SAMPLE 2

TRENDS AND PRACTICES IN THE

EUROPEAN INTERNET RECRUITMENT
MARKET
CIPD MANAGEMENT REPORT
SARAH COOPER

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

WEB BASED RECRUITMENT- MARKETPLACE AND TRENDS

STAGES IN HIRING PROCESS

11

COMMERCIAL JOB BOARDS

12

CAREER WEB PAGES

16

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

27

REFERENCES

30

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Greater Internet utilisation in the hiring process may bring cost reduction and increase
time efficiency, as well as reach the yet-untapped high-quality candidates and
strengthen XYZs branding strategy. By attracting candidates directly, through own Web
homepage or commercial job boards, XYZ can gain full control over the entire hiring
process and thus attract and convince the best candidates.
The aim of this project is to identify the current best practices in on-line recruitment, to
offer a competent comparison of XYZs Career Web Page with the sites of its main
competitors and to put forward specific recommendations supported by reliable data.
Furthermore, a significant part of the project is devoted to analysis of leading commercial
on-line recruitment sites that operate in the UK and either specialise in the financial
recruitment market or are more generally targeted.
The key recommendations from this project are as follows:

New hiring metrics, which include long-term detailed analysis of the source
(reflecting the diversity of candidates), of the quality of new hires and of the
whole hiring process, might be considered in order to determine return on
investment.

Detailed cost-benefit analysis that would show the actual cost per hire,
including the internal, external and direct costs, differentiating by various
recruiting methods, in order to estimate potential cost reduction from greater
utilisation of direct on-line recruitment. As the data on average cost per hire by
different recruiting methods have not been available, it was not possible to
incorporate the cost- benefits analysis into this report.

XYZ Career Web Page - a few shortcomings were identified and the
recommendation is to carry out some technical improvements, as well as a
factual extension:

E-mail job alerts

Job search by category

Easy refinement of search options

One Click to Apply

Additional hyperlinks between Current Vacancies and On-line Application

Career Newsletter

Detailed description of the recruitment process

Integration of factual data about employees diversity

Highlighting the urgent hiring needs among the listings of job positions

Email to friend button

Anonymous applications

Finally, this report recommends several commercial job boards that XYZ might consider
to utilise in the future. Totallyfinancial and eFinancial Careers were identified as the
best on-line recruitment sites specialising in the financial sector, together with
Accountancy Age Jobs and GAAPweb. Out of the general on-line recruitment sites,
Monster UK and Total Jobs not only offer a diverse pool of well educated candidates
but also rank among the most popular commercial recruitment sites.

INTRODUCTION

The report identifies the current best practices in the European Internet Recruitment
market, with the emphasis on the UK. XYZ is currently relying predominantly on
utilisation of recruitment agencies. Direct recruitment, although practised by XYZ as well,
might still not be achieving its full potential. Thus, a significant part of this report focuses
on advertising vacancies on commercial job boards (i.e. large databanks of vacancies),
which allow organisations to directly attract candidates and to benefit from the full control
over the entire hiring process. The report analyses the most popular UK job boards, as
well as the targeted smaller job boards that specialise particularly in the financial
recruitment market.
Furthermore, this report offers a comparison of XYZs recruiting practices to its main
competitors, and suggests the most effective sources of direct recruitment, as well as
identifies best practices for attracting passive job seekers. In case of significant
variations in recruitment practices between Europe (UK) and US, the differences are
highlighted.
Identification and evaluation of current job boards and hiring practices required own field
research, as there is lack of literature in this area. In addition to undertaking a
comprehensive literature review of published and on-line information, it was necessary
to conduct own analysis of the current UKs leading on-line recruitment sites and
competitors Career Pages, to identify best practices and trends in on-line recruitment
and thus put forward recommendations for XYZ.

WEB BASED RECRUITMENT MARKETPLACE

Effectiveness of different hiring source

AND

TRENDS

Research in the effectiveness of different hiring sources has received close attention
since the 1960s. A quantitative review (Zottoli and Wanous, 2000) including three metaanalyses of the effectiveness of different recruitment sources (primarily assessed by
examining turnover rate and job performance) suggests that referrals by current
employees, in-house recruitment and rehiring of former employees are the most
effective sources, followed by walk-ins. The least effective sources were newspaper ads
and employment agencies. Although on-line recruitment, as a relatively new
phenomenon, has not been included in the major empirical studies of recruitment, one
might assume that former walk-ins might, in the age of impersonal communication,
transform into visits of organisational web pages and newspapers advertisements for
commercial job boards. Additionally, although referrals by current employees are
suggested to be a highly effective source, this means is not likely to assist in the
required diversity of the workforce, as there is a common tendency to refer and recruit
individuals similar to our own image and thus in Kanters word (1977) to produce social
clones. Effective hiring practices should strive to include both identifying capable
candidates and creating a diverse workforce.
On-line recruitment costs
Evidence suggests that on-line recruitment costs are substantially less than traditional
methods (e.g. Saratoga reported that the average cost for an on-line job advertisement
in 2004 was $377, compared to $3,295 for a newspaper recruitment ad), speeds up the
whole recruitment process, assists in dealing with high volume of job applications and
reaches a wider pool of candidates (CIPD, 2005). However, the obvious cost-saving of
on-line recruitment might include hidden costs as employers spend (due to greater
quantity of applicants) more time screening resumes and checking background (HR
Focus, 2004 and 2006).
Internet utilisation
Internet is the favoured job-hunting method for one in four UK Adults (NORAS, 2006)
and this number is continuously increasing. According to the recent largest UK on-line
recruitment survey (NORAS, 2006), 75% of job seekers applied for a job they found online and 52% got the job, which is 8% higher success rate than two years ago. In 2005
over two thirds of organisations advertised vacancies on their own websites, and 30%
used commercial job boards. 72% of organisations accepted emailed CVs or letters of

