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February 7, 2000

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Recruiters Discover Diverse Value In Web Sites
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Some businesses that work with BlackVoices. com participate in a regular feature called "On the Rise," which profiles black Americans who are succeeding at their careers. By reading those profiles, site visitors can gain insight into what it's like to work for those companies, Jackson says. Other career features include in-depth profiles on companies and industries, a database where BlackVoices.com visitors can post their resumés at no charge, and a searchable database of job openings at various companies.

NCR Corp. in Dayton, Ohio, was featured on BlackVoices.com, which helped expose the company to a greater pool of qualified employees, says Bernadine Johnson, director of strategic staffing. Internet recruiting in general has been so successful that NCR for the past two years has dedicated most of its recruiting budget to the Internet, she says.

"The passive job seeker is usually on the Internet," Johnson says. "We think there is more talent among people who are already employed." Other benefits to Internet recruiting are lower costs and the ability for companies to broaden access to information about them. She says the diversity Web sites help people "get to know who we are."

Colin Haupt, recruiting manager for software development vendor Prolifics, says about 75% of the New York company's recruiting efforts center on the Internet and includes Web sites such as Cybergrrl.com and WomenForHire.com.

"Diversity adds spark and energy to a company," he says. "We not only look for people with incredible careers. We look for people who bring a lot of life experience to the table, people who have gotten through challenges and who have other interests in life besides working. The diversity sites pertain to the culture that people have, and they sign up because of that."

In addition, Internet recruiting is reducing the amount of telephone cold-calling recruiters must do, according to Haupt. By using the Internet, potential employees can apply for open positions without having to take recruiters' calls at their workplace. "This creates tension for people, and I think the Internet is relieving that tension."

Photo by Edward Carreon Barbara Barnett, senior recruitment development manager for Nexgenix Inc. in Irvine, Calif., says she discovered diversity Web sites while working for two organizations, Women in Technology and the Society of Women Engineers. Nexgenix has seen good results from using these sites for diversity recruitment, and Nexgenix has expanded its recruiting on the Web to include other sites for minorities and women. "Nexgenix hasn't needed to institute a formal diversity program, because we have a very rich culture to begin with. We have a lot of women in high positions, as well as a real mix of ethnic groups," Barnett says. "This makes us more effective with our clients because we can address people of all types."

Barnett says the diversity Web sites are also beneficial to minority candidates. "They highlight them in a smaller database," she says. "They could get lost in the bigger job-search engines, and recruiters wouldn't find them as easily."

Janet Strazulla, an E-business systems developer recently hired by Nexgenix, began her job search by joining an organization called Forty Plus, which has chapters throughout the country. Forty Plus is a national organization for executives who are over the age of 40 and earn more than $40,000 per year, says Strazulla, director of retail marketing and business development for Nexgenix. She says Forty Plus helped her overcome initial job-hunting difficulties she encountered after selling the company she had owned and operated for eight years.

"They provided a slew of services that were extremely helpful," Strazulla says, including seminars and mock interviews. Forty Plus also operates a Web site where members can post resumés.

Nexgenix recruiter Barnett says she believes Forty Plus' services are invaluable, because many companies subtly indicate to recruiters that older workers are less desirable than young people. By giving recruiters an opportunity to evaluate the credentials of more-experienced individuals online, companies are likely to realize that building a culture that includes workers of different ages, backgrounds, and experiences increases their opportunities for success.

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