With the rise in unemployment, competition for jobs continues to grow stiffer. One job opening could produce hundreds, often thousands, of applicants. This massive interest in each job opening has a negative impact on potential employees and on the companies that are hiring.
For the people who are applying, it’s becoming more and more difficult to stand out from the crowd. In many cases, applicants may have to submit their resumes to hundreds of jobs before securing a position. When they do secure interviews, they have to spend precious time (and gas money) traveling to the company’s office. Plus, if there are no initial screening criteria in place, they may end up spending time applying for a job that is not a great fit for them—or the hiring company.
On the flip side, employers are finding themselves spending way more time than they used to poring over resumes and trying to determine who is qualified enough to make it to the interview stage. Rather than dedicating their time and resources to finding ways to stay competitive in a down economy, they will have to read dozens of resumes After all, given the stiff competition, there could be a highly qualified, “perfect fit” candidate buried in the mountain of faxed-in resumes, email attachments, calls and LinkedIn connection requests.
It’s not all bad news, though. In fact, the overwhelming interest in open positions is forcing companies to think of innovative ways to screen applicants. They are turning to assessment tests, online applications and social media screening (e.g., only accepting applicants with LinkedIn recommendations) to quickly identify the individuals they want to interview and potentially hire.
The most innovative screening mechanism of all: interviews conducted via web conferencing. Using this technology, employers can record and archive interview questions so that applicants can access them on demand and then record their own answers. Companies have also used interactive video conferencing to conduct live online meetings, a technology that allows them to conduct a face-to-face interview without the environmental damage and loss of productivity associated with bringing candidates into the office.
The job market is projected to improve in the near future, but experts still predict that online collaboration will remain part of the way companies do business. This is a good thing for the environment—and for the bottom line (after all, who wouldn’t want to conduct an interview via video conference from the comfort of their own home?). The only catch? You’ll want to tidy up your office and put a nice shirt on.
Posted under Industry Buzz, Travel Reduction, Web Conferencing
This post was written by Christine Olivas on June 4, 2009
