Beware the Pitfalls of Using Employment Websites for Recruiting

I have been working on an article about improving hiring practices. This snipet is something that I feel strongly about but did not include in the article - the potential downsides of recruiting using website job boards.

For companies with open positions, the job website has many attractive features. External sites like Monster.com or internal company job boards can offer benefits such as a broad communication of job openings and increased applicant flow. Even so, HR professionals and hiring managers should assess their use of job websites to avoid falling prey to the following potential pitfalls:

-Increased applicant flow turns people people into paper pushers.

-Collecting and processing stacks of resumes reduces the time spent on reviewing resumes/applications and verifying credentials.

-Employment websites can become a gatekeeper, with the mission of keeping people out (conscious or inadvertent). How user friendly is your recruiting website? Are the only people who have the time and patience to get through your process the ones that are not currently working?

-False comfort caused by increased applicant flow from websites. Just because you have lots of resumes does not mean you don't need to seek out the best talent.

-Application processes that evaluate and eliminate people based on job requirements might be eliminating many great candidates. Lots of brilliant people have nontraditional career histories.

HR professionals and hiring managers should evaluate the application process from the perspective of potential candidates. What does your process and protocol communicate about your company culture and the value it places on its people?

Food for thought.

I think that posting jobs on your website is generally a good thing, but I get concerned when the recruiting function begins to hide behind the technology. The focus should remain on the people by building positive impressions and relationships.