application and nearly a third of organisations had application forms, which could be
completed on-line (CIPD, 2005). Furthermore, on-line recruitment is steadily attracting
more senior candidates as well as broadens geographic reach and enhances diversity in
the applicant pool. Nevertheless, despite the advantages and the increasing popularity
of on-line recruitment in the last decade, advertising in local newspapers and utilisation
of recruitment agencies remain the most frequent method for attracting candidates in the
UK (CIPD, 2005).
There are differences in utilisation of the Internet between the UK and the U.S.A.,
although both countries have one of the highest numbers of Internet users in the world.
According to the Internet World Statistics data, Internet penetration in the UK was 63%
in October 2005, compared to nearly 69% in January 2006 in the U.S.A.
(Nielsen//NetRatings). The UK National Statistics Omnibus Survey supports this data
and reports that 64% of adults have used the Internet in the 3 months prior to an
interview in October 2005. Furthermore, it has been estimated that U.S. organisations
spent 19% of their recruitment advertising budget on on-line recruitment advertising,
compared to only 7,5% in the UK (CIPD, 2005).
New hiring metrics
The basic hiring metrics that consider the number of job openings and the time it takes
to fill them are no longer sufficient, and a new generation of hiring metrics is required
(Garvey, 2005). The new metrics by Saratoga Institute (2003) show that an important
part of the re-examination of the old metrics is the detailed analysis of the source, of the
quality of new hires and of the whole hiring process, which allow to determine the return
on investment. It is not only the examination of the source of the new hire but also the
evaluation of the performance appraisal, pay increase, turnover and absence rate of the
newly hired employees after signing the employment contract that facilitates
development of cost-effective recruiting practices. Saratoga new hiring metrics include
not only time to fill vacancy (from requisition to acceptance by a candidate), cost per hire
(internal and external costs) and number of job openings but also the ratio of total hires
relative to total head count, the percentage of hires coming from various sources, the
average relocation package, requisition per recruiter, HR recruiter costs per requisition,
average sign-on bonus and time to start (the number of calendar days from requisition
approval to the employees first day at work). Although the comprehensive metrics might

not suite all organisations and various factors such as business goals and personnel
resources should be taken into account, the improved hiring process, enhanced quality
and retention of new hires might significantly lower the costs.
Furthermore, Saratoga (2005) proposed the Poor Quality Hire Rate metrics that assess
the staffing efficiency and is calculated as:
Total separation within less than three months of service
____________________________________________
Total hires
High turnover of employees within the first three months indicates that the hiring process
is not effective and applicants are not adequately selected and placed into appropriate
positions. Saratogas 2005 U.S. Human Capital Effectiveness Report results suggest
that cost per hire, as well as time to fill a vacancy, has increased 11% and 4% from 2003
to 2004. The average amount of time it took to fill a requisition was 48 days in 2004 (the
year of the data collection). Additionally, the U.S. report shows that nearly seven out of
ten organisations do not measure new hire quality after hire and six percent of new hires
left the organisation within three months, of whom more than half voluntarily. The CIPD
Annual Survey Report 2005 (Recruitment, retention and turnover) suggests that the
average number of days to fill a vacancy in the UK is nearly 51 days. Only a small
proportion of participants were able to provide figures relating to cost of recruitment (i.e.
advertising costs, agency or search fee). Estimated costs of recruitment were 10,000
per senior managers, 5,000 per professionals, 2,000 per administrative and 1,750
per service employees.
Additionally, evaluation of recruiters and sources of new hires on diversity of candidates
is becoming increasingly important. With reduced reliance on recruitment agencies and
increased direct recruitment, XYZ (already in process of implementing the new crossbusiness recruitment tool) might additionally consider development of a new scorecard
for individual internal recruiters that would reflect both the new hiring metrics and the
figures on diversity of successful candidates.
Recruitment branding

Information availability and personable treatment were identified as crucial aspects of a

successful recruitment process and should be integrated in every phase of the process
(Breaugh and Starke, 2000). The features of on-line recruitment make it difficult to
maintain the personal aspect, however, a carefully designed web page, attention to
detail and user-friendly style might help to overcome such disadvantages. The
recruitment branding should be honest and truthful in order to avoid future financial
burdens that might arise from higher turnover, lower performance or reputation damage
(Brandon, 2005). Organisations web page or career page should portrait the true
organisational culture, opportunity for advancement and benefits; over-promising or
over-selling might have a short life. It is particularly in pre-employment experience where
the future psychological contract is created and individual expectations formed.
Research suggests that breach of psychological contract, possibly arising from not
fulfilling the perceived organisations obligations, might have negative consequences on
employees behaviour, attitudes (Robinson et al., 1994; Deery et al., 2006; Lester et al.,
2002) and emotional state (Conway and Briner, 2002). Organisations are advised
(Brandon, 2005) to develop a list of the top 5-10 messages they wish to convey to
candidates and include any special advantages that candidates might gain by working in
the organisation. Attracting candidates should be approached in a similar way as
attracting prospective customers (i.e. careful identification and targeting, attraction to the
organisation and brand). Moreover, integration of the recruiting effort into the overall
marketing campaigns is the most effective approach in on-line hiring (Cappelli, 2001).
Networking and power of information
Another utilisation of the fast spreading on-line information is informal networking.
Organisations might encourage employees to e-mail job ads to their friends or create online alumni networks that help to find and rehire former employees. An internal on-line
job network (internal job board) might be an additional tool that would help to satisfy
employees needs for new challenges and at the same time retain the best performers.
Employees might post their resume internally without notifying his/her supervisor and if
the culture of an organisation supports this initiative (i.e. the rhetoric is accompanied by
action and employees do not fear to act in this way), internal mobility might have
significant cost-saving (Cappelli, 2001). Nevertheless, the power of high-speed on-line
information might have, in case of negative candidates experiences with an organisation
or misleading messages on corporate web site, an adverse impact. Accessibility to

