Recruiting and Selecting Qualified Candidates: Best Practices in the Digital Era

Introduction

The traditional approach of recruiting and selecting qualified candidates involved a lot of paperwork and time-consuming. Due to the rapid advancement of technology in this digital era, organizations need to find the best approach of attracting job applicants across the world quickly and most appropriately (Holm & Haahr, 2019). Therefore, the ability to rapidly and efficiently recruit and select the most qualified workers is a fundamental determinant of the company’s effective and competitive advantage. Additionally, before the coming of information technology (IT), almost all the organizations implemented a low-technology technique such as employee referrals and newspaper advertisements to identify and attract skilled applicants for the vacancy (Ghazzawi & Accoumeh, 2014). But in recent years, the processes and methods of recruitment and selection have drastically changed, especially due to the transition towards e-recruitment. It focuses on the utilization of the internet for attracting, recruiting, and selecting as well as retaining applicants and workers; the process is entirely based online approach. The paper seeks to explore e-recruitment and e-selection, focusing on the advantages and disadvantages. It also aims to discuss factors affecting online recruitment programs and the tools used in the process.

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Factors and Key Elements

More imperatively, e-recruitment, and e-selection are technology processes that capture the use of software, web, and other technology for attracting, identifying, evaluating, and hiring skilled personnel. The process includes sourcing the applicants through professional social media or an applicant tracking system (ATS) and conducting online interviews using video interviewing software. Such techniques provide the best alternative to offline recruitment, such as newspapers, career fairs, and resumes collection via walk-ins (Ghazzawi & Accoumeh, 2014). Most organizations may integrate the use of offline with online approaches. Therefore, the use of technology makes recruitment and selection more efficient and effective; thereby, helping companies reach and locate applicants anywhere. Also, the process involves several steps, including posting the job advertisement on the online job boards and seeking referrals by using an applicant tracking system. The other steps require sourcing of applicants from portfolio sites or social media, conducting a pre-employment test, video interviews, and conducting background checks (Holm & Haahr, 2019).

Advantages of E-Recruitment and E-Selection

With the appropriate tools, implementation of e-recruitment and e-selection has fundamental benefits compared to the traditional methods of recruiting candidates. For instance, online recruitment saves time; it is possible to send job postings anywhere anytime provided there is access to the internet. Consequentially, the process saves time for human resource managers and speed up applications through retrieving files from online platforms, including LinkedIn (Holm & Haahr, 2019). The process also generates dynamic content, which also helps in attracting qualified talents and enhances corporate culture. Also, online recruitment and selection help reduce the cost of hiring new staff, including the cost of advertisement, third-party recruitment, and traveling expenses (Ghazzawi & Accoumeh, 2014). It is also effective because the internet can easily be accessed to people; hence, the post can be noticed by everybody. Hiring is also shortened because it only involves clicking buttons to screen, filter, and sort candidates’ information. Finally, online recruitment is easier and flexible because it is not hectic to learn the use of e-recruitment system.

Disadvantages of E-Recruitment and E-Selection

One of the disadvantages is the higher volume of response since everyone can access the internet. Therefore, everybody may see the job posting, and the human resource manager can be inundated with the unnecessary response, especially from unqualified applicants. The logical problem is another disadvantage; therefore, the human resource manager has to perform a screening interview through email or telephone, which can reduce in-person meeting expenses. Online recruitment also has the disadvantage that may be caused by issues of technology (Holm & Haahr, 2019). Thus, if the process involves filling application forms, it is possible to miss the best applicant who can only send a resume. Because some applicants do not want to consume time, or most of them are not sure with online methods due to insecurity purposes (Ghazzawi & Accoumeh, 2014). Also, the poor website may be a problem because most candidates will fully depend on the same site to get all the information regarding the company. Therefore, poor design of the website or outdated one may be ignored by many applicants. Finally, since online involves telephone and email interviews, it is believed to be impersonal and can be very difficult to determine the most qualified applicant to work for the company.

Human Resource Manager and the Hiring Supervisor

More fundamentally, the manager and the supervisor in any organization need to understand that e-recruitment and e-selection depend on the major job sites that divide vacancies by industry, seniority, and location. Recruitment firms that work in charge of organizations advertise open vacancies on such sites and give directions for the candidates to follow (Holm & Haahr, 2019). Recruitment companies usually perform the first sift of applications. Therefore, the managers should note that the best way to reach the potential and the most qualified applicant is through the social media platform.

What to Consider for E-Recruitment and E-Selection Decision

For the decision-making process regarding online recruitment, the most imperative factor to consider is hiring the best candidate to work for the company. The process should not consume much time, and the cost needs to be minimized through software that enables free posting of vacancies on multiple social networks through a single click (Ghazzawi & Accoumeh, 2014). Also, the process should be more effective by making it accessible to all potential applicants.

Tools to be used for E-Recruitment and E-Selection

Career website is among the appropriate tools that organizations can use for e-recruitment and e-selection process. As the number of online job seekers increases, organizations are implementing e-recruitment software for managing the whole process and minimizing cost (Holm & Haahr, 2019). Another tool involves the use of a search engine. The process uses search engine optimization (SEO) to find databases, including online communities and resumes (Ghazzawi & Accoumeh, 2014). Finally, the job board can be used for sourcing applicants through posting on such boards, and mining resumes.

Conclusion

It is worth noting that e-recruitment and e-selection involve using the internet to hire the best candidate to work for the company. It is the most appropriate process as it saves time and reduces the cost of hiring compared to the traditional way of recruiting people, which focuses on paperwork. The dynamic content of the process also assists managers in identifying the best candidate and promote corporate culture. Therefore, organizations should depend on the major recruiting firms that categorize the positions into seniority, location, and the industry. The best tools to be utilized for e-recruitment and e-selection include search engines, job boards, and career websites, among others.

References

Ghazzawi, K., & Accoumeh, A. (2014). Critical success factors of the e-recruitment system. Journal of Human Resources Management and Labor Studies, 2(2), 159-170. http://jhrmls.com/journals/jhrmls/Vol_2_No_2_June_2014/10.pdf

Holm, A. B., & Haahr, L. (2019). E-recruitment and Selection. In E-hrm. Routledge. https://www.forskningsdatabasen.dk/en/catalog/2414880045