Hire me! Job hunting in the age of the web

Dollar-conscious companies needing quality employees are turning to the Internet where myriad sites allow job seekers to post their resumes and employers to troll for them. Unfortunately, say recruiters, the person who sounds like an answer to a dream on paper may turn out to be a nightmare face-to-face.

Layoffs appear to be declining recently as business has adjusted to the new economy. Remaining employees in many cases have taken on more positions to keep business going. Yet, despite the multitasking, there are always going to be key vacancies to fill.

The challenge for companies using Internet-based hiring is wading through the hundreds of resumes they might receive for a single position, according to Jason Witty, metro marketing manager for Robert Half & Associates, based in Fairfield County, Conn. Witty, who oversees operations in White Plains, and in Connecticut in Stamford and Danbury, said the number of resumes the company receives easily outnumbers the positions employers are looking to fill. Since Half specializes in accounting and finance positions, and Wall Street”™s layoffs have hit that sector hard, it”™s no surprise Half has seen an uptick in resumes coming in. Some are good; some less so.

“There”™s a tremendous amount of resume guidance out there, even online templates where people can fill in blanks,” said Witty. And while it”™s always best to put one”™s best foot forward on paper, many resumes are “fluffed up and do not really meet the needs” of the job opening.

“There”™s an impression in the market that there are so many candidates, it will be easy to find the right one,” said Witty. “What”™s the problem?Â Not only does someone need to wade through the piles of resumes, but out of a potential 200-300, perhaps two or three may seem suitable; thenÂ the employer finds those few candidates have oversold themselves in writing and come up short when face-to-face,” said Witty. “The end result is the employer either ends up starting the search all over, wasting their own employees”™ time, who has to begin again. On the other side, the expenditure of paying a person they may have hired on their own, only to end up needing to replace them, can end up not just costing money, but time and productivity lost.”

Gordon McAleer, president of McAleer & Associates of Newburgh, agrees. The assignment of filling the vacancy ends up being relegated to someone with other duties to perform, he said, and finding the right candidate for an essential position is time-consuming “and in the end, can actually be very costly for the employer. They may find themselves dealing with a revolving door, filling positions based on potential employees found through Internet searches and then learning they just don”™t have what it takes to get the job done.”

What can companies do if they are going to rely on the Internet as their source of employment possibilities? Be very specific in what you are looking for, Witty and McAleer advise employers. By being specific in requirements, employers may be able to trim down the response and receive resumes that could be the right fit.

A 10-minute phone screen can also help weed out those who really don”™t fit the bill, Witty added.

While McAleer focuses on positions in engineering and accounting, he also brings three decades of experience in the health care field to his recruiting agency, enabling it to branch out to hospitals and other health care providers. “It”™s a growing, specialized market,” said McAleer. “And it is unusual to find people in that field knocking on your door ”“ you have to go knocking on theirs.”

Half offers temp-to-hire arrangements for many of the companies looking to fill spots.

“For many employers, it can be the best way to learn if the person has not only the skills they need, but is the right fit for the company”™s culture without making a commitment until they are sure,” said Witty.

“From the candidates”™ standpoint, if they are focused on a permanent position, it may help them get their foot in the door of a company they are yearning to work for. In the meantime, they are also learning valuable skills at other companies. And because they have the ”˜time in,”™ as a temp, there”™s a good chance they will be considered if a position opens up at their company of choice if they temp there.” Witty added that just like its permanent, full-time positions,Â Half”™s temp-to-hire candidates go through the same screening process.

McAleer said, “If you have a hard-to-fill position, it”™s time to bring in the experts. Recruiting agencies have ways of networking, as well as a database of screened candidates to work with.”

People who post resumes on line also take a chance of having them “tossed around,” he added.Â “Recruiters must be ethical if they are to continue to be a quality source for good employees. If someone is working with a recruiter and has also posted a resume online, it can be picked up by a disreputable firm. The end result is, it can hurt, not help, the candidate. It can be the kiss of death for the person, who appears to be double-dipping, when, in fact, they have no idea their resume is being bandied about.”

Bottom line? To recruiters, finding the right person who can do the job and “stick” is the most important asset to the employer with a vacancy to fill. “The last thing an employer wants to do is invest the time and effort into finding and training someone and finding themselves looking for a replacement three months down the road,” said McAleer. “That”™s where recruiting agencies are an invaluable tool. Not only does the company get a pre-screened candidate who had had a background check, a good recruiter will work to make sure the person is the right fit for the company before they will send them out for an interview.”

And for those seeking work on line, the frustration level can be high when they don”™t hear back from those with whom they post resumes, said Denise Monnat, director of acquisition and business development for McAleer and Associates. A positive result of the weak economy, said Monnat, is that, “The recession has brought back the work ethic we were seeing sink into the sunset. People are starting to realize that getting to work on time, not clock watching, pitching in to help others when they are finished with their own work and offering their time and expertise to their company all adds to their value and makes them more of an asset to the employer.”

All recruiters concur the worst situation is the position that must be filled again and again, a potential death blow to client relations.

“Return clients are a recruiting company”™s best referral,” said McAleer. “The goal is to make the company happy and not only to come back to you for future needs, but to recommend your company to others.”

In the final analysis, said Witty and McAleer, money and time saved in the long run by using a professional recruiter for a key position far outweighs the cost of gettingÂ a “free” employee on the Internet.