information has thus shifted the inherently asymmetric relationship between the
organisation and its employees (i.e. current or future), where power was inevitably in the
hands of the organisation, towards the well-informed employees. Thus, in order to enjoy
a good reputation and attract the best candidates, organisations have to act with caution
and create an entirely truthful picture of themselves on their corporate web sites.
Direct recruitment might allow XYZ to influence all steps of the recruitment process and
monitor the effectiveness of each method and tools, without heavy reliance on external
partners. Besides, it might reinforce XYZ branding and give a greater indication of the
organisational culture.

STAGES IN HIRING PROCESS

10

Recruitment is a complex process, which involves various activities that each might have
different impact on the quality of hire. The findings of the study Key Developments in
Recruiting (Recruiting Roundtable, 2004) offer several suggestions:

Three core phases of hiring activities were identified: attracting the candidate,
making the decision and navigating early experiences.

Out of the candidate-facing activities, the post-offer, onboarding and job brand
activities have the highest impact on quality of hire. Overall, the last stage of the
hiring activities, i.e. navigating early experiences, has been identified as
particularly important.

The absolutely critical activity in the hiring process is suggested to be the

candidate conversion.

Organisations that rely heavily on hiring through job boards tend to hire
candidates of poorer quality, even if cycle times are extended.

Similarly to the above findings, the on-line hiring process consists of three stages:
attracting, sorting and contacting candidates. The final stage, closing the deal, does not
require on-line communication, but rather personal contact, which is essential. According
to Cappelli (2001), recruiters spend lengthy period of time on finding the candidate and
not enough time on developing the relationship and persuading him/her to take the offer.
Although the actual time-analysis of the XYZs hiring process were not available, it might
be assumed that with greater utilisation of direct recruitment XYZs internal recruiters
might in the future need to spend significantly longer time executing the first phase of the
hiring activity, i.e. attracting the candidate, than nowadays. Additionally, with greater
utilization of direct recruitment, there might be a need to re-design XYZs current
recruitment processes to ensure that high quality of candidates is sustained.

COMMERCIAL JOB BOARDS

This section analyses the leading commercial on-line recruitment sites that operate in
the UK and either specialise in the financial recruitment market or are more generally

11

targeted. There is an extensive number of general job boards (e.g. Monster.com,

Fish4jobs, Totaljobs.com, s1jobs, Jobserve), as well as of targeted smaller job boards,
specialising particularly in the financial recruitment market (e.g. eFinancialCareers.com,
JobsFinancial.com, totally financial.com). This report focuses on evaluation of the
presently available job boards that might be the most appropriate and effective for
financial services.

Furthermore, recommendations for utilisation of some of the job

boards by XYZ are presented.

After a comprehensive evaluation and careful selection, 15 general as well as targeted
job boards were personally contacted, from which the majority supplied data regarding
the offered services and price index only. It appears that many job boards do not
possess the demographic data (i.e. job seekers profile including age, education, years
of experience, salary range) or information with regards to diversity of their jobseeker
audience. Neither are they able to provide their success rate (i.e. the actual placement of
applicants). As one of the recruiters from the large job board pointed out: Visitors do not
have to register to search for jobs on the sites and thus we are unable to provide
demographic information. Neither do we have statistics such as success rates of
placements. Thus, it was necessary to rely mainly on own research that is based on the
assessment of various job boards, as well as on the information available from NORAS
2006 (National On-line Recruitment Audience Survey). The above leads to some
constraints of this project and thus the conclusions and recommendations are to some
degree limited.
Although popularity of a job board is not necessarily a good estimator of the success
rate or actual placement of applicants, it might indicate how well recognised and
exploited the site is. According to 4 International Careers & Jobs, an international
employment directory that selects and reviews top job sites world-wide and includes
2200 employment sites ranked by popularity in 190 countries, the most popular general
sites in the UK are: Monster UK, Jobsite, Jobserve, Totaljobs, Jobscentre Plus,
Fish4Jobs, Topjobs UK and LondonCareers. Among the targeted job boards that
specialize

in

the

financial

sector,

eFinancial

Careers.com,

AccountancyAgeJobs.com were suggested to be the most popular.

