II.

LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Job Procurement: Old and New Ways:
Job seeking usually involves different ways to look for jobs such as through
personal contacts, direct telephone calls to employers, job agency office,
scanning online job listings, etc. [3]. Before the Internet, became widely uses
as a method of seeking jobs, jobseekers spent a lots of time using various
methods to look for job openings. Today, jobseekers use online methods
which are very convenient and save a lot of time. Galanaki [5] lists the
following methods to be the traditional (old) ways for recruitment:
Employment recruitment agencies
Job fairs
Advertising in the mass media such as newspapers
Advertisement in television and radio
Management Consultants
Existing employee contacts
Schools colleges or universities students services department
Workers or professional referrals
These old job seeking methods are too slow, stressful, challenging and also
lack quality [6]. In addition, the applicants have to consider the cost and the
amount of time to get the information they need, and other preparations they
have to make. Finding all available job vacancies is a main step at in the jobseeking process.
The Internet is now a powerful tool that jobseekers can use. Today, there are
many sites that advertise job positions to be filled by people with certain
skills in various fields. The Internet plays an important role in the area of
human resource planning and development. Most planning and development
organizations are now using computer technology and the Internet for staff
recruitment. It should be noted that although the Internet has facilitated the
process of job-seeking, it has not replaced the traditional methods,
completely.
B. Importance of Job Portals
In the age of technology, the Internet has become the main source of
information for jobseekers. Large corporations, institutions, and universities
include information on career prospects on their websites. According to a
survey, 70% of the workforce uses websites or portals on the Internet to
search for jobs in France. These websites or portals provide a search engine
to access information on job opportunities [7].
Sulaiman and Burke [8] found that most employers are keen to use online
recruitment methods of getting staff. He mentioned that online recruitment
methods have the ability to identify the best applicants. That is the reason
why more developed countries such as Malaysia have started to use online
job portal as one of the important way to recruit people to fill job vacancies. A
study done in 2006, found that 21% of internet users in the EU used the web

to search for jobs or to send job applications. In 2007, this had increased to
67% for unemployed people [5].
Most companies publish their job vacancies on their website, or use online
jobsites. These methods result in great saving in costs. Mochol and Nixon [9]
stated that the use of semantic web technology gives market transparency,
higher speed of procurement but reduced transaction cost. Today, the
Internet is used for a large number of business transactions. People find the
Internet to be an effective communication tool. In a report in 2005, it was
found that 90% of jobseekers in Germany use the internet to look for jobs. A
reason for this high rate of Internet is that applicants are young and highly
qualified and use the internet a lot, and many companies published their job
opportunities online and via their portal.
Job portals are the starting point of jobseekers when searching for jobs. Thus,
some job portals charge employers high fees to publish information on job
vacancies. In spite of this, many employers still continue to advertise or publish
information on job opportunities on the job portal, but limited in order to keep
costs down. Many employers still believe that a jobseeker will visit job portals
when searching for job vacancies [10].
A good job portal can also support knowledge sharing among the members. The
number of online job portals continues to increase. It is believed that three
quarters of people who are searching for jobs, use the internet and online
portals. Gangle [4] stated that online recruitment has the following advantages:
employers can identify a large number of eligible job seekers and get their
information easily. It means that companies or organizations can extend the
search domain, hence, they have better prospect of selecting the most qualified
candidates. Internet provides employers a way to attract a higher number of
candidates, especially, those who fulfill the job requirements. With online
recruitment, people have access to the job information from anywhere in the
world, while with the newspaper, information is disseminated at local level. One
key aspect of job portal is the cost. Companies spend less to publish or advertise
job vacancies on the portals or websites, as compared to the use of other media
such as newspaper or job fairs. Furthermore, online recruitment is very fast, and
saves time. Once the employers upload the job vacancy on the portal, the
jobseekers are able to view it and send in their resume.
Therefore, cost and time saving are two significant advantages of job portals.
Ganalaki [5], cited in Rosita & Nadianatra (2007), stated that the Internet is a
tool without borders, and is an excellent method to reach a worldwide audience.

C. Features of Job Portals

One of the ways to improve employment mobility is to provide online job
offer services. Online job portals can help jobseekers as they contain all
required information about available vacancies in a single point. Such portals

enhance efficiency in job recruitment as applicants can match their

qualifications and skills to the requirements of employers. Generally,
searching for jobs on the internet involves a process of information collecting
because the jobseeker gathers information contained in the job portals,
during the search [11].
A good job portal shares information and experiences with its
members/users. This save time and efforts and better decisions can be made
[12]. Job openings requirements can be matched to an applicants
qualification and skills. In this way, job portals return not only the precise
matches but also return the most similar match. The members of the
European Commission (EC) stated that online job portals should have quite
similar characteristics that include: an online searchable database of
positions for job searcher; facilities to send CVs to the website; email alerts of
jobs which match the users profile; extra instruction, for example, about
working in foreign countries or career guidance; the capability to manage job
applications; employers must have the ability to publish and manage job
positions, search the CV database; and have online contact with potential
jobseekers.

