Online applications welcome

Jorrit Blok outlines the case for why an integrated recruitment site is vital due to increased internet use.

“Employers should be paying extra attention to streamlining the online application process”
-Jorrit Blok

People looking for jobs are increasingly making use of Google, LinkedIn and recruitment websites. That fact is evident from a survey conducted by the Intelligence Group and reported in Arbeidsmarkt GedragsOnderzoek (AGO). For the employer, this means that everything stands or falls based on the ability of potential employees to find the company's job adverts and the applicant-friendly processing of their online applications. By automating their job application procedures with the use of so-called end-to-end solutions, companies can now implement systems that can help the HR manager make a real difference.

The AGO survey, in which 16,000 people are interviewed every year, reveals that almost 30 percent of jobseekers exclusively used the Internet for job orientation in 2009. A growing number of jobseekers are relying exclusively on the Internet in their search for jobs. The complete job application procedure is fraught with dropout moments. The experience that is likely to cause a potential candidate to quit the procedure may include issues such as poor navigation, an unpleasant look and feel, no options available for online application, a bumpy confirmation process and no application feedback from the company.

It is precisely because a growing number of people are looking for jobs online that employers should be paying extra attention to streamlining the online application process. Take, for example, the career site: it is entirely dedicated to displaying job vacancies and current employees telling what it is like to work for the company. That notwithstanding, there are still many companies that either do not have career sites or that are not spending nearly enough time and attention on this type of employment marketing. This could lead to missing out on potentially good candidates and it means that the company is under-exploiting the available recruitment opportunities. Another problem is that some companies are reluctant to embrace modern developments, such as social media, in their online recruitment endeavours. The truth is that this is something neither employers nor employees can get along without anymore. Employers are therefore compelled to reformulate their objectives based on these developments.

In other words, this is all about the optimal use of employment potential. No organisation would want to miss out on good candidates. And no organisation would want to disappoint candidates with a poor digital application procedure that is not an accurate reflection of the organisation as such. This is why OTYS is an advocate of the integrated solution.

Integrated solution

The advantage of career sites that are integrated into the customer's main site is that the jobseekers do not immediately notice that they are being redirected from the main website to a recruitment site that is actually run on a separate platform; but with the same look and feel. In addition, the seamless integration of the career site with the back-office system could ensure the streamlined settlement of the application procedure. 'Seamless', in this context, means that an action on the recruitment site, such as registering for a vacancy, would immediately become visible in the recruitment system. An additional benefit of this type of integrated solution is that it also tracks the route via which the candidate entered the system; for example, via email or a referral site. This enables companies to determine whether their recruitment campaigns are meeting the targets; in other words, the vacancy conversion is actually measurable.

And last but not least, the social media should also be integrated into the procedure.  In other words, enabling someone to apply for a job with his LinkedIn profile instead of with a CV, retweeting job vacancies, and so on. This enables an interactive job application experience and offers applicants extra convenience. The integrated approach leads to greater visibility and makes it easier for potential candidates to find the job adverts, which means that the process of attracting candidates and communicating with them becomes more effective and therefore companies are ultimately able to manage the recruitment processes more successful.

Jorrit Blok is the CEO and founder of OTYS Recruiting Technology. OTYS is specialised in recruitment software integrated with career sites. OTYS has built over 700 recruitment, career sites and job boards. Companies already using OTYS to fully utilise their employment potential include Transavia.nl and Grant Thornton.

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