Assume that you are interested in seeking a new job. Identify five large companies for whom you think you might be interested in working. If you don’t want to work for a big company, simply select five major companies with which you have some basic familiarity and then imagine you are a job seeker who might be interested in them. Next write a brief description of how you seek and gain employment with each one through "traditional" methods—writing the firm, scheduling an appointment for an interview, and so on.
Next visit their Web sites and see how they deal with "employment opportunities." Do not actually submit application materials to any of the firms (unless, of course, you are genuinely interested in working there!). Go as far as you can, however, into their application/preemployment options and menus and learn as much as you can about their Internet-based recruiting and selection methods and techniques.
Questions
- As a job seeker, which approach—traditional or Internet-based—made you feel more interested in each firm?
- As a job seeker, what are the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach?
- From a company’s perspective, what do you see as the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach?
