| Introduction | | | | and process them with zero manual intervention. |
| The goal of hiring is to get the best candidate for | | | | How to Short List the Best Applicants |
| the job. The challenge is finding that best candidate. | | | | Over 90% of resumes that you receive will not be |
| How do you reach them? In the present economic | | | | appropriate for the job. Reading each and every one |
| times each open position brings in 100’s of | | | | of them is time consuming and tedious. Some resume |
| resumes. How do you handle them? It is also to be | | | | management systems allows you to set filters to |
| expected that 95% of resumes received are not | | | | identify relevant resumes. The filters are keywords |
| appropriate for the particular job. How do you | | | | that you can specify for each job and the filter will |
| identify the best? Recruiting cost which includes | | | | check the resume if those words are present. They |
| publicity, your time and recruiting commissions for 3rd | | | | are only partially effective as they are looking for |
| party search firms add up. How do you reduce | | | | particular words in a resume and they may find them |
| them? This article provides answers to the above | | | | in places that have no relevance to the qualification |
| questions. | | | | of the candidate. They do not understand in what |
| How to Reach Candidates | | | | context those words were used. |
| Traditionally, companies used referrals, networking, | | | | You can use advanced technology like resume match |
| advertised in local newspapers or went to a search | | | | technology that can automatically select the best |
| firm. Referrals and networking are still the lowest | | | | candidates not on the basis of a few keywords but |
| cost options. That failing, companies now have | | | | on the basis of your entire job requirement. This |
| numerous options. | | | | technology considers the resume like an actual |
| Internet job boards are a good place to start. | | | | recruiter; it takes into account the objective of the |
| Companies such as Monster ( Hotjobs ( and | | | | applicant, the applicant’s experience, skills and |
| CareerBuilder ( spend a lot of money advertising to | | | | education and matches them with each requirement |
| the prospective job seeker. In 2003, | | | | in a job description. This also understands that not all |
| Monster’s advertising budget was $115 million. | | | | requirements are the same, and that some are more |
| This attracts sizable traffic — 1.6 million daily | | | | important than the others, and ranks the candidates |
| visitors and about 36 million resumes in their database. | | | | accordingly. |
| This is not a pitch for but these numbers are | | | | With a click of a button and a well defined job |
| indicators of the reach of online job boards. | | | | description, you would be able to shortlist the |
| Monster.com, HotJobs.com, and numerous other job | | | | candidates in under 10 seconds. |
| boards are a strong source of applicants for any job. | | | | How to Reduce Recruiting Cost |
| Your website can be a good source of applicants. | | | | Your recruiting costs depend on whether you do it |
| The problem here is traffic. How many come to your | | | | yourself or you avail the services of an external |
| site looking for jobs. Publicizing jobs on your website | | | | agency. Do it yourself requires that you commit time |
| costs you nothing, so go ahead but you may not be | | | | and resource before you even conduct the first |
| able to generate enough applicant volume from your | | | | interview. Time and costs can be significantly reduced |
| website alone. To paraphrase Willy Sutton’s | | | | if you have a backend resume management system |
| famous answer, Why do you go to the job boards | | | | in place that can automatically receive, consolidate |
| Willy? Cause that’s were the jobs are. | | | | and short list candidates without any manual |
| The best way to build a sizable applicant volume for | | | | intervention. |
| sure is to advertise not just in 1 job board but on | | | | External agencies work with you on a contingency or |
| multiple boards. You can choose 2 big boards and one | | | | a retainer basis. Contingency firms charge you |
| niche board like your local newspaper (in Atlanta, you | | | | anywhere between 20 — 30% of hiring salary. |
| can use ) or specialty boards like (for lawyers), | | | | Retainer firms charge an upfront retainer and charge |
| (finance), (engineers) etc. You should also publicize | | | | you by the hour. Such firms primarily focus on senior |
| the open position on your website. | | | | executives. |
| (Contact the author for a free, categorized listing of | | | | You need to decide if you have the necessary time |
| popular job boards using Alexa Traffic Rank) | | | | and resource to devote to recruiting and remember, |
| How to Handle Resume Volume | | | | the time spend on recruiting is time not spent on |
| Automatically! If you advertise in say 3 job boards | | | | your business. If 30% commission is on the high side, |
| and your website, you can expect at least 200 | | | | you can consider fixed price services. These services |
| resumes. You do not want them coming to your | | | | charge you a fixed price for attracting the right |
| e-mail box as this would require you to open each | | | | candidates, help you select the best candidates and |
| mail, save the resume etc for each and every one of | | | | assist you in the hiring process. |
| them. This becomes tedious and time consuming. You | | | | (Contact the author for a free, Recruitment Cost |
| want them to be automatically routed to a database | | | | Estimator tool. This tool estimates your recruiting |
| or a resume management system. | | | | cost. It also compares Do it Yourself costs |
| Your resume management system should be able to | | | | with commissioned recruiting and fixed price services.) |
| process the incoming resumes, extract information | | | | Conclusion |
| from the resume, and build a list of applicants with | | | | Cleary define the ideal candidate for the job. Make |
| their name, contact information and a summary, so | | | | use of internet job boards, your web site, your local |
| that you can glance at the list to see how your | | | | newspaper etc. to attract applicants. Have a backend |
| publicity is working. Sophisticated resume | | | | system that eliminates manual processing of resumes. |
| management systems go a step forward and | | | | The system should also be able to select and rank |
| extract experience, education, summary and | | | | the best candidates for a job. Compare the cost of |
| objectives from the resume. This is especially useful | | | | doing it yourself, paying commissions and availing the |
| in identifying the best candidates without actually | | | | service of a fixed price service. Happy Hiring!! |
| reading every resume. | | | | (Contact the author for Tips for a smoother |
| A good resume management system would integrate | | | | Hiring, a white paper with tips and hints to make |
| with your web site, allow applicants to easily upload | | | | your hiring go smoother. |
| their resume, handle resumes that come by e-mail | | | | |