E-Recruitment Opportunities Abound

E-recruitment is in the early adoption stages, but the benefits are convincing.

E-recruitment practices -- using the Internet to find candidates for job openings -- have established some roots in the business world, but are far from refined. However, the primary benefit is clear and convincing: You can get your message out to more candidates, faster.

The top 10 worldwide e-recruiting firms collectively grew 232 percent between 1999 and 2000, according to IT market research firm IDC. Ranked by revenue generated from e-recruiting services, the top five worldwide e-recruitment firms stack up as follows:

1. Monster.com
2. Futurestep
3. HotJobs.com
4. Headhunter.net
5. dice.com

The rate at which the market is growing is a strong indicator that it's still in the early adoption phase, says IDC. Emerging market opportunities for e-recruiting firms include the following:

• Market demands are shifting to end-to-end services.

• Skills assessment has become a key differentiating factor.

• Contingent workforce services are the next frontier of the e-recruiting market landscape.

Big opportunities in the Far East

One market that will represent huge opportunity in e-recruitment is Greater China -- China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. According to IDC, e-recruiting in China will generate nearly US$500 million by 2004, up from less than US$5 million in 1999.

Online executive search firms, online job boards, Internet media and services firms, and niche recruitment sites have an opportunity to attract a lot of business in Greater China, says IDC. One reason is that Chinese businesses are facing a shortage of high-level managers and skilled individuals in a variety of industries and occupations. This shortage, combined with a loosening of government restrictions regarding the Internet, make for great e-recruiting opportunities in the region.

Obstacles for e-recruiters looking to tap into this market include language barriers: Chinese and Taiwanese Internet users prefer to surf the Web in their native languages.

Why e-recruit? Do you need help?

The benefits of using the Internet to locate talented employees are numerous, says Melanie Rembrandt, public relations manager of CareerSite, an e-recruitment infrastructure solutions provider. She notes that many companies outsource e-recruitment to make the process even easier, avoiding the complexities and time commitment of building their own recruitment Web site.

As Rembrandt explains, an e-recruitment firm can offer a wide range of services including extensive searching, job postings to both free and fee-based sites, matching, ranking, reply functions, and organizational capabilities.

"One of the best features of working with an ASP is that you can instantly link your company and job openings to a large network of potential candidates and other online businesses," she says. "These are connections that you would not have access to using a simple, standalone site." In addition, these functions are usually designed for ease of use so you can focus on your primary business operations.