Diversification Trend in Indian Job Portal Industry

In the rising era of social media, Indian recruitment industry especially, job portals segment is
going through a bit of struggling though an interesting period. Though the Indian numbers of
Social Media penetration are much lesser (5% India Vs 60% USA), it has certainly made top job
portals to take a notice of this trend and respond to it rather re-actively.
The traditional job portal industry in India is heavily dominated by Naukri.com (InfoEdge Ltd.) and
MonsterIndia.com (Subsidiary of Monster.com). The other players like TimesJobs.com, Shine.com,
Careerbuilder.com etc. has been on the edge, struggling for their market share for a long time.
Today corporate companies are looking at social media channels to lower their sourcing costs,
increasing candidate engagement and enhancing employer brand. In fact, a professional
networking site like LinkedIn has been keeping a strong pressure on job portals. The effect of this
trend has been felt by job portals significantly in past couple of years. Naukri.com and
Monster.com has been under pressure to increase their profit shares and market value in the
current scenario. Both of these houses contributes to an overall INR 600 Crores (120 Million USD)
turnover in between them.
This market trend has definitely led a paradigm shift in a way job portals are looking at their
internal business model and diversifying their service stream. The days are gone when job portals
were happy to maintain their candidate database and earn yearly service contracts. Today they can
not simply depend on their traditional model and there is a greater need to diversify their service
streams. Market is already witnessing some of the new equations that are being tested by many of
these players. Heres a run-down of some of the most notable diversifications:
Naukri.com Segmentation and Referrals Tool

Naukri is by far the biggest job portal in India with around INR 330 crores of yearly turnovers.
Recently they have launched FirstNaukri.com and NaukriPremium.com as new services for the
segmented and focused target audience. FirstNaukri.com as name suggest is targeted for
graduates. In this case, Naukri is offering assessment tools, on-boarding platform and employer
branding options for employers. Similarly, they are also providing options like events employerconnect / engagement tools, contests and consulting for students. On the other hand, they have
also targeted high-end segment of executive / leadership level candidates
throughNaukriPremium.com. This portal is a focuses on senior level candidates who are typically
above INR 15 lakh CTC.
Interestingly, Naukri has also launched the Internal Referral Tool that is integrated to their job
portals. This tool lets recruiters to open their Naukri jobs internally to employees and receive
candidates. This move certainly suggests that Naukri is looking at a different segment of business.
This may be a good option for small to medium enterprises that do not have in-house system for
referrals. Nevertheless, this certainly raises the risk of exposing internal associates to Naukri and
other related data security concerns.

MonsterIndia.com Integrating Social and Segmentation

Monsters BeKnown, the social media networking tool is around for past one year or so, but have
not earned much success globally. They are now trying to integrate Be Known in their job search
results page to gain momentum. I recently learned that Monster has added Social Connections to
their job listing which lets candidate to view who all in their Be Known network works in that
company. This feature is yet to release in India, but it certainly shows the path going ahead.
In addition to above, MonsterIndia has recently launched Monster College in their service offerings.
Monster College connects colleges to recruiters. It offers to strengthen a relationship between
college T&P officers with company HRs. They also have assessment tools for filtering candidates
presented to HR.

Shine.com / MyParichay Partnership Social Referrals Meets Job Portal

MyParichay is a Summit HR start-up is a social media employee referral tool in Indian market. It
has announced a partnership with Shine.com to let recruiter shares their jobs on MyParichay
through the network of company associates. This is an interesting development indeed as a Job
portal meets Social Media meets Employee Referrals scenario. This partnership will definitely give
a way to new equations in the industry if it creates a successful case-study.

Headhonchos Senior Hiring Job Portal

One of the oldest and largest executive search company ABC Consultants Ltd has initiated
HeadHonchos last year to build a new job portal that is targeted to senior / leadership / executive
level candidates. Interestingly, they used LinkedIn in big way initially to promote HeadHonchos
to lure candidates into their database. They work on the candidate-drive pricing model and provide
premier level services to candidates from consulting perspective.

I am sure this is a start of new partnerships, relationships and diversification in until now a very
traditional job portal market in India. Job portals are slowly, but surely acknowledging the entry of
new-age social media and choose to work with them rather than competing.
LinkedIn is becoming one of the fastest growing recruitment solution providers in India. They now
have a special India pricing to cater domestic needs. Recruitment organizations are definitely
inclining towards their recruitment solutions which offer a unique combination of passive candidate
search, job postings and employer branding. Job portal needs to continue driving towards
diversification and being more Socially-Connected with their audience in order to sustain and
grow. They need to realize that they can no longer just expect candidates to visit their portals, but
rather they need to be proactively follow the candidates wherever they are :).

