APPLYING FOR A JOB ON A CORPORATE WEB SITE Finding a corporate web site and applying for a job will usually yield a 10% job hire success rate. I know this seems rather low and there are several reasons for this poor success rate. One of the main problems with corporate web posting sites is that very often they are poorly written. The candidate has to run a virtual gauntlet of filling out information, pasting resumes in whatever format the company wants, and etc. before sending the completed document to the company (I'd like to show some examples of which there are thousands but I'm a little afraid of being sued). Let it suffice to say that many of the jobs I fill as a headhunter are on a corporate web sites long before I fill them. Probably the number one reason few people get a job via the company web site is that Human Resources gets so many responses they are unable to review them all, or they just give them to a temporary employee, or a computer program to look for key words. If some of the key words are not there, the candidate is never contacted. I've placed many candidates whose resumes are in the corporation's file cabinet or in their data base. This can be a real bone of contention when a headhunter submits the resume of a great candidate, the company agrees, starts the interview process and someone in the company remembers they have seen the resume before. It often takes a company so long to review the resumes, that the individual has lost interest or found another job before being contacted. Some companies are playing what if scenarios with their web hiring sites. What if I fire the poorly performing process engineer, will I be able to find someone to replace him or her for equal or less money? So if you apply it could be months or never before you hear from anyone from the company. Another downside of sending your resume and filling out the requested information is that the company gets to see you in your underwear and the only thing you know about the company is what the company spin doctors or Wall Street tells you (anyone heard of Enron or Worldcom?). Obviously, I believe applying company for a job on the web site directly is preferable to posting resumes on a job board but research is a requirement. Fortunately, the Internet is a great research resource. I'll give some very basic company research information when I write my next blog.
10:21:53 PM 
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