12

GAAPweb

and

The National On-line Recruitment Audience Survey (NORAS) 2006, which contains
detailed data on 22 of the UKs on-line recruitment sites, in addition to the more general
data about 7 non-participating but leading sites, offers an independent and objective
insight into current job boards.
According to the NORAS 2006 survey (data presented below are from the 22
participating on-line recruitment sites), 49% of job seekers are male and 50% female
with the average age being 34 years. 86% describe their ethnic background as White,
2% Mixed, 5% Asian or Asian British, 3% as Black or Black British and 1% Chinese.
46% possess a Degree (e.g. BA, BSc), 21% a Higher Degree (e.g. MA, MBA, MSc) and
23% a Professional Qualification (e.g. ACCA, CIMA). 50% of job seekers have full time
permanent working status, 6% are still studying, but in their final year, and 20% are not
employed. 5% described their status as director, 12% senior manager, 16% middle
manager and 13% as junior manager or supervisor. The average pre-tax salary
(including bonus) across all participating recruitment sites was 35,000. 57% of job
seekers describe themselves as actively looking for a new job, however, interestingly,
full 21% are not actively looking but are open to opportunities. Job seekers visit on
average 6 on-line recruitment sites.
Some of the detailed findings from NORAS 2006 survey are presented in Table 1 and
Table 2 below. Furthermore, Table 1 and 2 show results form additional sources,
ranging from on-line search of the actual recruitment sites, ABC Electronic data as well
as personal communication. The missing sections illustrate information that was not
available.
Diversity of job seekers of different job boards varies remarkably, as Graph 1 indicates,
and it might be assumed that the specialised and targeted job boards might mirror the
general occupational segregation of women and ethnic minorities in the UK.

Table 1. Demographic profile of applicants across relevant job boards.

13

Name

Average
age
Female

Ethnic
group
WhiteBritish

Ethnic group
WhiteHigher
British, Irish,
Degree
European
(e.g. MA,
and Other
Degree/Higher
MBA,
Average
White
Degree/Professional MSc,
Years of
background
qualification
PhD) Experience

14

Working status

Average
Salary
Range

Middle
Manager

Senior
Manager

Director

14

11%

4%

1%

18,5000

Jobsite

33

43%

68%

84%

59%

18%

Jobserve

36

35%

68%

83%

60%

19%

Monster UK

34

47%

69%

86%

63%

21%

Reed

34

51%

68%

81%

67%

18%

Total Jobs

35

48%

71%

84%

63%

18%

fish4jobs

33

60%

82%

90%

27%

4%

eFinancialCareers

33

21%

27%

81%

90%

54%

18%

15%

10%

75,000

GAAPweb

38

37%

66%

81%

84%

14%

16

21%

24%

11%

47,000

JobsGroup.net

37

26%

74%

89%

48%

12%

17,5

18%

8%

3%

31,000

36

53%

71%

80%

75%

9%

16

17%

21%

4%

35,000

41

28%

68%

91%

76%

34%

19

17%

31%

20%

72,000

totallyfinancial

Jobsfinancial (part of
hotonline.com)
Accountancy Age Jobs
totallylegal
exec-appointment.com

(Source: NORA 2006, on-line search)

Graph 1. Diversity of job seekers.

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
J obs i t e

J obser ve

M ons t er

Reed

T ot al Jobs

f i sh4j obs

Female job seekers

eFi nanc i al

GA A P web

J obsGr oup

A c count anc y

ex ec -

A ge

appoi nt ment

Ethnic group - White job seekers

Table 2. Clients and services of current relevant job boards.

Name

Currently
employed
in
Banking
and
Financial
Services

Main Clients (Banking and

Financial Services)

Additional
Information

Price for posting a

job per month
Number of
(standard)
Unique Users
package
(Source: If not
stated otherwise
ABC Electronic
Audit)

15

Offered services

Jobsite

Schroders, Bloomberg, HSBC,

1 million

Vacancy Advertising including Jobsby-Email service, Semi-Display

Advertisement (a higher profile
branded advert), Corporate
Brochure, Skillword Sponsorship,
CV Databse Searching,
299 per vacancy per 2
Multinational Recruitment
weeks
Campaigns
E-mail Alerts, Alerting candidates by
SMS or via an RSS feed, searchable
CV database

Jobserve

Firm K Group, Firm H, Credit Suisse

Monster UK

1.2 million
(September 2005,
Launched a dedicated
ABC Electronic),
Job Posting, Target Mail, Webcasts,
Equality and Diversity site
2.5 million
Branded Career Sites, Company
Firm F, Capital One, Lloyds TSB, The
(advice, targeted
registered users Post a job 270 per 60
Profile, Featured Employer,
Cooperative Bank, Scottish Widows communication, a message (source: home web days, 3 months CV
Brainbench, Applicant Tracking
Bank, HFC Bank
board discussion etc.)
page)
access 4000
Systems, Outplacement Sites

100 (5 jobs 400)

Firm F, NatWest, Firm K Group, Lloyds

TSB, Chase de Vere Financial Solutions
plc, Mortgages plc, Halifax Financial
Services

Reed

Ernst&Young, HSBC, HBOS, Jardine

Lloyd Thompson, Royal Bank of
Scotland, Zurich Financial Services,
Schroders, TML Financial Solution,
Bloomberg L.P

Total Jobs

fish4jobs

3%

Citigroup, Accenture, Firm F, Firm L,

Firm J, FIRM D, Lloyds TSB, Firm C,
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Thomson
Financial, Lehman Brothers, Credit
Suisse, State Street.

