What Is E-Recruitment?

E-Recruitment centers around using electronic means, primarily the Internet, to attract, screen, and hire employees or subcontracted freelancers. Tactics used in e-recruitment include simple systems, such as placing an ad on a public employment website asking candidates to email resumes. More advanced systems route the entire process of candidate selection, assessment, and hiring through web-based applications. Prospective employees can upload resumes, take skill and aptitude assessments, and even complete human resource paperwork from a remote location using e-recruitment tools.

All aspects of candidate management from searching for prospective applicants to new employee orientation now have the ability to fit into an e-recruitment system. Few employers, employment agencies, and businesses specializing in recruiting job seekers for placement can keep up with today's personnel recruitment practices without implementing some form of e-recruitment system, even if only a rudimentary system. Many national companies, in fact, now require candidates to complete an initial application for employment online, or at the least submit a resume to an online database.

In the early days of e-recruitment, the concept simply meant using online resources to find candidates for various job positions. Job boards and resume databases allowed employers and employees to search for, find, and contact each other. Once contact was established, the remaining tasks involved in the hiring process were conducted via face-to-face interviews and other traditional methods. Today, e-recruitment consists of job boards, online advertising, web-based applications, talent communities, social recruiting efforts, and pre-employment assessment tools. Additionally, software packages have been developed to allow recruiters and human resource personnel to speed up the hiring process through automated database searches, auto responders, and assessment tools incorporated into web-based employment applications.

With the explosive growth of businesses that exist entirely online, the demands on e-recruitment tools have also grown. Companies have the ability to operate all aspects of the business using freelance contractors and employees working remotely. As such, these businesses often do not have the facilities or means to conduct traditional in-person interviews and other human resources duties. For these businesses, the use of and availability of e-recruitment tools is invaluable. Applicants are directed to apply online, submit work samples or complete assessments, and, upon selection, remit necessary documentation and tax reporting information necessary to begin work.

The primary benefit of e-recruitment tools and electronic personnel recruitment systems are to reduce the cost associated with finding and hiring employees and independent contractors. Human resource personnel spend less time on the hiring process. Assessment tools incorporated into personnel recruitment systems allow for increased accuracy in judging the aptitude, personality type, work style, and skills of each candidate, therefore helping to reduce the turn-over rate for employees.