The Future of E-Recruitment: With Application of Psychometric Test - Essay Example

?The Future of E-Recruitment: With Application of Psychometric Test Introduction Today’s world is highly technological. Commonly called globalization, the business and industry all over the globe are expanding and growing via the employment of technologies such as the Internet. In the national level, companies are systematically utilizing the medium of computer -- as well as the Web in general -- in dealing with important business-oriented transactions. Furthermore, electronic recruitment is being employed as a vital mode of generating a pool of potential employees. The primary reason why companies avail for this kind of recruitment method is essentially to save the expenditure characterized in job advertisement. However, there are potential drawbacks in the e-recruitment application within the realm of business and the economy. In the process, it is a wonder whether or not electronic recruitment will be the future mode of soliciting a number of suitable employees. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using e-recruitment as a form of job advertisement. It also examines e-recruitment in the context of psychology, of whether or not the principles of psychometric test are applicable to such e-cruitment. Of Background and Foreground Heery and Noon (2001) categorically define the concept of electronic recruitment, or simply e-recruitment, as a “recruitment of employees over the internet [sic, Internet].” Sometimes called e-cruitment, electronic recruitment generally characterizes the praxis of recruiting employees. Following Heery and Noon’s definition of the term “employee,” the practice of e-recruitment largely entails the process of generating a pool of candidates, via the Internet, from workers who are already “hired under a contract of employment.” On the other hand, Taylor differentiates the two distinct, though related, notions characterized in the human resource management: recruitment and selection. Taylor (2005) states that recruitment -- e-recruitment is, in itself, recruitment through the Internet medium -- is the activity in which the human resource manager or business-oriented organization solicits “applications from potential employees.” Conversely, the process of selection as a human resource management activity widely refers to the stage of decision-making concerning “which of the applicants is best suited to fill the vacancy in question” (Taylor, 2005). According to Heery and Noon (2001), the application of e-recruitment in generating a pool of candidates was originally practiced or “used mainly for technical and IT [or Information Technology] staff.” In the 1990s, the Web usage was an emerging phenomenon all over the globe; and a new field of technical profession inevitably emerged altogether. In such world-shaking epoch, e-recruitment as an idea and activity historically originated from this rising technical field. For one thing, the use of the computer technology -- both the hardware and the software component -- substantially requires knowledge and expertise of technology application; non-technical people could hardly open (i.e., turn on) the hardware, let alone navigate into its wide array of technological manipulation. In the advent of the 21st Century, however, the world of computer technology (e.g., the Internet) has become accessible and usable dramatically to a large number of people. Heery and Noon (2001), thus, say that e-recruitment has “grown rapidly in recent years,” which goes beyond the application or usage solely for the technical and IT staff. For E-Recruitment Rankin (2003) names two key advantages in using e-recruitment as a method of generating a pool of potential employees: speed and lower cost. His argument heavily relies on the premise that e-recruitment -- as a form of advertisement -- extends itself to the people who “might not see their (i.e., HR personnel) conventional paper-based advertisements” (Rankin, 2003). Saiyadain (2009) further elaborates the speed component of e-cruitment by saying that it “[s]aves time by posting the list of selected candidates, and generally, the selection decisions are quickly made.” This implies that publishing one’s advertisement (i.e., posting a job description) over the Internet is obviously easy and fast. Saiyadain (2009) generally presupposes two important things: first, that the HR personnel -- or specifically, the technical or IT staff from the company, which look for job applicants -- are knowledgeable on the process or procedure of posting their text-based advertisement in the Web; and second, that the same personnel have already finished drafting or writing their text material, which specifies the qualifications needed for the job applicant. Moreover, it is noteworthy that Saiyadain (2009) intuitively presumes that numerous people access and browse the Web, particularly which relates to online job hiring. Hopkins and Markham (2003), on the other hand, argue that the employment of e-recruitment not only makes job advertising “more effective” but also “easier for people to find vacancies.” Unlike Saiyadain, Hopkins and Markham subtly speak of the Web users, especially their practical interest involving online job vacancies; the two authors essentially take the view that a great number of people substantially avail and use the Internet. Like all types of advertisement, the process widely used by the target audience in finding and reading the e-recruitment text is very essential. Thus, it is empirical that the speed of posting the sponsor’s advertisement in the Web should equal to the speed of accessing and reading such text by potential and suitable employees. Undoubtedly, the usage of today’s Internet is a worldwide cultural phenomenon due mainly