totallyfinancial

eFinancialCareers

GAAPweb

69%

9%

JobsGroup.net

9%

totallylegal

exec-appointment.com

8%

Featured jobs (branded job

templates) and Premium Jobs,
Access to candidate database,
Totaljobs.com is the first
2 million (source:
Applicant Manager, Employer brand
online recruitment site in the home web page), 1 Post a job 250 per
building (banners, jobs by email
UK to carry out an ABCe million (November
month (Standard
sponsorship, corporate profile page,
audited diversity survey
2004, ABC
package per month
listing in the Recruiter Index, key
amongst its jobseekers.
Electronic)
750)
word sponsorship, the Network
Job posting, Corporate Profile,
Homepage promotion, Banner
advertising, Pop-ups, E-mail Alerts
Sponsorship, Keyword Targeted
1,6 million
299 per 4 weeks
Button, CV Database
Target Market:
Branding opportunities
candidates across the
15,000 for an unlimited
on website: company
financial sector
number of job postings profile & listing, job of the week,
(Accountancy, Banking &
for two
flashing banner on homepage,
Finance, Commerce &
websites for one year
homepage buttons,
Industry, Consultancy and
(I.e. totallyfinancial.com
jobs by email sponsorship,
Tax).
31,500
and totallylegal.com)
CV database

Firm F, JM Morgan, Citigroup, Deiloitte,

Target Market:
Firm H, Ernst &Young, FIRM D, Nomura banking, finance and the
Bank, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Firm
international financial
B, Bank of America
markets.

Target Market:
the finance and accounting
sectors and any sector
Firm L, Ernst &Young, Accenture, Firm
recruiting finance
F, YFM Group, First Data International
specialists.

Mostly recruitment agencies

Jobsfinancial

Accountancy Age Jobs

Cooperative Bank, Firm K (NatWest),

2 million registered
job seekers
(source: home web
page)

Include Just4Finance.net

500,000

81,000

150, 000

Part of hotonline.com
network including
Martin Ward Anderson, Nigel Lynn
Planetrecruit, JobSearch,
Associates, Ajilon Finance, Pro Ltd, hotrecruit and The Graduate
Owned by VNU, the market
leader in Business
Information and Finance
with publications and
websites such as
FIRM D, PriceWaterhouseCoopers,
Accountancy Age,
Firm L, Financial Tradeware, Accenture, Management Consultancy
Ernst &Young
and Financial Director

45,000 (200,000 in
the network, home
web page)

Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters,

Target Market:
Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Royal Bank candidates across the legal
of Scotland,
profession as well as HR,
Firm F, Lloyds TSB, BNP Paribas, Firm
marketing and IT
C
professionals.

40,000

Target Market: executives

across all types of industries
and professions

117,000

Accenture, Bank of America, Firm J

830,000 (source:
home web page)

Job advertisements, Branding and

corporate advertising (banner, tile &
print advertising, employer profiles
and email sponsorship), Graduate
Recruitment, Resume Database
Premium Job Listing (fully-branded
vacancy advertising), Daily
sponsorship (promotion of vacancy
to all of GAAPwebs candidates or a
continuous 24-hours period),
Featured Job Listing, Banner
Advertising, Graduate Recruiter
Profile, Corporate Profile Page,
4 Week Premium Job
Keyword Sponsorship, Web
Listing 350
Campaign
Vacancy Manager (add, edit, rank
applications and view feedback),
Headline Banner,
targeted e-mail, Access Reporting
Corporate Profile or Hot
Tools, Recruiter Newsletter
recruiter! 499 per
Sponsorship, Corporate Profile, Hot
month
recruiter! Targeted banner
500 per job (5-10
300 per job per
month)

Post a job 250 per

month, 5 jobs per 13
weeks 750

Job posting, CV Access, Banners

and buttons, Sponsored emails,
Sponsored candidates newsletters,
Sponsored job alerts to candidates,
Branded job posting template

Job of the week options, Flexible job

posting packages, Targeted e-mail,
CV services and database access,
350
Company profile, homepage buttons
Branding opportunities
15,000 for an unlimited
on website: company
number of job postings profile & listing, job of the week,
for two
flashing banner on homepage,
websites for one year
homepage buttons,
(I.e. totallyfinancial.com
jobs by email sponsorship,
and totallylegal.com)
CV database
Single or multiple posting, Custom
Ad Template, Special promotions
250.00 for first week
(E-mail Alert sponsorship,
and 100.00 per week Newsletter Sponsorship, Featured
extension
Advertiser Listing on Homepage

(Source: NORA 2006, ABC Electronic, on-line search)

CAREER WEB HOMEPAGES

Direct recruitment allows organisations to gain high control over the entire recruitment
process and thus influence the earliest and most important stage of recruitment, as well

