Press Releases

Perception vs. Reality: Online Jobseeker Behavior Revealed

iLogos Research report overturns perceptions of online jobseeker behavior with first-line data

San Francisco, CA – June 25, 2001 –

iLogos Research (www.ilogosresearch.com), the leading research and consulting firm covering online human capital management (HCM) trends and best practice methodologies, today released the Perception vs. Reality: Jobseeker Behavior Online report. The report reveals specific information about online jobseeker behavior, their preferences and expectations regarding large corporations conducting online recruiting. iLogos Research is a division of Recruitsoft, Inc., the leading provider of online hiring management solutions. iLogos has been providing information about the adoption of corporate Web site recruiting since 1997.

The study challenges widely held perceptions about jobseekers. For example, experienced candidates ARE seeking jobs online; job boards are NOT the largest driver of online traffic for large corporations; and online candidates WILL answer skills-based questions. The Perception vs. Reality: Jobseeker Behavior Online report finds almost half of online jobseekers are experienced, employed professionals interested in using corporate career pages for researching and applying for positions via the Internet. Furthermore, three times as many candidates come to the corporate Web site Careers section from “word of mouth” and from a homepage/within-the-site link than from job boards. The survey also indicates that nearly 90 percent of Career Web site visitors will provide answers to skills-based questions.

Moreover, the report puts to rest a common misconception that only the jobless surf the Web for employment. Based on the survey, 72 percent of passive job seekers visiting the corporate Web site Careers sections are employed, while 21 percent are happily employed. Forty percent of happily employed visitors arrive at the careers section via links from the corporate Web site homepage or elsewhere within the site.

“The results we have compiled about the behavior of job seekers on Fortune 500 Web sites provide organizations seeking to identify candidates of the highest caliber, with information aimed to enhance and leverage corporate recruiting practices,” said Yves Lermusiaux, founder and president of iLogos Research. He added, “By addressing some of the misconceptions, corporations can start to implement best practices based on facts, not perceptions. Those best practices not only enhance the quality of the overall process, but also bring better efficiencies to many organizations in search of greater cost savings, favorably impacting the bottom-line. This report offers valuable insights for large corporations focused on achieving a high return on their hiring investment.”

How career Web site visitors behave
Overall, online job seekers are willing to devote the time and effort necessary to apply online. Ninety-two percent of candidates are willing to spend more than 6 minutes applying to a job of high interest.

A large majority of candidates (88 percent) are also willing to answer questions about skills in an online application, an unprecedented opportunity for corporations to arrive at a short-list of top candidates quickly and more effectively.

iLogos Research Vice President Alice Snell said, “Candidates are willing to use different technologies available online to interact with corporations looking to fill positions within the organization, including skills-based recruiting. More than half of survey respondents are prepared to provide profile information, including: job experience, salary range, personal references and personality profiles. Candidates also appreciate the opportunity to apply anonymously.”

About iLogos Research
iLogos Research (www.ilogosresearch.com) analyzes best practices and innovative information technologies to provide intelligence, strategies and results-based consulting for large corporations, to optimize human capital assets. The research-driven consulting practice produces primary data on industry trends, impact of new technologies, best practice methodologies and benchmarking to provide fundamental metrics and operational guidance. Founded in 1997 as iLogos Internet Intelligence, iLogos was acquired by Recruitsoft in September 1999 and today remains the most rigorous source of data for human capital Internet-related issues. Among iLogos published reports and studies are Global 500 Web Site Recruiting, 2001 Survey; Best Practices for Fortune 500 Career Web Site Recruiting, 2000; Lessons from the Global 500, 1999; and Achieving Results with Internet Recruiting, 1998.

About Recruitsoft
Recruitsoft, Inc. powers enterprise recruiting and talent optimization for leading companies across many industries. Among Recruitsoft clients are Hewlett Packard, Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), Agilent, Hasbro, American Airlines, United Airlines, Deloitte & Touche, Bombardier Aerospace and Transportation, MetLife, Cabletron Systems (NYSE: CS), and Sutter Health. Recruitsoft is the first company to align talent demand and supply—electronically—to reduce reliance on third-party intermediaries in the hiring, internal talent matching/deployment and retention processes. The company's solution leads to faster time-to-contribution, lower cost-per-hire, and ultimately, increased quality of hires. Recruitsoft is considered to be the best-practice ASP for recruitment management solutions, based on its proprietary ACE Recruiting™ methodology, designed in collaboration with large corporations to engineer and streamline the corporate recruiting and internal talent matching and deployment processes. Recruitsoft is a contributing member of the HR-XML consortium.

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Press Contacts:
Krista Canfield
Tel: 415.905.4011
e-mail: kcanfield@horngroup.com