to the wider “sphere of people who can be accessed [using such technology]” (Mackay, 2007); in fact, it has become the number-one trend in personnel selection (Furnham, 2008). On matters of lower cost, Saiyadain (2009) expounds this by saying that e-recruitment activity or program “[s]aves cost by avoiding costly advertising in the print media.” Saiyadain (2009) notably contrasts the two different methods of advertising a particular job vacancy: the technological and the traditional. In the tradition way of advertisement, the invitation for job seekers is through the print media such as the newspaper, tabloid, postage, and the like. The traditional advertising is more expensive than Internet-based advertising, especially when the scope is much wider (e.g., national). Besides Saiyadain’s explanation, Taylor (2005) provides another two specific reasons why Internet recruitment is cost saving: (1) cuts down the number of brochures necessary in the recruitment procedure; and (2) cuts down the number of phone calls and text-based correspondence. Roberts cites a concrete example of how e-recruitment vitally saves cost for the sponsoring company; he states that the United Biscuits cuts down its recruitment costs by half upon establishing a new and comprehensive recruitment website called UBCareers.com (as cited in Taylor, 2005). Against E-Cruitment Schweyer (2004) argues that e-recruitment is indeed important but such talent management technology “won’t [fundamentally] solve the problem.” In general, there are five basic disadvantages or limitations in using e-recruitment for attracting a pool of job applicants. Taylor (2005) enumerates three of these four limitations characterized in Internet recruitment: (1) spamming dilemma; (2) fear involving breach of confidentiality; and (3) problems associated to Internet usage. First, the e-cruitment dilemma known as spamming significantly points to the bombardment of numerous applications from “unsuitable candidates” towards the sponsoring company or HR personnel. The term “unsuitable candidate” refers to the online text that are, by nature, a spam message; in computer-science jargon, a spam is a junk or unwanted electronic mail message. With the spamming dilemma, employers or recruiters are unavoidably faced with the need to provide more resources or means that primarily function as a short-listing technology. Taylor (2005), however, perceives this task as far from easy. He notes that most of the anti-spam software technology generally rejects or erases specific Curriculum Vitae (CV) that “do not include certain key words.” Second, e-recruitment is a perceived threat concerning a potential breach of confidentiality from the part of the job applicant. Taylor (2005) admits that this sort of fear -- resulting from the possible threat marked in the Internet recruitment -- is a problem of “perception [rather] than reality.” This implies that the fear -- that relates to the unwanted circulation of one’s CV in the cyberspace -- is substantially ungrounded or lacks sufficient evidence. Nevertheless, Taylor (2005) asserts that this type of fear can essentially “act as a barrier to [successful] e-recruitment.” It is fascinating to note that Taylor vitally compares, as an analogy, between the fear associated to Internet recruitment and the fear related to credit-card-number submission. Third, e-recruitment problem associated to Web usage, in general, refers to the many and varied variables that greatly cause “slow loading speeds” in accessing the electronic recruitment website (Taylor, 2005). Based from Taylor’s statement, these variables essentially take in three forms: the recruiter’s poor IT skills, bugs inherent in the system, and over-engineered website. In the recruiter’s poor technical skills, the technological problem that arises from this incompetency widely leads to, what Taylor calls, “computer crashes.” As a consequence, the image of the organization or company is badly damaged (Taylor, 2005). Taylor seems to imply that Internet-oriented difficulties or complexities apparent in the company’s official website generally impact its credibility and integrity. In the system’s bug, the software technology is invaded overwhelmingly with the viruses characterized by such technology. As a whole, bugs in the system -- either inherited from the outside source or from within -- largely delay the process of recruitment rather than accelerating it. Similar to poor IT skills and system’s viruses, an over-engineered or over-designed website substantially results to the online user’s irritation and eventually withdrawal. The fourth limitation or weakness in employing e-recruitment fundamentally challenges the primary purpose or objective of using such type of recruitment procedure. Smethurst (2004) critically presents the subtle problem of utilizing the Internet recruitment mainly for the purpose of reducing cost expenditure. The paradox of cost saving as a principal aim of e-recruitment application is that such objective downgrades the primacy of generating a pool of suitable potential employees. In whatever medium, recruitment in itself is about soliciting a number of job applicants who are competent and qualified in such job vacancy (Dale, 2003). If e-recruitment is about cost saving or even speed and not about qualified applicants, then such activity greatly defeats the very fabric of recruitment. Thite (2004) warns that going with the flow in the changing world requires vigilance in “maintain[ing] high standards.” It is noteworthy that Taylor’s and Smethurst’s views concerning the disadvantages or limitations of Internet recruitment greatly fail to mention on the faking of the job seeker’s character or ability. In the psychometric test, for instance, a job applicant may ask another intelligent