16

as monitor the effectiveness of each method. As above, information availability and

personable treatment are crucial aspects of successful recruitment process that should
be integrated into every phase of the process (Breaugh and Starke, 2000).
Research findings suggest that applicants with a greater number of job opportunities are
more attentive to and more influenced by early recruitment activities than those with
fewer opportunities. Thus the web site, often one of the first contact points between the
applicant and the organisation, is essential in attracting successful high performers.
Furthermore, the findings show that recruitment materials have a more positive impact if
they contain more specific information, and a realistic picture of the job, allowing the
organisations to reduce subsequent turnover (Ryan and Tippins, 2004).
A report from Taleo Research (2001) suggests, among other recommended best
practices for career web site recruiting, to publish information on corporate employment
culture, state the companys Privacy Policy, highlight the urgent hiring needs among the
listings of job positions, provide support for multiple languages, implement the Email to
friend feature, accept anonymous applications and adopt the One Click to Apply.
Furthermore, it suggests recruiting trends such as feedback to jobseekers on the status
of their application, on-line interview scheduling and ex-employee alumni programmes
published on the corporate Web site.
One of the aims of this project was to offer a competent comparison of the recruiting
practices of XYZ and of its main competitors and to suggest the most effective means of
direct recruitment. This section focuses on evaluation of Career web homepages (i.e.
content, user-friendliness, time to find vacancy that matches the applicants
requirements) and their Experienced Hires/Professionals component only, as the aim is
professional recruitment. However, the intention (due to limited space and time) is not to
describe the competitors web pages in great detail, but rather to focus on practical tips
and hints that might be useful to adopt, as well as on the most emphasised themes that
occur frequently on career sites.
In order to evaluate competitors web pages, a select list of competitors from the Vault
Guide to the Top 50 Banking Employers (which rates 77 firms, all of which principally
operate in either commercial banking or investment banking, or both) is presented. 583

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finance professionals filled out a banking employee survey and rated companies with
which they were familiar (not allowed to rate their own employer) on a scale of 1 to 10,
with 10 being the most prestigious. XYZ obtained good eleventh place in both 2005 and
2006. The Top 50 Banking Employers offers a solid overview of XYZs main competitors,
perceived by potential candidates as both the most prestigious and most desirable to
work for. Additionally, the report focuses on main competitors who operate in the domain
of financial services, such as PWC, Firm J and Firm L.
XYZ
7 (5) clicks from home page to a search result of current vacancies
In case of not finding the desired position, there is no direct link to an on-line application
or to submitting a CV, no email job alert available or a hyperlink to an on-line speculative
application. There is no detailed description of the recruitment process and candidates,
in order to search for current vacancies, must firstly indicate which business group they
are interested in to find the required position and are thus not allowed to set their search
according to their specialties (e.g. IT or Human Resources). The diversity page is
attractive, but more factual data would add more credibility.
Firm A
5 clicks from home page to on-line application
Link to Careers is on the homepage and takes the applicant straight to the on-line
application.
This web page has several areas that help build the impression that the recruitment
process is unbiased and fair (e.g. Tips& Hints offer among others a description of the
entire recruitment process), as well as offer an insight into the Firm As culture and thus
allow candidates to create a perception of future obligations (Business Principles and
Desired Skillset ). Profile of people of Firm A allows applicants to see the current
employees who are working in the region of interest and thus to create a real picture
about the opportunities and employees diversity that exist in the organisation.
Additionally, the Recruiting Calendar lists specific upcoming on-campus activities at
colleges and universities around the globe.

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Where Do I Fit In? quiz that asks a series of questions aimed at highlighting areas within
Firm A that might best match the skill set and preferences of the candidate might be an
especially useful tool for graduate and inexperienced applicants.
Although the web page distinguishes between positions for undergraduates/interns,
college graduates, advanced degree recipients and experienced hires, the only way in
which to apply to Firm A is via an on-line application, which can be accessed from every
page on its site. There is no list of current vacancies or a job alert option available.
Firm B
4 clicks from homepage to a search result of current vacancies or on-line
application
Link to Careers is on the homepage and takes applicant to the University level,
Entry and Experienced level and Branch Opportunities hyperlinks. Entry and
Experienced level is than divided into four main divisions: Institutional Securities, Global
Wealth Management Group, Investment Management and Discover Financial Services.
The Search for Global Career Opportunities allows applicants to apply directly on-line for
the position or in case of not finding a position of interest to submit a resume to the Firm
B resume database.
Inside the company offers extensive information, ranging from the detailed description
and graphic display of Workforce diversity, across the Annual report, Community
involvement, Company organisation to the Press room with latest news, that all together
allow to gain better understanding of the values and culture as well as of various
activities that Firm B is participating in.

Firm C
4 clicks from home page to a search result of current vacancies or speculative
application
How we are organised offers an easily understandable chart overview of the main three
businesses: global markets and investment banking, private client, and investment
management and a variety of corporate and enterprise groups that support the
businesses.

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FIRM D
5 clicks from home page to a search result of current vacancies, on-line
application and job alert
Great interactive home page that uses advanced technologies such as video streaming
in order to demonstrate the atmosphere of FIRM Ds culture by both visual and audio
means.
Out of Office Activities and Work Life Balance indicate that work-life balance is one of
the FIRM Ds key values.
The detailed description of the selection process might be seen as assurance of equal
opportunity policies and fair unbiased processes. Additionally, it might be (especially for
the newly qualified applicants) perceived as a kind of reassurance what might be
expected from applicants during the hiring process.
Candidates do not need to set up their search primarily according to a specific business
group but define their job search according to their specialisation or job level (various
menu bars), which might be, in the case of non-specific, non-financial positions (e.g. IT,
HR) a more straightforward solution.
Via Current Vacancies applicants can search the current opportunities, as well as
complete an on-line application and upload their CV. In case of not finding a suitable
position, applicants can register with FIRM D (My FIRM D Account) and automatically
receive an email alert if any new roles that match their job preferences appear.

