Its time to switch to E-Recruitment for Government Sector

E-recruitment is the process of personnel recruitment using electronic resources, in particular the internet. Companies and recruitment agents have moved much of their recruitment process online so as to improve the speed by which job candidates can be matched with live vacancies. Using database technologies, and online job advertising boards and search engines, employers can now fill posts in a fraction of the time previously possible. Using an online e-Recruitment system will save the employer time as usually they can rate the E-Candidate and several persons in HR can independently review E-Candidates.

In Pakistan most of the Private sector organizations have switched to E-recruitment but government sector which is a major source of jobs is still using the old traditional methods of recruitment. These methods are not only time consuming and tiring but they also are costly both for the company and for the applicant. Due to this hassle and effort sometimes potential applicants do not apply for vacancies available in government sector. As a result of this some times the particular department or organization has to re advertise the post to fill in the vacancy. Moreover through traditional recruitment short listing is not easy as Recruiter has to go through each and every resume and application some of which are totally irrelevant and as a result of this time is wasted and some time potential applicants are not shortlisted in work pressure and hassle. Though Government is boasting much about e-commerce and IT related steps but in case of E-recruitment no serious steps have been taken yet. Therefore it is the need of the time that Government should also consider to move to E-recruitment and should also use traditional recruitment methods for those who don’t have access to internet.

Following are some benefits of E-Recruitment.

·         Cost effective

Advertising a job vacancy on official company website costs nothing while putting one in news paper usually costs a couple of thousand rupees. Moreover if advertisement is made through some recruitment site that too is cheaper than traditional methods. So in this way cost can be reduced and can be used somewhere else.

·         Online recruitment is quick

Online recruitment doesn’t take much time as traditional recruitment. As it involves simple and easy process anyone can apply anytime from anywhere. Where as in case of traditional recruitment one has to get the application or resume printed and then has to courier it to respective organization which requires 3-4 days on average for just sending the application.

·         Online recruitment gives a better chance of success

Traditional print advertising either it is national or local press faces limitations: the success of a vacancy advertisement depends on people happening upon the ad on a particular page in a particular issue. Online recruitment is different. A job vacancy advertisement on a website is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for as long as organization desire. Candidates can come back to it again and again. Moreover they can edit their applications anytime.

·         Online recruitment gives a bigger audience

Online recruitment gives bigger pool of organization. Moreover applicants living abroad can easily search jobs and apply for them. So online recruitment provides an organization access to global applicants where as traditional recruitment is limited to local or national residents.

Moreover

·         Online recruitment is easy

·         It enhances the applicant experience.

·         It communicates the employer's image and culture better.

·         Provide better management information on applicants

·         Easy to find the right candidate for the job.

According to one survey, internet postings result in nearly ten times as many hires as newspaper advertisements.

So Government Sector should move to E-Recruitment but shouldn’t abolish the traditional recruiting methods too as till now most of the people in Pakistan don’t have access to internet.