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November 13, 2000

Niche Recruiting Sites Attract Attention

Site matches employers with current or former employees of Big Five accounting firms

More on online recruiting:

Best Practices For E-Recruiting (11/06/00)

InternetWeek: Corporate Training--The E-Learning Center (11/06/00)

InternetWeek: Exchanges For Recruiters(10/9/00)

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n the vast landscape of job-search Web sites, ExBigFive.com Inc. has carved out a niche: former and current employees of the major accounting and consulting firms who are looking for new positions. Former PricewaterhouseCoopers employee J.D. DeRosa brought the site online three months ago.

ExBigFive's narrow focus appeals to Ray Morrison, director of people matters at Fourth Floor Consulting in Chicago, who views the site as a screening process. "One my of big complaints about Web-based recruiting resources is that most of them are incredibly broad, so it puts a lot of the onus on users to refine the information and get what they really want," he says. ExBigFive's focus on candidates with specific consulting backgrounds helps Morrison narrow his search. If a person worked for and was trained by a Big Five company, "they've been in high-pressure situations, and they know how to deal with clients," DeRosa says.

Morrison's frustration with generic Web recruiting is shared by others, says Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li. Niche sites can accelerate searches if employers are seeking a particular type of candidate. Narrowly focused recruiting sites are becoming common: USCreative.com Inc., aimed at graphic designers and visual-media talent, and eProNet.com, which has exclusive agreements with 17 university alumni groups, including MIT, Stanford, and Yale, are attracting attention.

ExBigFive's database searches are free, and companies pay $6,500 for each new hire. Since headhunters' fees can range upward of 25% of new hires' base salaries, the site's flat-fee approach can save companies thousands of dollars, DeRosa says.

Through ExBigFive, employers can E-mail potential candidates regarding job openings, and the candidates' contact information remains cloaked until they choose to release it. Companies such as Intel, Oracle, and Lucent Technologies have signed up to access the site's database of 4,000 candidates.

J.D. DeRosa Photo by Edward Carreon About 60% of job requests received by the site are for IT spots, DeRosa says. One of those requests came from Computer Sciences Corp. in Atlanta, which hired former PricewaterhouseCoopers employee Jaime Hollingsworth as an application builder in August. Hollingsworth, who began looking for a new position in June, says ExBigFive's targeted approach understood the value of her skills. She also appreciated having a temporary buffer before establishing direct contact with potential employers. Says Hollingsworth, "When you have a technology background, you can get inundated with bogus calls, so it's nice to have an intermediary."