FIRM E
7 clicks from home page to a search result of current vacancies or on-line
application
This is a user-unfriendly web page that is not providing an easy job search. It takes 5
clicks to reach the general vacancies site only, with the menu bar, where applicants can
select region, office location and eight roles. If there is no vacancy that suits the
applicants requirements, on-line application might be filled in, and if successful, a
member of the team will contact the applicant (as written on the web page - i.e. no option

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of an e-mail alert). FIRM E seems to advertise mainly for the middle management and
lower position on its website. The hyperlink How the recruitment process works provides
applicants with a description of the recruitment process.
Firm F
2 clicks from home page to a search result of current vacancies and additional
one click to the online application
The Career site offers easily and quickly accessible information about culture, values,
diversity and equality policies, as well as about business areas. There is a hyperlink at
the end of the search result of current vacancies that enables to apply on-line. Thus, if
an applicant does not find the required position, he/she can complete an on-line
application form that will enable to apply speculatively or be notified of relevant
vacancies being advertised on-line (receive an email job alert).
Firm G
4 clicks from home page to a search result of current vacancies and on-line
application
The Career Section offers a menu bar that allows searching for different functions such
as Technology, Research, Human Resource or Investment Banking that might be in
some cases easier to follow than the business groups or areas.
Extensive section if the Careers home page is devoted to commitment to diversity.

Firm H
3 clicks from home page to on-line application (search for current vacancies not
in offer/possible/optional)
Links to Social responsibility, Organisational structure and Identity and Mission etc not
available from Career home page.

Firm I

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4 clicks from home page to a search result of current vacancies and email job
alert
Hyperlinks to Values, Development and benefits and Diversity form the Career Home
page. Diversity link includes detailed action that PWC has taken to promote diversity and
ensure equal treatment.
Firm J
6 clicks from home page to a search result of current vacancies; 4 clicks from
home page to registration of CV and creation of applicants profile
Links to Job search and Apply on-line are a clear straightforward solution and easy to
follow.
Culture and Values, Diversity, Commitment to community, Work Environment and Your
Development are the most visible messages that Firm J deliver to their potential
candidates.
Firm K
5 clicks to submitting CV
The Job search is comprised of various divisions that make it uneasy to quickly search
for a required position. Additionally, Job search allows applicants to submit on-line the
current CV and covering letter quoting, the referenced position, or to send the
application by post; however, the search does not reflect the current vacancies. Some of
the Division links take applicants to various web pages that allow searching for actual
vacancies with a more detailed job specification, however, a large number of divisions
advertise fairly general descriptions for the posts.
A hyperlink to Learning and Development offers an extensive description of various tools
and programmes developed to help individual employees to choose the most
appropriate learning method. Work-life balance presents policies and strategy on this
issue as well as actual options available to employees.

Firm L
2 clicks to search result of current vacancies

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An exceptionally user-friendly, fast and easy to follow web page. The Career hyperlink
is right away divided into Experienced hires, Recent Graduates/Students and Select a
Location, which not only save several functionless clicks but also takes applicant
immediately to the sought-after page. If not satisfied with the search output, the
applicant has the choice of refining the search options straight from the results page.
Moreover, if the job search does not reveal any opportunities that match applicants
requirements, he/she can submit a general candidate profile as well as sXYZcribe to
the Access Firm L Career Newsletter to receive information on careers with Firm L.
Although the newsletter might act as e-mail job alert, the label gives impression of
receiving information rather than job hunting, which could be a sXYZtantially more
effective approach in the case of passive job seekers (the Recent Graduates hyperlink
allows registering for email alerts that offer not only careers and professional
qualifications an applicant might be interested in but also various events).
When browsing a Career web page, the crucial first impression might be decisive for
potential applicants. In addition to the visual effects and the user-friendly layout of the
web page, short response time and a low number of clicks to reach the required domain
is essential.
An attempt to deliver a true insight into the organisational culture is an important part of
every well-designed home page, as it fosters the future psychological contract between
the applicant and the organisation. Additionally, as workforce diversity has remarkably
increased in the last few decades, promotion and commitment to diversity seems to be
an important message that most of the organisations advertise to their applicants. Some
organisations focus mainly on presenting their diversity management strategies and
policies by senior management, contrary to more predicative and innovative approach of
others that allow seeing the employees current profiles as well as the actual workforce
data. The study on diversity recruiting by the Recruiting Roundtable (2004) suggests that
most organisations fail to attract diverse candidates and that the organisational web
pages often lack a convincing message about commitment to diversity or adequate
factual information.
A hyperlink between Current Vacancies or Job Search and the on-line (speculative)
application, if on the same page, encourages potential applicants to send their CV or to
create their own account and thus to register in case of not finding the required position.

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The on-line application process should be completed by an acknowledgement, which an

applicant receives after sending the application (Onley, 2005).
E-mail job alerts are becoming a frequent tool and many organisations place this anchor
on the page where the job search results appear. Additionally, the option to receive a
Career Newsletter that updates the potential applicant about various career information,
ranging from open evenings across new positions to opening of a new worldwide
location, might reach the passive job seekers in a more discreet way and assists in
creation of relationship between the organisation and the individual.
A detailed description of the recruitment process is often presented on career web pages
and might be seen as a commitment to standardised recruitment practices as well as
equal opportunities. By publicly showing the practices and processes, organisations
might not only be perceived as a fair employer but also allow the applicant to adjust
their expectations and to improve their preparation for the selection process.
Recruitment is a two-sided process, where both the organisation and the applicant take
the decision to accept or reject an offer. By providing extensive and coherent information
on their web page, organisations might be able to attract the best candidates. Career
sites should be designed to show the advantages of working in a particular organisation,
including workplace awards, employee benefits, work-life balance or commitments to the
community (Cappelli, 2001).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

