A recent survey conducted by Weddles shows that “the Internet is among the most effective methods recruiters now have for acquiring top talent and, ultimately, for winning the War for the Best Talent.” The results of employers polled regarding the caliber of candidates hired from online recruiting versus employees hired via other sources are as follows:

31.3% said they were among their best employees

47.9% said they were above average employees

16.7% said they were average employees

2.1% said they were below average employees

2.0% had no opinion

With half of all employers getting 25% of all new hires orginating from online sources, the internet proves to be an effective way to recruit top talent for companies.

According to the article posted on Weddles.com, in the early 1990s, techie positions accounted for most online hires. In a recent survey, mid-level professional positions account for slightly less that 50% of online hires. Executive positions and hourly positions accounted for the lowest percentage of online hires. Even though the executive searches account for a small percentage of online hires(3.9%), 11.5% of recruiters and employers said they primarily use the Internet for such openings

The Internet has become an accepted way to find employment opportunities in the full range of permanent positions available in today’s organizations.

Although internet job boards such as the Energy Jobs Network provide and invaluable service to HR departments by giving them access to jobseekers that are wanting to work in the energy industry, there are other approaches to finding passive jobseekers that may be an asset to your company. The complex boolean search capabilities available on the internet, allow you to search very specific criteria for the types of employees for which you are looking. This article published on the NEHRA website gives techniques for conducting the narrow searches that you may need.

Peter Weddle with the International Association of Employment Websites suggests that the best and brightest “are almost always employed, so you have to convince them to go from the devil they know (their current employer) to the devil they don’t (your employer).” He has some suggestions about advertising your open positions so as to attract some of the best and brightest. He suggests when writing the job description, “you must get rid of generic ad content and highlight the factors that matter most to them.” He makes several other observations about the best and the brightest and how to best attract those candidates when writing your ad.