Recruitment

Websites for Recruitment

This is a review of the on-line recruitment site ‘Fish4Jobs’ (Fish4 Trading Ltd, 2010).
Instantly, the first thing you see is a search box, in which you can enter you preferences of job title, the radius in which you are prepared to travel from home, and the minimum wage which you are prepared to work for. This helps to select the jobs which will appeal to the user, and is really easy to do.
It also has very eye catching boxes advertising jobs for more specific companies such as Morrison’s, First Great Western, and even the Police. This is ideal for people who are just generally job seeking, with no particular career path in mind. The boxes make it clear that the companies advertised have vacancies, and so are made appealing, because the website had recommended them.
Also the site has a really clear toolbar, offering links to advice for things such as CV’s and training.
This site is very easy to find your way around, as it is not over cluttered, and is selective to the user’s preferences.


The Pros and Cons of On-line Recruitment

Pros:

1. The jobs being advertised online can potentially be seen by nearly anyone.
2. People can quickly search for specific jobs through search engines.
3. Online recruitment can be cheaper and less wasteful than printing lots of flyers and posters.
4. People are becoming more and more IT literate.
5. Applicants can be processed much faster than with postal applications.

Cons:

1. If a job requires specifics such as particular qualifications or experience, unqualified people may be applying for a job, despite being wrong for the company.
2. More applications means the business will need to spend more time and money on the selection process.
3. A company cannot limit the adverts so that they are only seen by their target audience.
4. It is very impersonal, and lacks human contact and feedback.
5. Online recruitment is considered to be reactive, rather than pro-active like newspapers or word of mouth.


Effective Recruitment Campaign

On March 18th 2010, a new branch of the supermarket Iceland opened in High Wycombe. For weeks beforehand it had completely covered its shop frontage with posters and signs saying ‘New Iceland opening March 18th – Recruiting now’. This was done in big bold writing, which was brightly coloured and very eye catching.
As it was very central along the High Street in High Wycombe, the majority of the towns people were likely to have seen this advertisement, as people would have had to walk passed it on their way to somewhere else.
By advertising on site, the store created a buzz of interest. As customers, as well as potential employees were anticipating it’s opening. When it did finally open, the shop was packed full of interested new customers, with many staff ready to begin serving them.


Psychological Contract

The psychological contract is a mutual understanding between employees and their management or employers (CIPD, 2010). This is an unwritten agreement for the etiquette of an organisation, regarding commitment and work ethics.
Breaking this agreement can lead to people in the organisation having a negative attitude. Usually this is because they feel they have not been listened to, or perhaps feel insecure in their position.
In order for a psychological contract to be effective, the employee must have a close working relationship with its colleagues. If they don’t, it is difficult to create and maintain a high level of trust between them.


References:

CIPD (2010) The psychological contract. [online]. Available from: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/psycntrct/psycontr.htm [Accessed 23 April 2010]

Fish4 Trading Ltd (2010) Job search and recruitment. [online]. Available from: http://www.fish4.co.uk/jobs/ [Accessed 23 April 2010]