A snapshot of online recruitment and the SA job market

CareerJunction, an online recruitment Website, maintains regular statistics to track online trends. It was ranked 10th amongst South African Websites in terms of Unique Visitors, 4th in terms of Page Impressions, and 1st among employment websites, according to the Online Publishers Association (OPA) August 2005 report.

Online recruitment serves as a facilitation mechanism between recruitment agencies and career seekers. Resumes are created online and kept in a database where agencies can search them and use technology to match with specific jobs. Further tools include, job alerts by email, career advice and application tracking for career seekers as well as job advertising & profiling, online interviewing and resume alerts for recruiters.

Online recruitment is on the increase

Online recruitment is being utilised by career seekers to search for jobs and by recruiters to find candidates more than ever before. A comparison of unique visitors to the CareerJunction site, from August 2004 to 2005, shows a 40% increase. The figure for unique visitors during August 2005 rounds off at 205 000 (as validated by ACNielsen/Netratings). In terms of page impressions, this translates into a 52% increase resulting in 8,976,225 page impressions during August .

In August 2005 CareerJunction attracted over 9 000 new resumes which is a 62% increase from last year August, and advertised over 20,000 jobs on behalf of its clients, which is a 80% increase in the jobs advertised in August 2004. The increase in career seekers posting their resumes and recruiters advertising their jobs is a strong indication that both these parties are becoming more au fait with the benefits of online recruitment as a means to find jobs and place candidates.

Job market sectors

Comparing the online demand for jobs (illustrated through the types of resumes posted) versus the jobs available offers a snapshot of the South African job market. The percentage mix affects the negotiating power that candidates have: if there are few candidates and many jobs, the career seeker has more bargaining power. The converse, where there are many candidates and few jobs, allows for companies to be more selective in their choices and offerings.

Comparing the period June to August, looking at both 2004 and 2005, yields the following results:

An increase in the jobs advertised but a slight decrease in the pool of talent available suggests a need for more candidates in the Financial, Engineering, Manufacturing, Production & Trades and Telecommunication sectors.

An increase in the pool of talent available but a slight decrease in the amount of jobs advertised suggests a need for more jobs in the FMCG, Retail & Wholesale, Sales, Admin and Office Support and Human Resources sectors.

Job ad career levels versus resume career levels

In 2004 the level of careers advertised matched the level of resumes closely; however in 2005 the amount of junior candidates outweighed the amount of jobs available for them, indicating a slight decrease in entry-level positions.

AA candidates and the Internet

The number of affirmative action (AA) candidates that make use of online recruitment is a key statistic within the context of South Africaís emphasis on employment equity. (AA includes Coloured, Asian, Black, female and disabled candidates.) October 2004 saw AA candidates comprising 76.65% of the total database. In August 2005, the figure grew to 81.97% of the total database. Of the AA percentage, 50% is factored by race ñ i.e. 50% of the AA database is Black, Coloured or Asian.

Agency motivation

The CareerJunction Customer Satisfaction Survey (July 2005) was conducted telephonically with decision makers. The main reason that agencies use online recruitment is because they receive more applicants than via other mediums and because it is more targeted to their needs.

The information above is part of a larger report on online statistics. Please contact email joni@careerjunction.co.za for further information.