Tarmacking 2.0? The job hunt is now a digital affair

Today’s job seekers are faced with the advantage of online recruitment sites that ease employment search hustle. PHOTO| FILE

What you need to know:

  • “The 2009 census by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that there are 9,415,354 of the ‘Generation Y’ and they constitute the backbone of the next work force,” Says Ms Aberi. Statistics, she adds, tell us that Internet penetration now stands at about 41 per cent with over 17 million users.

  • Research conducted PEW research centre early this year, established that more than  52 per cent of the American adult population have looked for job information online and about four million do so in a typical day. 

  • Out of this number 61 per cent of Generation Y has looked for jobs online compared to 42 per cent of those ages 30-49 and 27 per cent of those ages 50-64 in the American populace.

A recent study done by Dalberg Global Development Advisors on  internet use by Kenyan SMEs in their recruitment strategy, revealed fascinating findings.

According to the report, More than 80 per cent of small to medium enterprises in Kenya expect the internet to help grow their business and 70 per cent expect to hire new employees as a result.

With the high cost of running job adverts on mainstream media and the unpredictability of head hunting, most SME’s are resorting to online platforms as a way to recruit talent. And this, According to Ms Faith Aberi Category Manager at OLX Kenya, has increased the popularity of the online job hunt.

“More and more people are searching for jobs online in Kenya”, she says. “Thousands of people come to OLX daily to apply for the jobs posted by highly accredited recruitment firms and registered companies looking to hire,” says Ms Aberi.

According to Colleen Aylward, a Recruitment strategy Expert, Online job hunting is basically looking for job opportunities via the internet whether on mobile or web. Other than that, Says Ms Aberi, it is also about marketing your brand in case the prospective employer decides to head hunting via the internet.

“It involves creating digital profiles and advertising your skills and qualifications to prospective employers. The task of the online recruitment firm is basically to connect the jobseekers and employers online”, she states.

 Ms Faith Aberi however rebuffs the misconstrued notion that online job hunting is the mainstay of any specific age group though she confirms that Generation Y (aged between 18-30) search for jobs online the most.

This is because they are tech-savvy, ambitious, might not afford the conventional job searching techniques, and are usually not willing to stay at one job for more than a couple of years.

BACKBONE OF THE WORKFORCE

“The 2009 census by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that there are 9,415,354 of the ‘Generation Y’ and they constitute the backbone of the next work force,” Says Ms Aberi. Statistics, she adds, tell us that Internet penetration now stands at about 41 per cent with over 17 million users.

Research conducted PEW research centre early this year, established that more than  52 per cent of the American adult population have looked for job information online and about four million do so in a typical day. 

Out of this number 61 per cent of Generation Y has looked for jobs online compared to 42 per cent of those ages 30-49 and 27 per cent of those ages 50-64 in the American populace.

In regard to men, 50 per cent  spent most of their time online searching for jobs compared to 44 per cent women. On a typical day, twice as many men than women searched for jobs online.

Out of the 2,259 research respondents that were all internet users, the researchers also sought to establish the statistics in regard to employment/unemployment effects on online job hunting patterns while also considering job types, social-economic status and educational levels of respondent.

On this end, it was established that 51 per cent of the unemployed search job online compared to only four per cent Americans who are wired and have full time jobs.

On the other hand, 55  per cent of those in sales-related jobs search for jobs online compared to 44 per cent in other jobs.

“High social economic status is correlated with online job searching and those with college or graduate degrees are more likely than those with high school certificates to have explored the job classifieds online”.

“Our finding that online job searches have increased clearly reflects two broad trends: first, internet use is growing, especially for important types of information searches. Second, there has been turmoil and tightening of the job market”, Writes Lee Rainie, Director of American research firm PEW research center.

And while there are no corresponding statistics on the same in Kenya, its worth noting the role of internet connectivity in regards to job hunting. 

“The buzz on digital migration has been overblown yes but online job hunting is real now. I have seen my students write about it in there thesis and it’s something that needs to be appreciated”, says Mr Daniel Makori, HR lecturer at Kenyatta University’s Nakuru Campus.

GAINING POPULARITY

According to Mr Makori, while conventional job searching methods will not be phased out any time soon, online job searching is gaining popularity among young people.

“Our country has a very high population of young people. Most of them are tech savvy and they want jobs. Internet is cheap and that means they can apply for jobs countless times even with the frustration of being rejected. If I was  in their situation, I will gladly do the same”, he explains.

The government promised to create more than 2.5 million jobs before the end of 2017 and Ms Faith Aberi argues that online recruitment agencies will play a crucial role in relaying these jobs to the right groups in community. 

“More than 80 per cent of SME’s in Kenya surveyed by Dalberg indicate that they expect the internet to help grow their business and 70 per cent expect to hire new employees as a result,” says Ms Aberi.  “The future is definitely online not only for job hunting but also for those looking for candidates to fill their vacancies.”

In her book, From Bedlam to Boardroom: How to get a derailed executive career back on track!, Colleen Aylward, an American Job search expert and Executive career coach, advises the need for job searchers to have a “digital brand” urging that online presence is a job seekers most important tool.

“It’s up to the job seeker to gather his/her portfolio, polish it and place it where people will find it” Aylward writes.

“The world is an online community now, and the future of your employment status is highly dependent of your ability to adapt.”

Aylward also offers some tips. “It’s not the recruiter’s job to figure out what your strengths might be; it’s job seeker’s prerogative,” writes Ms Aylward. “The days of lofty cover letters are long gone so it’s better to streamline your strengths right into the job recruiters’ eyes.”

Aylward warns that online job hunting is all about the recruiter and not the job hunter. “Get out of the mindset that matching yourself or interviewing for a job is all about you. It’s all about them.”

 If you can’t demonstrate what you can do and how up-to-date you are with the issue Ms Aylward advises, you are better off self employed.

According to Aylward, employers think that if you can’t sell yourself, you can’t sell their product and thus the ethicalness of your online presence/image is of paramount importance. 

“The more new content you contribute on the internet, the faster you push the bad stuff down to the pages no one ever gets to in their searches,” she says.