New hiring metrics

Saratoga Institute (2003) suggests that new metrics that include a detailed analysis of
the source, of the quality of new hires and of the whole hiring process is necessary in
order to determine the return on investment. It is not only percentage of hires coming
from various sources, time to fill vacancy, cost per hire (internal and external costs) and
number of job openings but also the ratio of total hires relative to total head count, the

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average relocation package, requisition per recruiter, HR recruiter costs per requisition,
the average sign-on bonus and time to start (the number of calendar days from
requisition approval to the employees first day at work) that should facilitate
development of cost-effective recruiting practices. Furthermore, performance appraisal,
pay increase, turnover and absence rate of the newly hired employees should be an
important part of the new metric. Thus, adopting more detailed analysis of the hiring
process that might indicate potential gaps in the various stages of recruitment and
identify the most effective hiring methods and practices is recommended. Additionally,
with XYZs growing utilisation of direct recruitment, it might be useful to develop a new
scorecard for individual internal recruiters that would reflect both the new hiring metrics
and the figures on diversity of successful candidates.
Career web page
In order to be fully effective, the Career Web Page needs to not only be well-designed,
user-friendly and have short response time, but also deliver a true and honest insight
into the organisational culture, supported by specific information. Thus, showing the
advantages of working in a particular organisation, together with adequate factual
information (e.g. data with regards to employees diversity) and a more innovative
approach (e.g. use if advanced technologies such as video streaming or Career
Newsletter) are necessary features of successful job brand activities in the increasingly
competitive environment.

Although XYZ Career Web Page is attractive and well-designed, a few shortcomings
were identified and the recommendations are as follows:

Adoption of the One Click to Apply approach

Enable to refine/change job search options straight from the results page

Integration of the factual data with regards to employees diversity

Creation of a hyperlink between the Current Vacancies and the on-line

(speculative) application on the same page that allows applicant to send their CV
or to register immediately after the job search in case of not finding a suitable
vacancy

25

Creation of e-mail job alerts that automatically send e-mail alerts with jobs
matching the candidates formerly set profile.

Development of a Career Newsletter that updates the potential applicant about

various career information

Detailed description of the recruitment process that shows a commitment to

standardised and fair recruitment practices and equal opportunities.

Additionally, adoption of the some of the best practices identified by the Taleo Research,
e.g. to highlight the urgent hiring needs among the listings of job positions, create Email
to friend button and accept anonymous application is recommended.
Commercial Job boards
Totallyfinancial and eFinancial Careers were identified as the best on-line recruitment
sites specialising in financial sector (i.e. potentially represent an important source of
high-quality candidates and offer branding opportunities) and are widely used by XYZs
competitors. However, diversity of their job seekers might not be very high (e.g.
eFinancial Careers has only 21% of female job seekers according to NORAS 2006
Survey) and the war for talent on these commercial recruitment sites might be
extremely fierce due to great competition. Despite these limitations, the findings of this
project recommend considering both sites for future on-line recruitment. Additionally,
Accountancy Age Jobs and GAAPweb offer excellent services and adequate pricing as
well as solid base of clients. From the general on-line recruitment sites, Monster UK and
Total Jobs not only offer a diverse pool of well educated candidates but also rank among
the most popular commercial recruitment sites (2,5 and 2 million users per month).

Although referrals by current employees have been found in literature to be a highly

effective hiring source and are extensively supported by XYZs HR policies, as well as
actively utilized, they are not likely to assist in the sought-after diversity of workforce.
Thus, this report recommends approaching a balanced combination of diverse hiring
sources in order to reflect the great diversity of workforce.
UK and U.S.A. comparison

26

Internet penetration is greater in the U.S.A. (69% in January 2006) than in the UK (63%
in October 2005) and the average amount of time it took to fill a requisition was 48 days
in 2004 in the U.S.A. compared to nearly 51 days in the UK . Additionally, the U.S
organisations spent 19% of their recruitment advertising budget on on-line recruitment
advertising, compared to only 7,5% in the UK. Thus, although there are some
differences between the UK and the U.S.A., this project has not identified significant
variations in the on-line recruitment practices between these two countries. One of the
reasons might be the increased globalization and open access to information.
Additionally, as majority of the large job boards operate globally, practices and services
might become increasingly standardised.
Cost-benefit Analysis
In order to estimate potential cost reduction from greater utilisation of direct on-line
recruitment, it is necessary to know the average cost per hire by different recruiting
methods (Agency, Direct). Although the data differentiating the new hires by recruiting
method (50% Agency, 25% ihire and 25% Direct in Q1 and Q2 2006) has been provided
by XYZ for this project, the data on average cost per hire by different recruiting methods
has not been available and thus it was not possible to incorporate the cost-benefits
analysis into this report. One could consider the average salary in the financial sector as
agency cost (agency fee is usually equivalent to a percentage of the employees starting
salary), however, for a valid comparison, the direct-recruitment cost information is
lacking. To conclude, it is advisable to carry out a detailed cost-benefit analysis (if not in
existence yet), that would show the actual cost per hire, including the internal, external
and direct costs, differentiating by various recruiting methods. For example, the EMA
model developed by Gary Cluff (1983), or the Saratoga method offer a practical tool for
computing cost per hire (Brown, 2002).

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