US corporations may be losing as much as $30 million each day because their recruiting sites are too difficult for many job seekers to use, according to a report from Creative Good.
The report “E-Recruiting: Online Strategies in the War for Talent” describes difficulties typical Web users encountered in applying for a job on six corporate recruiting sites, including Cisco, Proctor & Gamble, and Citibank.
According to the report, 74 percent of job seekers tested experienced some degree of failure in applying for a job online; more than 40 percent of tests ended in complete failure.
Creative Good found that an e-recruiting site with a good candidate experience can save a company $8,000 per hire, and can reduce hiring cycle time by 60 days. Common mistakes on job sites include company-specific abbreviations and jargon that candidates do not understand, a requirement for a browser plug-in before applications can be downloaded, and a requirement that users register and log in before viewing job listings.
“There’s been a lot of attention recently on the potential for online recruiting to save companies time and money,” said Creative Good president Mark Hurst. “But as we’ve shown, corporations will only see these benefits if they implement a good e-recruiting strategy.”
A recent poll by Recruiter’s Network and The Association for Internet Recruiting found that more than 70 percent of organizations will be spending more next year on Internet recruiting.
The survey examined the Internet recruiting practices of more than 1,000 organizations and found that almost half of the companies polled have hired 1-20 percent of this year’s workforce as a direct result of Internet recruiting. More than 80 percent of the organizations studied had an employment section within their Web site, and almost 35 percent of companies with more than 10,000 employees had at least one recruiter dedicated strictly to Internet recruiting.
“Our study uncovered that organizations are planning on spending more on Internet recruiting next year. We also have seen the emergence of a new position in the Human Resources department — the Internet recruiter,” said Brian Weis President of the Recruiter’s Network. “With over 80 percent of the companies posting jobs on their organization’s Web site, it is important to note that a company’s Web site is not just for selling products or services anymore. A Web site is also an excellent way to display an organization’s employment opportunities.”