• Interview Exchange integrates with HigherEdJobs.com
• Interview Exchange integrates JobTarget OneClick "Job Posting Distribution Interface"
• Interview Exchange Launches Employee Referral Portal
• New solutions reduce recordkeeping expense, while finding better applicants
• "The CRM model for HR"
• Weddle's selects IE as one of the best employment-related resources available online

As the employment picture slowly but certainly shifts to resemble a seller's market, HR needs to think and act outside the proverbial box. As Dr. John Sullivan, a well-known thought leader in HR, recently observed, "…corporate sites are now little more than 'application takers' for active job seekers." 1

For many companies, he says, an approach modeled on customer relationship management (CRM) likely will replace the flawed approach of the past. The CRM model will help HR and recruiters "…better identify and segment their customers (potential and current candidates) in order to focus resources on the most promising ones…"

Sullivan recommends that recruiters shift the focus of corporate and other websites in ways that can improve recruiting effectiveness, including the following:

Source quality assessment
"Recruiters will sometimes find," Sullivan says, "that not a single resume from certain sources ever even make it…to hiring managers."

What's needed, he says, are packages that automatically measure which applicant sources produce the highest quality applicants. This knowledge-based approach enables recruiters to dynamically manage their source selection and avoid spending precious dollars on the weak ones.

We can help. Interview Exchange solutions include standard and value-added tools that automatically gather and report quality metrics for each applicant source used for specific job postings. By knowing the sources of top applicants, recruiters and hiring managers can quickly determine where to advertise for similar jobs in the future.

Likelihood of success tools
"It will become increasingly necessary," Sullivan predicts, "to discourage the least qualified from applying for jobs while simultaneously exciting the most qualified."

We can help. Our COREquisites applicant questionnaire does just that. When job seekers click the "Apply" button on your Careers website or job board, they are linked immediately to your InterviewExchange.com account.

Here they are invited to complete the application process. Besides submitting a resume, they are asked to complete the COREquisites questionnaire, a series of up to 10 Yes/No questions that focus directly on the minimum qualifications and other requirements for the job, such as availability and relocation.

At this point, most job seekers - typically 70-90% - opt out of the application process. The questionnaire informs them instantly that they possess less than an acceptable level of applicant qualifications. Translated into likelihood of success, the COREquisites process provides highly qualified applicants encouraging information on the relative likelihood of their success in the hiring process.

Conversely, of course, the system enables less qualified job seekers to find openings for which they are well matched and avoid those for which they're not.

The net result is fewer but more highly qualified applicants, little if any time spent dealing with unwanted resumes, lower recruiting costs and a pool of candidates with higher probability of on-the-job success.

As the hiring process slowly returns to one of attracting top talent, rather than simply managing resume flow, this process enables recruiters to more forcefully demonstrate their real value to the enterprise.

Job boards become metrics driven
"In an attempt to build their credibility," Sullivan says, "all major job boards will offer metrics to firms…" Among other items, the boards will become more eager to demonstrate their relative cost and the percentage of applicants who make it to the interview stage.

All well and good, but you have to wonder about the very credibility of such metrics. Each job board has a vested interest in demonstrating superior performance. Plus, how does one board collect metrics from its rivals?

Recruiters need objective source metrics. Our ROInsite™ suite of metrics tools is the ideal solution. Since the Interview Exchange manages applicants sourced from virtually any job board as well as print ads, the system automatically collects metrics from all sources and reports them through our multiuser, web-based interface.

So you get the information you need to monitor the relative return on investment (ROI) of all your applicant sources. In today's tight budget environment, this knowledge can help make you not only an astute recruiter, but a very savvy financial manager as well.

For more information or to schedule a demo, contact us at 508.836.3800 or office@interviewexchange.com.

Contact Dr. John Sullivan at johns@sfsu.edu. His website is www.drjohnsullivan.com.