The decision to recruit online: a descriptive study

Online recruitment is a new tool, at the disposal of the HR departments, which has known a phenomenal success in very short time. This paper presents the findings of some descriptive research, involving UK IT companies. The research tries to identify the effect that the perceived attributes of the practice have on the decision of companies to recruit through the Internet. The attributes tested are cost effectiveness; recruitment cycle time; response rate; quality of response; impact on the image of the company; targeting of specific niches; targeting of the passive job‐seeker; worldwide coverage; necessary resources, time and effort to implement; attractiveness of the mean to the job seekers (especially IT professionals and young graduates); risk of overload of answers; and impact of the size and reputation of the company. The paper provides an insight on how the companies perceive and value online recruitment.