How To Build Your HR Department on the Web: Part I

Chances are your small business doesn't have a human resources staff--maybe not even a single individual--to recruit world-class help while dealing with the drudgery of paperwork and legalese. Well, the Web is about increased communication, information-gathering, and collaboration, all of which are designed to make this sort of thing easier, right?

Right. The Web is rich with resources. Here's a step-by-step approach to using the Web for your recruiting, hiring, benefits dealings, and more.

The human resources professional's job begins with recruiting. You're going to need to attract the right people to your company. Being attractive is affected by how you place your ads, the system by which candidates respond, and the experience that awaits them when they try to get more information. You need to worry about your first impression because employees often don't want just a paycheck; they want to work for a high-class outfit.

Your first plan of attack may be to beef up your own website with information about the company and its location, goals, and desires. Just offer the facts. These should include a clearly labeled "About" section that features company info and any press materials and financials you choose to make public.

Another nice touch for your company site is an obvious and often-updated "Help Wanted" page, complete with full job descriptions and target closing dates. (It's no fun to respond to a job ad that's six months old.) Let people call and send e-mail directly to you or your managers.

Placing a Job Ad

It may seem obvious, but placing an ad in the newspaper and posting an ad online are two different things. You'll have more space for your online ad, which is good. In a newspaper ad, you can make certain assumptions, though, like what day your potential employee is reading the ad and where that potential employee lives. You can't do that with an online ad, so you'll need to put that extra space to good use.

Be sure to follow common Usenet newsgroup syntax for job listings, even if you're using a different sort of job board or service. If possible, create an ad with a subject line that includes the country, state, city, and a quick job description. For example: "US-CO-Denver-Web Developer/Java/Perl/Linux."

Despite the immediacy of the Internet, job ads can linger if the ad database isn't purged frequently. So put a posting date and a closing date on your message. That way, your time and the respondent's time aren't wasted on a six-month-old post.

If you're soliciting e-mail responses, be explicit about how respondents should attach resumes--in Word 95 format, for example. If you don't want respondents to send you anything other than a faxed letter and resume, say that, too.

Pitching for Jobs Online

Now you're ready to hit the Web. You'll need to choose a Web-based recruiting site.

One of the best places to find programmers, system administrators, and technical communicators is through the .jobs Usenet newsgroup for your particular area or region. Using a news reader, download all the available newsgroups and look for the ones dedicated to your area. Once you locate your local group, read a few postings to get a feel for the way the messages are generally constructed.

On the Web, there are two popular choices for job seekers. You can try a freebie national or international job board like America's Job Bank, 4Work, or the job listings at Yahoo and Excite.

You can pay for the privilege at sites like Monster Board and CareerWeb. Also, you might want to check the popular CareerPath to make sure your job isn't already listed online. If you're advertising with the local paper and CareerPath posts that paper's jobs, then you're already reaching a global audience.

Recruit Online

A typical job board may not suffice. For highly skilled workers or management, you may need a recruiter. Should you find that recruiter online? The answer: Yes. If you're looking for a new vice president of sales for a non-tech industry, then Internet skills should be low on your list of requirements. By the same token, recruiting for highly technical employees is probably best done on the Internet.

You can find a recruiter on the Internet who can do the job for you, especially if you're not limited to recruiting locally. A great place to start is the Yahoo Recruiting and Placement

Finally, don't forget sites that attract women and minorities if you're interested in recruiting them to your company. Some such sites might be specifically dedicated to job placement, like Minority Career Network. And don't overlook sites like iVillage, the National Association of Asian American Professionals, and the Hispanic Information Network. These sites aren't specifically about jobs and recruiting, but you'll certainly find links to recruiting pages and other sites that will prove useful.

Setting the Pay Scale

You've got the job listings up and the resumes are pouring in. What are you going to pay these people? If you're hiring outside your area of expertise--an engineer hiring an assistant, for instance--you'll need to check the latest surveys and information to see who's paying what to whom.

For a fee, you can go to HRCOMM WWW Survey Directory for a database of compensation-survey profiles. It's not an actual survey, just a summary. Still, it'll help you find relevant surveys that you can then buy from the surveying company. If you've got a budget for it, this might be an easy way to go.

WageWeb offers free national compensation-survey results, organized by job title. For a nominal fee you can get more detailed reports, including information broken out by region and industry. And Yahoo offers a detailed breakdown of various industry sources for compensation information at the Salary Information page.