Feature Story

HOW TO USE THE WEB TO ALLEVIATE RECRUITMENT HEADACHES

Whether you're a small, medium or large-sized company, recruiting employees can be a tedious and costly process. As you probably know, it can cost tens of thousands of dollars recruit and fill many positions. Depending on the available positions, you may choose to advertise or go to a job fair. In any case, you may find yourself awash in resumes.

Many companies must devote a number of full-time employees just to process the resumes, e.g., generating the requisite response letters and acknowledgement cards, typing up labels, calling back candidates to set up appointments, etc. And ironically, companies may already have qualified candidates on hand -- they could be sitting in a filing cabinet, someone's desk drawer, in boxes, perhaps even in the backseat of your car.

There is also the danger that a company going through a hiring spurt may elect to purchase an expensive employment management system and realize as an afterthought that they now need to bring on board full-time professionals to both manage and administer it. Just teaching users how to use a system is a daunting chore. And if there is any turnover, you have to face retraining employees as well. When this happens, often times the systems wind up not being used at all. This ratchets up the costs substantially.

So what can companies do to alleviate this situation? Utilize the Internet, outsource these tasks and take advantage of the latest technology without the up front capital investment. APS, for instance, recently unveiled 'SmartSearch Online.' It's a state-of-the-art Web-based system that interacts with our SmartSearch Database (a job-driven, scanning based employment management system). The system can be learned in minutes.

Here's one example of how businesses can benefit from the system. Passport Access, a San Ramon, CA-based company, is an online recruitment facility for technical recruiters and technical candidates. According to John Malone, the company's project lead manager, Passport Access helps recruiters and candidates 'come together and find jobs and fill open positions.' With more than 200,000 technical resumes, Passport Access maintains the largest technical database in the world and is powered by SmartSearch Online.

"SmartSearch Online is a gigantic revenue stimulant for us and will be a boon for other companies as well," Malone says. "It helps Passport Access allow recruiters nationwide to hook up with more technical candidates. And users aren't confined to a specific web browser -- they can utilize Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc"

So how can SmartSearch Online help your business? The benefits are manifold:

It gives you control. You have instant and unlimited access to your resume database. You're in control of your resumes and can fill jobs quickly. You're not deluged with resumes piling up everywhere.

It saves you time and money.

It's secure - Each company's database is private and protected by the most current database security system.

An 'Automatch' feature helps companies flag a specific category. For example, if Company X has 20 job openings, you can set up a customized search plan that will automatically e-mail resumes to you that meet the necessary criteria. You don't have to re-run searches just to find newer candidates. The system finds them for you once you define the job parameters.

You call the shots. Too often, companies purchase products that don't provide them with the flexibility they need. SmartSearch Online is easy to configure and provides employers with a turnkey recruitment solution on the web. SmartSearch Online is also easily integrated with your internal HRIS.

The Web is becoming an invaluable recruitment tool for businesses. So before you run employment ads or hire an expensive executive recruitment firm, consider harnessing the power of the Internet and let SmartSearch Online find qualified candidates for your company.

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