E-RECRUITMENT MARKET REGISTERS MAJOR GROWTH While the Indian recruitment industry is still reeling from the impacts of the US slowdown (in terms of cost cutting measures induced by the companies), one significant area which has actually witnessed a growth in such a conflicting situation is the erecruitment market. Growing at a pace of about 100 to 150 per cent, this recruitment mode promises to increase its share from the present 2 per cent to 10 per cent in the next 3-4 years. Presently, the total Indian recruitment market is somewhere roughly around Rs 500- 600 crores. According to the US-based Forrester Research, the online recruitment market in 2007 was worth approximately US $ 265 million, which was expected to grow to US $1.7 billion by 2009. Further the report also forecasts that by 2010, 100 per cent of the large companies, 60 per cent of the medium-sized companies, and 20 per cent of small companies will recruit online. This fact gets more strengthened if we look at the growth of e-recruitment in the Indian scenario.

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Despite a reduction in the number of players in e-recruitment arena, what is driving the growth of the market is the aggressive mode adopted by these companies (be it in terms of services or solutions offered). Naukri.com recorded a growth of 250 per cent in its paid services section from both the recruiter and job seeker segments. Another important trend being witnessed in the past six months has been a lot of activity in companies providing solutions for resume writing, auto filters and resume management. e-recruitment is a nascent but fast-growing market in India. In the year 2008, the size of e-recruitment market is likely to be more than Rs 15 crores and we are expecting to clock a turnover of more than Rs 8 crores this year. This reflects a 600 per cent growth in the market compared to last year. We expect that the e-recruitment market will grow to Rs 200 crores by 2010 as the penetration increases rapidly., although many corporates have their own websites asking potential candidates to post their resumes, they however lack the battery of online services provided by the company. Industry experts feel the reason for the growing popularity is change in perception of the recruitment site from just being a job board to a resume manager to a market analyst. A market study of past six months show that not only has there been an increase in terms of specialised solutions and services, but also a lot of stress is now being given on R&D and providing of customised and personalised services, which gives them a fast mover advantage. And it has only gained momentum with the entry of international heavyweight players like Monster.com, which have not only provided a whole new scenario, but also a wider reach to the recruitment sites. Talking about the various advantages of todays e-recruitment solutions, , Our solutions eAPPS helps in sending automated acknowledgments to resumes received, carry out online searching, shortlist/ reject resumes online, contact selected/rejected candidates by 78

e-mail, schedule interviews, archive/ delete resumes, generate management reports, control user access through logins and passwords. Focusing on the change in the erecruitment market, earlier jobsites were used more as an another medium of sending the resumes. And at times the companies used to even forgo the applications, which used to come on their sites. But, the dot com bust and the US slowdown has made a significant impact on the way people perceive e-recruitment. There has also been a wider acceptance of the medium among the middle and the top-level managers, who earlier used to never consider e-recruitment as a viable choice. Another interesting change is there in the user profile, which has almost done a 180 degree spin with the non-IT companies using e-recruitment more than the IT companies. Take the case of Naukri.com, which used to have a user ratio of 40:60, in case of their IT and non-IT clients. In one year this ratio has transformed into 20:80, where IT business has been reduced to a mere 20 per cent of the overall business. However, the increase in the non-IT clients has almost been three folds, where they have grown from 1000 clients to more than 3000 clients. Jobstreet which used to have a figure of somewhere around 3035 per cent of the business coming from non-IT clients last year, has registered an increase of almost 30 per cent in this segment. However, Tadanki feels that there are five major factors driving the popularity of e-recruitment. First is client satisfaction, which offers a sound value proposition for HR Managers as it reduces the time and cost to recruit dramatically. The second accelerator is growth of the Internet, which helps in serving a large audience and being used for a wider spectrum of benefits. The third is stress on R&D efforts, with the goal of having the first provider advantage and increasing their market share. Fourthly is an increasing stress on matching technology by the recruitment agencies, which has also led to many advancements in this arena. The fifth

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initiator is stress on the hiring processes or management systems, which help companies in streamlining their processes. Another very significant area which is leading to the growth of the e-recruitment market, is its increasing usage by placement agencies. According to market experts, there has been a lot of change in the market perception, where e-recruitment was considered as a competition to placement agencies. The picture what is emerging is that the placement consultants can not only benefit in terms of having a faster reach, but also have a fast mover advantage. Studies point out the placement agencies have recorded an increase of somewhere around 30-40 per cent. Besides this, the e-recruitment is also concentrating on areas like heavy industries, the public sector and even entertainment, where traditionally not many placement agencies have touched base upon. Sensing the future growth of the erecruitment market, the biggest online recruitment company Monster.com is also providing its services in 16 verticals and has plans to extend to more areas. Even Naukri.com plans to increase its present category of 25 business segments in the future.