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF E-RECRUITMENT :

Rynes, Bretz, & Gerhart, (1991) conducted a study of college graduates who
were on the job market. They found that after site visits approximately 30 per
cent of the individuals in their sample turned down job offers from employers
to which they were initially attracted. Two of the factors that influenced
individuals' reactions to a site visit were being treated professionally and
meeting high-status people [196].
According to a national survey of 410 HR professionals and 800 job seekers
conducted by JWT specialized Communications reported by Starcke (1996),
the number of people tapping into the internet to post or find jobs was
expected to double in next year. The survey also reported that internet
recruiting offers advantages such as: access to more people and a broader
selection of applicants, the ability to target the type of people needed, access
to people with a technical background who know computers, convenience
and quicker response and turnaround, ease of use and economy [209].
In an earlier survey, Austin Knight Inc., a recruitment and employee
communications firm based in Sausalito, Calif reported by Starcke (1996),
also projected growth in Internet recruiting. The firm's research showed that
of 210 companies polled in phone interviews, 93 per cent say they expect to
use the Internet more intensively for recruiting in the future. The Austin
Knight survey also showed two-thirds of the companies surveyed consider
the Internet 81 more cost-effective than most or all other available
recruitment methods. Companies that had used the Internet longer or posted
more jobs rated the Internet's cost effectiveness higher than did other firms
[209].
Dysart (1999) discusses the use of Internet search engines, online
application forms, email autoresponders, and mailing lists by HR
departments. This study argues that these innovations allow HR departments
to link corporate datasets to external websites, enabling applicants to
interact with the company more efficiently. In line with above-mentioned
articles, Dysart cautions that integration of the Internet should be well
planned [59].
According to the fourth annual recruitment survey by the Institute of
Personnel and Development, nearly half of all employers were then using the
Internet to recruit new staff, The survey, released on Tuesday 23 May 2000,
highlighted the growth in usage from 36 per cent in 1999 to 47 per cent in
2000. The survey also explored for the first time how electronic media were
being used as part of the recruitment process. Three main uses had been
highlighted; these were the use of application forms being sent in by e-mail
reported by 66 per cent of respondents; companies putting vacancies on
their own intranets reported by 62 per cent of respondents; and use of their
own Web sites to advertise positions reported by 43 per cent of respondents.
The Internet was more likely to be used to advertise vacancies for

professional staff than it was for managerial 42 per cent against 36 per cent,
or skilled manual workers 23 per cent; though there had been a marked
increase in usage for all areas, in particular skilled manuals where usage had
doubled in a year from 12 per cent to 23 per cent [72].
Bolles (2001) in his book What color is your parachute? reported that in past
years the number of rsums received from an advertisement would be 20 to
1,000. He mentioned that ads in newspapers receive a response within 24 to
96 hours, with the third day usually being the peak day. This number had
significantly dropped, primarily because of the Internet and the low
unemployment rate [20].
Cober et al. (2001) in his research on What do the Best Companies do?
rated a select group of companies recruitment web sites on characteristics
such as graphics, layout, key 82 information (e.g., compensation), and
reading level. Using this coding scheme, they reported that most of these
companies had at least some information on benefits and organizational
culture. Relatively few of these companies provided information about such
items as vision or future of the organization. The estimated reading level was
at the 11th grade level. Interestingly, reading level was negatively correlated
with overall evaluation of the companys recruitment web site. The more
aesthetically pleasing the web site, the more positively it was rated as well
[44].
Research of the status quo in e-recruitment, an empirical survey focusing on
online career networks in Germany conducted by Martin, Pfeffer, and Ruda
(2002) investigated business related literature and empirical data based on
standardised questionnaire. The participants of the survey consisted of 110
students of the University of Applied Sciences in Zweibrucken and GieBenfriedberg. The authors found that majority of the interviewees were familiar
with erecruitment. Nearly four fifths of the participants had already
repeatedly searched job offers on online career networks and the majority of
services provided were known to at least half of the participants. Although
not all of the numerous services provided by online career networks were
appreciated by the polled students [152].
Kumar (2003) has analyzed the impact of the Internet on human resource
management from employees and employers perspectives. Based on
authors industry interactions and statistics, answers were sought to many
pertinent questions relating to quality human resource initiatives and its link
with technologically adept workforce. The author concluded that with the
internet all types of jobs and employees could be easily found and acquired
to fill specific needs. According to him the internet can assist employees in
finding employment opportunities faster and easier than ever before [131].
An e-recruitment study supported by institute of employment studies
research network, Kerrin and Kettley (2003) conducted a survey using
evidence based research and a series of case 83 studies to find out the

overall trend in e-recruitment. The IES survey of 50 organizations reported

that the primary drivers behind the decisions to pursue e-recruitment were to
improve corporate image, reduce recruitment cost, reduce administrative
burden and employ better tools for the recruitment team. The survey
reported that, out of 50 organizations, a large proportion were using online
application forms (67 per cent) [122].
A survey conducted by marketresearch.com (2006), on the E-Recruitment
market, found that the, major trends of e- recruitment were: 1. More
advanced tools for candidate management on corporate career sites; 2.
Increasing use of social networking technologies (Facebook, LinkedIn) to
reach candidates; and 3. More opportunities for specialists in the market.
Starr (2006) reviewed the online recruiting industry since the mid 1990s and
suggested that in recent years job boards have become very multifunctional:
They help to manage the entire jobhunting process, including actual job
search, interview tips, and resume- and cover-letter-writing tips [208].