Choosing the Right Job Site: What Do HR Pros Look for at Different Career Levels?

There are so many job sites right now, and with the boom of e-recruitments reaching sky-high, everyone is lost. As an HR professional, you don't know which site to choose, and as a candidate, you do not know what to go for. Eventually, candidates post their resumes on all the job sites, and HR professionals also do the same. From an HR perspective, all the resumes look the same on Naukri.com.

So, my question is, what do you look for in a job site when you are seeking high-level positions, middle-level roles, and entry-level positions? Hope you all will be innovative and provide your honest feedback and ideas. 😊👍🤔

You are very right in saying all look the same. Some of the points I have taken care of while doing e-recruitment:

1. Taking the license for a period of 3 months and then renewing it after a gap of 6 months, etc. So at least one sees a fresh databank.
2. Looking at a candidate's resume but also looking at their references mentioned. At times, we do get a lot of insight from those.
3. Calling candidates from potential organizations and trying to understand their business and org structures, etc. Also asking them to refer more candidates within their team.
4. An interesting tool with which one does get to know the people within the org who are looking out.

In case anyone has more ideas, I would love to know.

Regards,
Sunaina

Thank you for the contribution, Sunaina.

It's quite interesting that India, as of now, is the hub of great jobs, but we don't have a clear platform that could streamline the recruitment process by helping us understand the candidate before contacting them. Organizational classification of candidates is indeed a very cool idea. However, the same concept would apply to the candidates' organizations as well.

LinkedIn is one good platform that provides amazing insights into candidates, especially for higher positions, as you can view their work, opinions, vision, and networking activities. This can greatly assist in determining the values a particular individual can bring to an organization.

Yes, you are right in saying that. Also, at times, some candidates who have really worked hard on their resumes, and you get to know some of the different profiles which are not conventional, especially related to processes, etc.

Regards,
Sunaina

True, we are looking for people who have worked on their careers and have had a focus on their work, rather than on people who have worked hard on their CVs. Genuine stuff or the unconventional is something that is needed for an organization to prosper.

So what else do we want from the job sites? At least by now, we know we want more...

This seems to be a discussion between us only. Yep, being an employer, I would be looking out for more options, but most importantly, I feel that the people do not know how to use job portals. For example, in my case, I was recruited through Naukri. But the day I got recruited, I ensured my CV was off it. This is not the case with most of the candidates, and hence one does land up wasting a lot of time, wherein all you hear is that they have just changed jobs or are not looking out for opportunities now!

Well! There are several parameters to look for a good fitment, a balance of good academics and skills. We prioritize on the basis of our requirements and further shortlist based on the emphasis he/she (candidate) has made in terms of indicating his/her professional responsibilities and strengths. We look for the clichéd term “different” ..What I mean to say is what's so different about the profile which makes it outstanding and worth approaching. Of course the online media is proliferating as the networking sites like Linkedin, Orkut etc. Orkut being more on a casual note, but if you look at the members and vastness, you can actually bank and create a huge database, company per se….

Nice entry, Shabnam.

You are right, Orkut cannot be used for headhunting high-profile people. However, on LinkedIn, you can, but you are only allowed to post jobs in your network, and people can only see the postings in their own network. So now, we need a professional networking platform with a large database. I don't think the list should end there.

So, Sunaina... we need to welcome more people to contribute to this thread. What do you say?

To be very honest, the entire module of job searches is that of Search Engine Optimization. Hence, we expect at least the keywords of the search to be mentioned. We need to make the CV search-friendly for employers to find it.

Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of candidates optimizing their resumes for SEO, because as HR professionals, we are aware of the keywords.

Regards,
Sunaina

PS: What is your real name?

Hi Sam,

This is a really good topic to discuss which you pitched in. Though I don't have much exposure towards recruitments, I can surely comment. Firstly, this is not only an issue at the employer's end. The problem starts at the job seeker level wherein he/she is not exactly aware of how recruiters search for profiles. Eventually, they miss adding those relevant and important keywords that catch the eye of recruiters during profile searches. On the contrary, recruiters are not trained on using portals when they join the organization, resulting in a lengthy search process when they start working.

In the end, the employer loses out on the number of profile views, and recruiters miss potential candidates. One thing we need to understand as employers is that we cannot change the job seeker's resume to match our search criteria. Therefore, we are left with only one option: training recruiters to refine their search for optimal resource utilization.

I've witnessed many times when recruiters add different permutations and combinations to the search string. It could be possible that a job seeker has presented the same information in two or three different ways and missed including the keyword that the recruiter is using in their profile search. In this scenario, who is the loser? Obviously, the employer.

Hope I have posted something relevant.

Regards,

Kanti

Well, first of all, there is only one right candidate for a particular job, but it is difficult to find that right candidate at the earliest. So, it's important to use the right keywords no matter which portal one is using. Even though you put in the right search, candidates have to be smart enough to ensure that their resume contains maximum keywords, which is not seen at all. Only 5 resumes out of 100 are worth going through, the rest are all a waste of time. But it's not their fault either because they don't know what words to put in so that their resume is easily available to the employer.

In such a scenario, the recruiter is completely at a loss. He/she has to be clear about a single and the smallest part of the job profile. This will help in finding a relevant CV.

Well, my dream job portal would be where classification is given as per companies. The complete organizational structure of the company and the people working there with CVs. That would be so cool. It would make our work faster.

Firstly, it's silly to look for a senior guy on the job sites. You will not get the right fit. You could get help in terms of understanding the role and the terminology of the profile. At least, you could rely on the job sites for the companies you could target in your search for suitable candidates.

To perform better and stand out, you should have a different approach... go headhunting!

Well, SEOing definitely sounds like a plan. 😏 And as for my real name, it's called Saurav Patnaik.

Well, first of all, there is only one right candidate for a particular job, but it is difficult to find that right candidate at the earliest. So, it's important to use the right keywords no matter which portal one is using. Even though you put in the right search, candidates have to be smart enough to ensure that their resume contains maximum keywords, which is not seen at all. Only 5 resumes out of 100 are worth going through; the rest are all a waste of time. However, it's not their fault either because they don't know what words to put in so that their resume is easily available to the employer. In such a scenario, the recruiter is completely at a loss. Therefore, he/she has to be clear about a single and the smallest part of the job profile. This will help in finding a relevant CV.

Very true, Giri! Along with the training for the recruiters, the candidates also need to be trained or informed about 'how to optimize their CVs with the correct and relevant keywords or job skills'.

Job sites don't work for massive hiring. You have to involve other sources too. For mid-size companies where the hiring is not too aggressive, it may work. Also, the biggest drawback of job portals is that the same database is accessed by several consultancies/companies/freelance recruiters, so the chances of duplication multiply. From a candidate's perspective, they may receive calls from several other sources regarding their application, making it uncertain about their acceptance after the lengthy interview process, which is extremely time-consuming.

I personally feel that internal references, headhunting, professional references, specific vendors, direct applicants, etc., work much better than job portals. Advertisements and job fairs work when it's a game of numbers.

Dear Shabnam,

You are very right but out here we are talking about what can you expect from the job sites. So, in case you have any feature or something that you think could be there and would help you, please put it down out here. :)

Na na... the job portal team will take care of that.

People, please... What is the basic idea? Are we serving the job sites, or are the job sites serving us? Let's get that clear first. Let's not mess around with the basics.

Regards,
Sunaina