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CHAPTER-6 SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

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SUGGESTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Experts believe that increase in Internet population, growth in sectors like software and a change in the mindset of the audience will drive the future of the e-recruitment market. Currently, bulk of the Internet recruitment business comes from software companies as most of the software professionals seek jobs through the Net. As the penetration of Internet grows rapidly, the profile of the job-seekers will expand and that will drive the demand from traditional sectors like manufacturing also. The Internet population in India is estimated to touch 50 million users in the next three years. Research indicates that 25 percent of all Internet users search for jobs online which is a good sign for the business. In terms of changing mindset, a large number of companies have still reservations about the power of Internet to help them in recruitment. In the next two years, as more and more employers taste success with their Internet recruitment efforts, the mindset of the late-adopters will change and the market will explode. The verticals, which will witness a growth are IT and IT related categories, Banking and Financial Services (BFSI) segment. The Indian e-recruitment market will grow to Rs 250 crore by the year 2007 and there will be further consolidation in it, with one or two jobsites dominating the category, points out Tadanki. In addition, contrary to popular belief, placement agencies will benefit from the growth of jobsites to provide value-added services to their clients. Earlier e-recruitment was considered as a competition by placement agencies, today there is a change in the market perception. Placement consultants can immensely benefit through this mode on account of faster reach, and also fast-mover advantage. 82

Most companies blindly go for the largest, most popular website they can find. But the mere size of a website does not guarantee effective online recruitment. You will probably have to wade through an avalanche of resumes, many of which do not meet your requirements. While size and popularity are of considerable importance, it would be wiser to advertise in sites that match your requirements in terms of location, target group, geography and demographics. If for example you are looking to recruit candidates for postings within India, it would be more practical to use popular Indian jobsites such as Naukri.com, TimesJobs.com, JobsAhead.com, Careerindia.com etc. Sites with a more global reach include, Monster.com, Hotjobs.com, yahoo!jobs.com etc., Find out details about exposure time and services they offer. Almost 90 per cent of all recruitment websites post job openings online for 30 days, while over half post them for at least 60 days. Many recruitment websites include links to an employer's website as a part of their service, enabling applicants to find out more about the organisation. Most websites also have the option of uploading resumes in formats specified by the employer to facilitate easier sorting/ storing. If advertising in a large jobsite does not work for you, try websites run by professional associations that are frequented by your target audience. This way, you can zero in on the group you're trying to reach. There are numerous societies, associations, guilds, and Internet groups that address the professional and educational needs of niche groups. Many of these organisations offer job postings as a service to their members. For instance, if you are looking for a practicing chartered accountant, it makes sense to advertise in the website run by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

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If you would like to have an employment/recruitment section in your website, but would rather do without the hassle of maintaining them, you could pay outsourcing agencies to create and maintain turnkey job sites that fit into new or existing websites. E-recruitment is no passing fad, but it is no panacea either. It has a number of disadvantages. In spite of its wider accessibility and speedy delivery, applications that match your requirements are often hard to find. Since applying online is so easy, there is a glut of unsuitable candidates who apply for every post. As one recruiter puts it, `recruiting online offers cost and time-savings but requires more screening'. In spite of these drawbacks, the advantages of speed, flexibility and a user-friendly character have made erecruitment a practical and popular hiring option.

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CHAPTER-7 LIMITATIONS

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LIMITATIONS

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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BIBLIOGRAPY WEBLIOGRAPHY
http://recruitment.naukrihub.com/e-recruitment.html http://www.hinduonnet.com/jobs/0503/2005030900350600.htm http://www.chrmglobal.com/Articles/233/1/E-Recruiting--The-Changing-Face-of-OnlineRecruitment.html http://infotech.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1264790.cms

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