The largest generation of American workers in history is rapidly approaching retirement. As the 77 million Baby Boomers leave the workforce starting in 2011, there will not be enough workers to replace them. By some accounts, America may face a labor shortage on the order of 20% unfilled jobs by the end of this decade, with 2.6 jobs being created for every new worker entering the U.S. workforce. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 60%-80% of all new jobs are created by companies with less than 500 employees. This means that in the coming labor shortage, small and midsized companies will have to compete much harder for job applicants, especially the much sought-after “A” level candidates.

For years, large businesses have been incorporating online recruitment methods into their talent strategies. These companies have been increasingly successful using the Internet as a primary recruiting ground, especially in attracting top-performing candidates who are actively employed in other jobs.

In order to remain competitive, small and mid-size companies who have not yet embraced online recruiting need to integrate Internet resources and methods, and learn to save money by reducing cost-per-hire and time-to-hire.

Go where the People Are
The overwhelming majority of Americans now regularly use the Internet. Many also look for job opportunities online. The Pew Internet & American Life Project studies the way the Internet intersects with American life. In 2000 and 2002 the organization studied use of the Internet in job hunting. In the short span of two years, the number of Internet users who reported looking for a job online jumped by 60% to more than 52 million Americans. On any given day, more than four million Americans searched for new employment online. These numbers would likely trend even higher today, as 72% of all Americans go online, but more importantly, nearly all Generation X and Y workers (those between the ages of 21 and 41) regularly use the Internet.

According to a recent recruitment sourcing study by CareerXRoads, the Internet accounts for 29.6% of new hires, second only to employee referrals.

Make the most of your recruiting budget
A reduction in cost per hire provides the second rationale for companies to investigate online recruiting. Most small to mid-size companies face stretched budgets and resources at a time when recruiting demands are accelerating. Finding the most cost-effective methods to recruit top performers will be essential. A recent SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) study compared the cost per hire using Internet recruiting vs. a metropolitan newspaper classified advertisement. The cost per hire for the online strategy averaged just $377 while the newspaper method cost an average of $3,295 per hire.

Open the Door
In a 2005 survey conducted by CareerXroads and the Wall Street Journal’s website, CareerJournal.com, 85% of respondents reported visiting a corporate website for reasons other than job search but nevertheless looking at the company’s open positions. This is particularly interesting because this behavior is most likely associated with passive job seekers – those sought-after workers already employed at another company. Even more surprising, at least 64% subsequently applied for jobs discovered in this way. Encouraging these “virtual walk-ins” is a good reason to include a direct link to your career page in the standard navigation presented on every page of your corporate website. Try to minimize the number of clicks required to reach job descriptions from the company home page.

The New .Jobs Domain
The summer of 2005 brought an exciting new tool for online recruiters – the launch of the “.jobs” Internet domain. These URLs are available to any company wishing to create a website to promote job openings. Designed to eliminate scam employment websites and to help job seekers connect more directly with corporate websites, the .jobs domain is administered jointly with SHRM and each application is validated by a person. Each URL follows the same format (www.companyname.jobs).

Tom Embrescia, chairman of .jobs, anticipates that the .jobs domain will improve online recruiting in several ways. He explains that .jobs will “make the recruitment process simpler for companies to recruit; it will make recruiting uniform for all companies; and that means that job seekers will find the jobs faster and companies will be able to more quickly fill open positions.”

To launch a .jobs website, visit www.employmedia.com and fill out an application for your company.

Navigating the World of Job Boards
Internet job boards are the second most common form of online recruiting after using your own corporate website. Job boards work much like classified ads in the newspaper, except that job boards are global, allowing your company a much larger reach into the candidate pool. Job seekers usually use job boards for free. Most boards charge employers fees for posting jobs and searching resumes; some boards are free to both parties.

The Big 3: Monster.com, HotJobs, and CareerBuilder
Monster.com, Yahoo Hotjobs, and CareerBuilder are massive online employment boards that charge fees in exchange for employment ads and resume searching. Monster.com is the largest. All three have been widely utilized by both job seekers and employers since the start of Internet recruiting. Together, these three job boards surpassed $1.2 billion in revenue in 2004. They can present both advantages and disadvantages to your recruiting efforts.

Working in their favor, these job boards receive the most traffic of any employment websites and spend the most on advertising to raise awareness among job seekers. Additionally, these job boards have a truly global reach to help cast a large net.

On the other hand, some find the size of these job boards to be a hindrance. A single job posting can result in hundreds of resumes, many from applicants that are “stretching” their qualifications because it’s easy to apply for jobs online. Many companies find it difficult to process and review that many applicants. If a deluge of applications will prevent you and your staff from adequately responding to every applicant, you could turn off your ideal candidate.

Niche Boards Offer More Targeted Audience
Increasingly popular among recruiters and job seekers alike, “Niche” job boards are springing up across the Internet. These specialized job boards seek to serve a specific industry, geography, or specific group of workers. For positions that require specialized skills and experience, niche boards can help you advertise to a more targeted group of candidates. Though you may receive fewer resumes per posting than with general job boards, the candidates searching these boards might be more apt to have experience in your industry.

There are boards that target the engineering, insurance, software development, science, and telecommunications industries, to name a few. An easy way to start exploring the world of niche job boards is to visit www.nicheboards.com, a job board portal that brings together an alliance of twelve niche boards serving different groups and industries. Nicheboards.com receives 3 million visitors per month and posts more than 100,000 new jobs. But there are a multitude of other niche boards available to you. To find out which boards receive the most traffic, visit www.Topjobsites.com. There you can review the top ten niche job sites, as well as a list of the most-visited job sites in each industrial category.

Positioning Your Company for the Future with e-Recruiting Software
After deciding to embrace online recruiting techniques, HR managers face the challenges of integrating their online efforts into existing recruitment methods and tracking all of these activities together. Ultimately, an automated process that manages open positions as well as applicants can help companies fill each job with the right person at the right time.

Recruiting software can help optimize recruiting processes by automating the recruiting workflow, more accurately tracking sources of hire, and enabling companies to better analyze which efforts produce the best results. e-Recruiting software uses Web browser and self-service technology to reduce inquiries to the HR department, speed time-to-hire, and contain cost-per-hire. e-Recruiting software with self-service features can automate:

• Job requisition creation and approvals
• Career center and job board postings
• Employee referrals
• Online applications
• Resume submissions
• Applicant screening questions
• Interview scheduling & routing
• Correspondence with applicants
• On-boarding for new hires
• EEO and Affirmative Action reporting
• Sourcing, cost and time-to-hire reporting

The key to fully automating recruiting processes is choosing e-recruiting software that meets your company’s needs with the right balance of cost, features, simplicity, and integration to your HRMS system.