Recruiters can now use job filtering tools

With unemployment at an all-time low, job seekers are applying for any job they can find ‚ relevant to them or not. The end result is that agencies and recruiters are being flooded with thousands of job applications ‚ the majority of the applicants not being even remotely suitable for the position. To try and combat this, Jobs.co.za has launched its job filtering tool.

It is estimated that around 1 million South Africans lost their jobs in the last year as a result of the recession. The abundance of skilled and un-skilled job seekers currently on the job market puts South Africa’s unemployment at its highest in 25 years .

Before the recession, job seekers were careful not to apply for jobs that they were not suited to, however with so many desperate job seekers out there, companies are now being inundated with job applications, many of these applicants not suitably qualified or skilled for the positions they are applying for.

Gillian Meier, CEO of Jobs.co.za says: ‚Many companies we are servicing are desperate to have access to smarter filtering capabilities. In a recent survey conducted amongst South African employers and recruiters, automatic application screening and filtering tools were by far the most important feature on their recruitment wish lists.‚

Jobs.co.za already offers its clients the ability to apply a set of Q&A type pre-screening questions that job seekers are required to answer before they can complete the application process. The results of which sets the tone for exactly what the recruiter is looking for from the job applicant, thereby immediately initiating the short-listing process. In addition to the pre-screening questions, Jobs.co.za has just released its Job Application Email Filtering feature which has been designed to allow the recruiter the ability to automatically filter unsuitable applications from being sent to the recruiter’s mailbox. The applications still remain in the online application management suite for consideration: however the recruiter’s mailbox is no longer bombarded with unsuitable applications.

To further reduce time spent on sourcing potential candidates, Jobs.co.za has improved the functionality of their matching tool. The system gathers information from the job advertisement and then runs an automated database search through active job seeker profiles for matching criteria such as current and target job titles and a desired salary range. It then presents relevant matches to the recruiter in real-time as and when new job seekers enter the database.

Intelligent screening and filtering tools such as these are already very common features among most international job boards, however many South African service providers have not yet become as pioneering as their international counterparts. Continues Meier: ‚We are aware that a few of our local competitors do offer some kind of matching or profiling tools to assist recruiters in either better profiling the competencies of the applicant, or to bring potential matching candidates to the forefront. We are however not aware of any other local online recruitment solution providers that offer a range of screening, filtering and matching tools.‚

Dionna, a US recruiter who has been recruiting for Fortune 100 companies for the past seven years says that it is not unusual for companies to get hundreds, or even thousands of applicants for one job ad, of which only about 10% or less might be qualified for the position.

Meier says: ‚Recruiters and hiring managers are no longer interested in quantity applications, they want quality responses. Many of our clients would be delighted if we cut down the amount of time that they waste sorting through irrelevant CVs and applicants through the availability of screening and filtering tools. The local industry is extremely competitive. With recruiters and employers often comparing us to larger job boards, it is essential that our strategy continues to not only focus on taking the job advertisement to the passive job seekers, but also that we focus on enhancing capabilities to filter out any unsuitable applications.‚

While a number of smaller recruiters and employers might still be focusing on building up their CV database, the more established recruiters and employers will certainly benefit from the time and money saved on pre-screening candidates.

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