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What’s Your IQ? –That is Internet Quotient*
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Most of us are just beginning to understand how to effectively use the Internet. We have discovered that it’s not as easy at it seems to put together a great web site, to understand how to find good candidates, to probe the job boards, and to peruse the chat rooms in the hopes of finding the winning candidate. Last week I spoke about how to get started in the world of e-recruiting. This week I will follow-up with some thoughts on how to assess your own skills and those of the people you work with every day. We all have a level of Internet understanding that can be measured to some degree. Cisco has a tool on its web site that assesses the Internet Quotient of a B2B business. I thought perhaps I could construct a similar tool for recruiters to help us determine just how much we know and how well we use this powerful tool called the Internet. This test will help you determine your potential for maximizing the Internet as a recruiting tool. Answer each of these as carefully and honestly as you can. I have put a rough scoring guide at the end of this article. I will look for your inputs, ideas and comments over the rest of the week. Next week I will begin to expand on each of these and suggest strategies to improve in each area. I would also like your suggestions on improving this tool and on making it as useful as possible for you. Please send me your comments: kwheeler@glresources.com.
Are you and the senior management team focused on driving an Internet strategy throughout your firm? Does this strategy encompass internal and external tools and services?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No real focus; 5 = Highly focused/ Paranoid
Are you and the IT department working as a team to integrate the Internet into your overall recruiting program? Is this a focus for the IT department and do they understand where you are going?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No real focus; 5 = Highly focused/ Paranoid
Do you involve the hiring manager in your Internet strategy and do the hiring managers and candidates drive that strategy? How interlinked are these two key players with your market research and development efforts?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No real involvement/link; 5 = Strong involvement/link
Are you training your recruiters, hiring managers and candidates on effectively using the Internet? Have you devoted resources to putting together online programs, focused on educating and informing?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No training/effort; 5 = Strong training/effort
Are your systems flexible and scalable? Can you deal with dips and peaks in recruiting cycles from an Internet and systems perspective? Do you have a growth strategy for sourcing and recruiting?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No flexibility/ scalability; 5 = High degree of flexibility/ scalability
Do you have experience in building networks and in managing strategic relationships between Internet suppliers and candidates? Do you have relationships with job boards and other external suppliers?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No experience; 5 = High levels of network relationships
Do you empower managers and candidates to do their own discovery and “matching?” Do you let managers and candidates initiate their own intercommunication?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No empowerment; 5 = High degree of manager/candidate autonomy
Can you update and recreate your Internet tools in a high-speed manner (i.e. you can update your web site at a moments notice and all content is fresh)? Do you have systems that allow “instant” communications between keys players for quick decisions?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = Not able to act quickly; 5 = Able to act “instantly”
Do you have clear metrics around your Internet recruiting efforts? Do you track all success and are you reporting this to senior management?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No metrics/reporting; 5 = Powerful metrics/reporting
Do you have preferred vendors via the Internet? Have you set up e-commerce-like relationships for Internet recruiting?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No relationships; 5 = Highly developed relationships
Do you create communities for your candidates, employees, managers and recruiters interact with each other? Do you have forums for discussion?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No community activities; 5 = Strong community building
Does your Internet strategy eliminate any geographical boundaries? Do your policies around relocation, recruiting, transfers and so on reflect the Internet Age?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No; 5 = Yes
Are your candidates and hiring managers able to provide ideas and create change in your strategies? Are you open to new ideas and does your Internet look and feel change constantly?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No input/conservative; 5 = Strong level of innovation and input
Do you have a commanding market presence? Are you well known in the Internet community? Do third parties help market you?
1____2____3____4____5
1 = No presence; 5 = Dominate the market
Your IQ Guide
Continue to push the envelope of what is possible and let us know what you are doing.
You have made great progress and should be reaping the fruits of a very successful strategy, executed well. Push for innovative new ideas and stretch your team to think outside whatever has become normal.
You need to get focused on the Internet and move beyond the traditional approaches. You need to get inspired – or to inspire your management team – to do more.
Educate, market and get everyone involved to some degree in understanding the Internet as a recruiting tool and what it can do for you.
* Internet Quotient is a trademark of Cisco.