As soon as you go to monster website, you immediately notice how easy it is to use and navigate through the site.On the homepage of the website there are two input boxes; 'I'm looking for...' and 'location'. This makes the website incredibly easy to use and shows you exactly what to do to search for the jobs you want to apply for. Once you've entered your information into the homepage, your immediately taken to your search results. You can then use the checkboxs next to each of the job listings to apply. Overall the Monster website is very easy to use to apply for jobs.
The layout of the Monster website is incredibly easy to understand. At the top of the homepage is the input boxs to take you to your search results. At the very top of the homepage is the navigation bar; which includes 'Home', 'CV', 'Jobs', 'Career Tools' and 'Advice' as well as the links tot he sign in page and help pages. This means that as soon as a user goes to Monster.co.uk, they know exactly where to go to get the information they need. This makes the website very effective, accessible and easy to use.
e-Recruitment Campaigns
John Lewis run an e-recruitment campaign which helps them to employ their employees and narrow down the number of applicants.
This campaign interested me because they have several stages to the online application. The first section asks you to enter all your details and askes whether you would need assistance getting to an interview if you get through to the next stage of their recruitment process. The second section goes on to ask you a series of questions. These questions are related to the job and often describe a situation that could occur whilst working for John Lewis. They give you several answers and ask you to choose one.
By the end of the second section, they know whether your suitable for the job or not. This is where the applicants get split. Those who are deemed not to be suitable for the job are rejected from the recruitment process. Those who pass and are deemed suitable for the job and taken to another web page to book an interview at John Lewis.
This recruitment campaign caught my interest as I went through the process and found it very effective. The questions they used to narrow down their applicants don't seem specific at first, but when you think through the question and have a look at the answers they get you to choose from, you can see that this is a very direct question and relates heavily to what they would expect from an employee at John Lewis.
Aptitude Testing
I completed an aptitude test on www.shldirect.com, and I would not be keen if similar tests were used as a recruitment tool before gaining an interview for several reasons;
- Although it would give your potential employer a good idea of your different abilities, they may not be relevant or accurate. This is because your in different surroundings when you take the test to when you may be required to undertake similar tasks whilst at work. This difference in surrounding may alter how well you work.
- Although this is a timed assessment of your ability to undertake different tasks and problem solving exercises, it is still possible to cheat. You would be able to ask someone else to take the assessment for you so that you get to go through to the next stage of the recruitment process. This is why I don't feel like an aptitude test should be the only recruitment tool employers should use to narrow down applicants before an interview.
- The test would not provide the employers with enough information about the applicant to dismiss them from the recruitment process as the applicant may have other experience, skills, or qualities that might make them more suitable for the job; so it would be unfair to remove them from the recruitment process based solely on the aptitude test results.
The aptitude test would give the employer a good idea of the skills that the applicant has, but doesn't give them any more information about the applicant such as experience, or other skills or qualities that the aptitude test did not concentrate on. This is why I would not be keen if similar tests were used as a recruitment tool before gaining an interview; instead they should be used along with an interview to asses whether or not an applicant is suitable for the job.
Bibliography
Monster (n.d.) Home [online]. Monster. Available from: www.monster.co.uk [Accessed: 01 March 2012].
SHLdirect (n.d.) Home [online]. SHLdirect. Available from: www.shldirect.com [Accessed: 01 March 2012]
JohnLewis (n.d.) John Lewis Jobs [online]. JohnLewis. Available from: http://www.jlpjobs.com/jobs/john-lewis-jobs.htm [Accessed: 01 March 2012]
