Page 99 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

78 3 Retailing in Electronic Commerce: Products and Services

app on Facebook is for job seekers and employers to con- efits of using new tools like video conferencing to interview
nect, and they also have interesting articles regarding the job and connect with candidates from remote locations.
market. (See facebook.com/jobcastnet.) Another way for
employers and job seekers to connect via Facebook is
through a company called FindEmployment (facebook.com/ Benefits and Limitations of the Electronic
findemployment), which also offers tips and suggestions for Job Market
job seekers. A similar service is provided by linkedin.com/
jobs. Craigslist, for example, claims more than one million The online job market has many benefits for both job seekers
new job listings every month. The LinkedIn search engine
and recruiters. The major advantages are shown in Table 3.3.
can help employers find appropriate candidates quickly. For For more on the advantages of attending job fairs, see career-
more on social networking activities in recruiting, see
cast.com/career-news/how-rock-virtual-job-fair. For ben-
Chapter 8 and Masud (2012). efits of virtual recruiting, see smallbusiness.chron.com/
In addition, job referral social networking sites solve the advantages-virtual- recruitment- 16632.html.
need for finding the right people for the job (e.g., jobster. The electronic job market also has a few limitations, such
com). These sites provide job seekers opportunities to pro-
as security and privacy. Posted résumés and employer–
mote themselves and their areas of expertise, as well as help employee communications are usually not encrypted. Thus,
them be discovered by employers. The site’s algorithms
confidentiality and data protection cannot be guaranteed. It is
enable headhunters to analyze qualified applicants by differ- also possible that someone at a job seeker’s current place of
ent criteria. When a job offer is made, the job referral site
employment (e.g., his or her boss) could find out that that
receives referral fees. Lately, the use of Twitter as an aid for person is job hunting. LinkedIn, for example, provides pri-
job searches has increased. Bortz (2014) provides a strategy
vacy protection, enabling job seekers to determine who can
for job seekers and for how to use Twitter to access recruiters see their résumé online.
and increase job seekers’ visibility.
For tips on how to protect your privacy while job hunting,
see guides.wsj.com/careers/how-to-start-a-job-search/how-
Global Online Portals for Job Placement to-protect-your-privacy-when-job-hunting.

The Internet is very helpful for anyone looking for a job in
another country. An interesting global site for placing/find-
ing jobs in different countries is xing.com. The electronic SECTION 3.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS
job market may increase employee turnover and its costs.
Finally, recruiting online is more complicated than most peo- 1. What are the driving forces of the electronic job market?
ple think, mainly because there are so many résumés online. 2. What are the major advantages of the electronic job mar-
To facilitate recruitment, top recruiters are seeking the ben- ket to the candidate? To employers?

Table 3.3 Advantages of the electronic job market for job seekers and employers
Advantages for job seekers Advantages for employers
Can discover a large number of job openings Can reach a large number of job seekers
Can communicate directly and quickly with potential employers Can reduce recruitment costs
Can market themselves quickly to appropriate employers (e.g., Can reduce application-processing costs by using electronic
quintcareers.com) application forms
Can post résumés for large-volume distribution (e.g., at careerbuilder. Can provide greater equal opportunity for job seekers
com) Opportunity of finding highly skilled employees who match the
job requirements
Can search for available positions any time Can describe positions in great detail
Can obtain several support services at no cost (e.g., careerbuilder.com Can interview candidates online (e.g., using video
and monster.com provide free career-planning services) teleconferencing)
Can determine appropriate salaries in the marketplace (e.g., use salary. Can arrange for testing online
com and rileyguide.com; look for salary surveys) Can view salary surveys for recruiting strategies
Can learn how to behave in an interview (greatvoice.com)
Can access social network groups dedicated to electronic job markets Can use existing staff to refer applicants
Sources: Based on Cohen (2013), Waldman (2013), and the authors’ experiences