person to answer for him or her the questions raised in such test. This crucial problem is the fifth disadvantage of employing e-recruitment since end-users accessing the Web are not visible within the watch of the HR personnel -- that is if the test is performed via the Internet without using camera or video-based component. On Evaluation and Assessment There are three major fields or paradigms in the praxis of recruitment and selection, namely, psychometric, social psychology, and person-organization fit paradigms (Billsberry, 2007). The most prominent, by far, is the psychometric paradigm in which the mental ability of the patient, client, or participant is scientifically measured, “placing it on a scale or metric” (Landy & Conte, 2010; Cook & Cripps, 2005). Smith and Smith (2005) significantly describe this paradigm (i.e., psychometric test) as “one of the jewels in the crown of modern psychology.” According to Groth-Marnat (2009), evaluating a particular psychological test has several factors to be considered; they are theoretical orientation, practical considerations, standardization, reliability, and validity. Of these factors, the elements of practicality, reliability, and validity are the most notable considerations in applying such evaluation in the context of e-recruitment. First, practical considerations are necessary in order to fully appreciate the importance -- conversely, the irrelevance -- of psychological test via the Web medium. Groth-Marnat (2009) defines the notion of practicality or “practical issues” as things or ideas that “relate more to the context and manner” of which the test is used. Groth-Marnat usually refers to the end-user’s level of education. To contextualize is very essential in pursuing a particular endeavor (i.e., recruitment). Smith and Smith (2005) essentially categorize this as the preparation stage, particularly in the person-specification sub-stage. Evidently, recruitment as a theory and practice follows a certain rule: to look and find for the right person for the right job. When the qualification of a potential employee is already determined, the examiner or the HR personnel ultimately requires to search, in actuality, for an applicant who fits to such given qualification. Groth-Marnat (2009) asserts that the test -- be it through a traditional method of test procedure or through a technological process (i.e., via the Internet) -- should be consistent with the level of understanding or mental capacity of the examinee or potential employee. In the e-recruitment context, the applicant’s technical skills in manipulating the computer and/or the Web are given an utmost consideration. Second, the reliability of a certain test is important for it reveals, among other things, the personality of the examinee. Groth-Marnat (2009) defines the concept of reliability as a degree of “stability, consistency, predictability, and accuracy” of a particular range of score in a similar test, which is executed or performed on different occasions. The value of reliability stresses on the error, if there is any, present in the system; this error, or range of errors, is due mainly to three factors, namely, a misreading of the items, poorly administered procedure, and the examinee’s varying mood (Groth-Marnat, 2009). Put into context, reliability appears to be inapplicable to the practice of electronic recruitment primarily because e-cruitment, in the conventional manner, is done only once. Perhaps the praxis of reliability becomes more relevant when applied to the selection process; obviously, selection is a difficult task to do .Under selection paradigm, Smith and Smith (2005) exhibit the manner of performing or using tests, which includes scoring and its interpretation. Third, the validity of a test is essential in order to determined what is being measured. Groth-Marnat (2009) normally describes the concept of validity as “what the test is to be accurate about.” It is empirical that any kind of test should be free from abstractness; Messick says that the test is said to be valid if it considers a particular context (as cited in Groth-Marnat, 2009). Whether or not the IQ test measures one’s intelligence is a good example of the test’s validity; IQ test clearly matches or predicts one’s academic standing, however, it does not validate his or her intelligence. It must be noted that the idea of intelligence is an abstract one. Conclusion The question of whether or not e-recruitment will be the future approach of generating a pool of suitable applicants remains, in actuality, to be seen. Theoretically speaking, e-recruitment has the potentiality of becoming the dominant mode of soliciting a number of possible employees. In several countries, in fact, e-recruitment is the mode of recruiting job-seekers. By and large, technology (e.g., computer/Internet) is changing and improving for the betterment of the society in particular and the world in general amidst its threat and danger, real or imagined. It is true that e-cruitment has many and varied weaknesses or disadvantages, nevertheless, such method of recruitment gradually resolves the problem inherent in the initial stage of its development. For instance, the dilemmas involving spamming and Internet usage are fundamentally technology-oriented, which can be resolved through an advanced software technology. And the problem concerning confidentiality is merely perceptual; in the progress of time, perhaps people will learn to value the importance and integrity of a particular Site or, in general, the Web. Indeed, Smethurst (2004) criticizes the allure of online recruitment; nonetheless, he has high hope that, in the near future, technology will be better than it is today. References Billsberry, J. (2007). 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