The number of construction personnel using the internet to find a new job has increased tenfold in a year, according to the recruitment agency Hill McGlynn.
Dramatic evidence of how both technical and trades staff are turning to the world wide web is given in an analysis of the agencys website www.hillmcglynn.com
While the number of vacancies posted on the site increased last year by 1000 percent, applications in the last quarter if the year were up by 1061 per cent.
Visitors viewed twice as many pages and spent twice as long on the site. And while the internet used to be the exclusive hunting ground of computer-literate younger people, many more senior staff are now using it.
In 2003 they viewed nearly a million pages on the Hill McGlynn website (968,666), an average of nearly eight pages per visit.
Part of these increases can be attributed to Hill McGlynn’s merger last summer with Team Up UK, creating Hill McGlynn Trades which specialises in construction trades staff. This put the firm into the UK’s top three biggest construction recruitment agencies and brought a wider client base to the website.
"We have also marketed the website address more widely," said Patrick Rovetto, IT ∓ Services Manager of Hill McGlynn. "More people know about it and because we have made big improvements to the site they generally find it very easy to use."
"We need to stress that the personal touch is very important in all this and we are never going to lose it. Applying online is a quick and easy way of starting the process, but as soon as we hear from people we invite them for a face to face interview."
Feedback from candidates has been overwhelmingly positive. A candidate emailed to say: "I applied for a particular position and was contacted straight away, kept informed of everything that would and did happen, and had two interviews days apart. I start next Monday! I am very impressed with Hill McGlynn."
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Notes to editors:
For more information call marketing manager Penny Glazzard on 01489 560 030.