One million CVs in cyberspace - 04/2001

The spectacular boom in online recruitment, which has led to as many as a million job applications speeding through cyberspace at any given time, is set to revolutionise the way in which the recruitment industry works.

Web-based recruitment agencies such as S1 Jobs.com, StepStone, Monster, JobServe.com, are each handling a massive volume of recruitment traffic in response to job advertisements placed in cyberspace.

The number of vacancies advertised on job search websites can reach 10,000 at any one time in the UK, and with ads attracting up to 100 applicants - or more within the IT and e-commerce sectors - HR departments are pushed to their limits.

Internet recruitment is the way forward and there are significant benefits to advertising on the web for new staff, said Angela Paterson, MD of Edinburgh-based recruitment agency Kite HR.

It is relatively inexpensive and employers have access to many more, highly skilled, potential recruits.

But the sheer volume of responses has caught employers off guard - so much so that applicants are being passed over as HR staff are simply unable to process them all.

It is a major issue for recruitment agencies and in-house HR managers. I have heard of managers who, swamped with replies, have resorted to deleting applications from their email without even having the time to look at them which is a waste for both the recruiter and the applicant who has taken the time to write, she said.

In response to this growing problem, the company has launched its unique service 'online-cvs.com'. Kite HR is the first agency in the UK to offer a dedicated, one off fee-based service to handle CVs from applicants responding to job vacancies advertised online.

Paterson said: While some recruitment agencies do already handle responses from web-ads, they still expect an agency fee for sourcing an applicant. Kite's unique approach means that the fee is time-based and worked out against the client's requirements which offers a highly cost-effective alternative for companies.

Kite HR will set up an online-cvs mailbox for clients and any vacancies placed on the Internet, either on recruitment sites or the company's own website, will have a unique mail account. All responses go to Kite to be processed within 24 hours and all candidates will be acknowledged, with relevant CVs matched to the client's vacancies.

Kite constantly evaluates recruitment websites and will advise clients on where best to spend their advertising budget according to their specific recruitment requirements.

Web advertising has also resulted in growing numbers of overseas applicants and with the skills gap in Scotland high on both the political agenda and that of employers, the potential of using highly qualified, skilled professionals from overseas has never been more important, particularly within the fast-growing IT and e-commerce sectors.

Paterson said: Employers should be aware of the red tape involved in hiring from overseas, and while larger enterprises have systems in place to do this, others should seek expert advice in following the required procedures.

Sandra Spencer, HR manager at VISION Consulting, said: In the past advertising on the Internet was hit and miss. We received a high number of CVs which were not even relevant to us - but these still had to be read and acknowledged which was highly consuming for the HR team. Kite recommended three sites which we used for a three month period, booked and wrote the ads, handled all the responses - and we were simply passed the dozen or so CVs which were highly relevant to our needs.

www.online-cvs.com