On-Line Job Applications Speed Business Processes

Large organizations deal with many job applicants. This example deals with a large school district of 30,000 students, and 3,600 teachers.

Prior to May 1999, the applicant tracking process in the HR Department was strictly manual. Applicants would call and request that an application be mailed to them or would come to the office to pick up/complete an application. Candidates needed to submit the following in order for their application to be complete and eligible for consideration of any open positions: completed application form (no blanks allowed), photocopy of teaching certificate (front and back), official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended, credential file or three written letters of recommendation. Candidates were given thirty days in which to submit all of the documents to complete their application file. If the application was not completed within that timeline, documents were destroyed. Once an application was completed, information from the application and supporting documents were manually entered into an application-tracking database. A tracking number was assigned to each application and then filed away numerically.

During busy times of the year, applications were kept stacked on a table until such time that the information could be entered into the system. It took an average of ten minutes per application for data entry. The summer of 1996 the district mailed out over 10,000 applications and received approximately 8,000 back. Of those 8,000 applications, 7,500 were completed and needed to be entered into the database. The human resources department was backlogged one month on entering the applications into the system. Principals came to the central office to go through the stacks of applications to find qualified candidates to interview.

In May 1999, the Department started using a purchased internet-based applicant tracking system. Applicants could also still request that we mail out a hard-copy application. They could also download and complete an employment application from the IPSD website and then send that application to us with the following documentation: resume, cover letter, copies of all teaching certificates, transcripts from any school attended, and three letters of recommendation. We when received the information, a tracking number would be assigned to that person and all the documentation would be scanned into the SearchSoft database. Administrators could then review the pdf-ed documentation from a district computer. Because this information was often received over several days (or weeks) time, rather than as a complete packet, the person doing the tracking and scanning would have to ensure that the same number was assigned to all the supporting documentation and the correct document type (resume, application, transcripts, other) was assigned to the specific document received.

While the software was a great step forward (decreasing data entry time by 70%), especially for our administrators, it was cumbersome, paper-intensive and time consuming for the HR Department. We still kept those hard copy applications on file in HR and had to monitor any additional documentation received from those applicants.

In February 2003, we began using a paperless internet based tracking system. Applicants were required to have an email account. For those without email, this system directs applicants to the Yahoo website to set up a free email account. Applicants access the IPSD website and are linked to the employment application. We have asked applicants not to send the resume, cover letter, etc. that were previously requested. We now ask that they simply bring those materials to an interview. This system is applicant-driven in that applicants come to our website and complete their applications whenever they want. The system is available 24/7 for them to access. Since we typically contact applicants via telephone to set up an interview, even those who don't have access to a computer aren't shut out of the process. District administrators can also access this system from their home computers as long as they have been set up with a password.

For HR purposes, this system is also much less cumbersome in that it is truly paperless. When we receive applications or resumes we either email or send a letter to the applicant requesting that they complete our on-line application either at home, at a public library or by coming to the District office. We've had less than 10 people come in and complete the on-line application here. To date, more than 15,300 people have completed the on-line application.

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Jeanne-Elise M. Heydecker is founder of JHeydecker Design Systems (http://www.jheydecker.com/), an Internet company that specializes in designing, developing and executing web-based and traditional sales, marketing, and management solutions. Ms. Heydecker brings over 20 years of experience in traditional and internet marketing programs for the business-to-business and consumer markets. She can be reached at: jheydecker@jheydecker.com.