Public Power - June 2008 - (Page 71)

HUMAN RESOURCES Hurry to Hire: Look Online By Jim Paterson Like so many areashuman reof public power management, source departments have surpassed their honeymoon era with the Internet—where they swooned and sorted through all the myriad of options for efficiency—and have begun to find practical ways for the Web to attract strong new employees. The solutions involve more sophisticated use of their own online resources and a smarter use of everything from job-specific sites to general searches on the most common search en- Longmont requires a completed job application, which can be downloaded. A completed application assures the utility gets consistent information from all applicants in the new online world, said Kyner. New York Power Authority relies heavily on its Careers@NYPA employment Web site, where a variety of information about the utility and specific positions is posted, said Michele Bruno, and employment specialist with NYPA’s human resources reer Builder, a utility only finds a small subset of the talent they need, because power systems engineers, for instance, are a narrow niche and most are employed,” said Gutmacher. “They don’t have their resumes floating around on these sites, though many are open to better career opportunities.” Some services may charge as much as 24 percent of first-year compensation for a successful hiring through their site, he said. Gutmacher recommends using several search engines— Exalead, Google, Live and Yahoo. “Doing an advanced search that eliminates results with cer- Using employment services or even just sites specific to certain careers or trades can also help make filling vacancies more efficient. gines. Since their start, these searches have doubled the number of applicants for many utilities. “I wouldn’t want to go back to the age of using only newspapers,” says Janice Kyner, human resource analyst for Longmont, Colo., Power and Communications. “Using our Web site and the Internet is a lot faster. Within 24 hours, a job is out there and available to the whole world.” All job openings are posted on the Longmont’s Web site, which usually generates a number of queries, including many who have seen a newspaper advertisement driving them to the site. However, entry level administrative or line crew positions remain easier to fill through newspaper ads. Even if applicants submit a host of information online in response to an opening, www.APPAnet.org department. Although other online sources are used to meet the needs of a specific positing, NYPA has made its Web site a key tool for recruitment. “When advertising a job online, it is highly efficient to leverage search engines via a combination of specific terms to describe an open position to attract applicants, as well as utilize options like Google’s pay-perclick solution, known as AdWords,” said Joel Cheesman, author of “Cheezhead,” a blog about the recruiting industry. If an HR manager decides to search online, he or she should remember that large sites often charge fees. As many qualified applicants can be usually found at no cost, said Glenn Gutmacher, founder and owner of Recruiting-Online.com. “By using the major job boards such as Monster or Ca- tain key words found in job postings will result in just candidate resumes and bios,” he said. You might eliminate the terms “free” or “jobs” or “submit” or “send” —even “you” or “your” to narrow your responses. “Once you have that search string perfected, you can save it and just replace the job titles, skill and location keywords, ac- Jim Paterson is a freelance writer cording to the position,” said in Olney, Md., and a regular contributor to Public Power. Gutmacher. Using employment services or even just sites specific to certain careers or trades can also help make filling vacancies more efficient. Names of people will be available who might be interested in the job or connect the utility to sound prospects. Gutmacher suggests contacting universities with degree programs in certain areas, linking up with professors or career offices. Other utility training services might be useful sources online too. If an HR department is going to use an online recruitment platform, it should choose carefully and obtain one that has the capacity to track applicants, prospects or sources of information about potential employees. “Your ultimate goal is to build a large pool of relevant people that come to know you from regular contact, whether or not you have a job for them and regardless of whether they’re actively looking,” said Gutmacher. They’ll think of your organization if they are looking and provide referrals. The number of applicants has quadrupled thanks to the use of online recruitment through the utility Web site, said Ed Cox, HR manager for Fort Pierce Utilities Authority in Florida. Fort Pierce promotes its Web site heavily, and sends postings to a variety of colleges, staffing agencies and public job centers. Having the employment process, including screening and background checks on the Web has dramatically changed the process of hiring, said Gutmacher. “These online tools have made HR here much more efficient and effective.” ❚ JUNE 2008 71 http://Recruiting-Online.com http://www.APPAnet.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - June 2008

Public Power - June 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Finding Common Ground on Climate Change Solutions A Patchwork Approach to Renewable Energy Whose Grid Is It Anyway? The Little Utility That Could Benchmarking Customer Service Can Prairie Hay Power Your Town? Storming the Control Room Investing in the Smart Grid Coming of Age: Superconducting Cables Community Broadband Economic Development Customer Service Human Resources For Governing Boards Safety Parting Shot

Public Power - June 2008

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