THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 29, 1995 TAG: 9504290331
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Imagine this scenario: You're home scanning help-wanted ads on your personal computer and you see something that intrigues you. You hit a key and up pops a questionnaire from the employer about your qualifications for the job. You start typing and in a few minutes you get a notice that an electronic-mail message from the employer is headed your way.
It could be good news: You've made the first cut, and you'll need to send in an electronic copy of your resume. Or it could be bad news: the old ``Thank you for your interest, but you don't meet our requirements at this time.''
This is one way employers and job seekers using a new electronic employment service called CareerWeb will match up.
The service is to be launched Monday by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star. It's one of a growing number of electronic-information services under development by the newspapers and their Norfolk-based parent, Landmark Communications Inc.
Paul Rose, a Landmark vice president, said CareerWeb sprung from a conclusion by him and others in the media company that filling and finding jobs ``is one of the least efficient ways of doing things on the planet.''
``The process on both ends, for the employer and the employee, is ridiculously wasteful, filled with dead ends,'' he said. ``To a certain extent, what we're trying to do is apply technologies to improve an inefficient marketplace.''
CareerWeb will operate on the Internet, the rapidly growing global patchwork of computer networks. Its ``homepage'' on the Internet's World Wide Web will spotlight companies that have paid to use the service.
Some of the companies are providers of employment-related services such as executive recruiters or image consultants.
But most of the space is reserved for employers. They'll post general information about their companies - everything from company histories to letters from company presidents, complete with photos, maps and charts. Some also will include job listings.
Motorola Inc.'s Land Mobile Products Sector, which makes police and fire radios, will be using the service. Starting next week, it plans to post at least 20 job openings - some for positions as far away as Australia.
``Our goal is best-in-class people,'' said John H. Kuzma, director of staffing for the Motorola unit. ``That means we need to look at the whole world.''
Kuzma said it's impossible to guess how many people will respond to any listing his company posts: it could be hundreds, even thousands. CareerWeb will keep track of the actual responses. With an estimated 20 million people using the Internet regularly, he said, there's no better way to instantly reach a large number of people in all corners of the globe.
There are a couple of other employment services on the Internet. But Kuzma said CareerWeb's applicant-screening process gives it an advantage. By using questionnaires, Motorola can identify whether the applicant meets the key requirements for the jobs posted. That should save his company a lot of time.
Christina Bublick, CareerWeb's general manager, said CareerWeb will offer employers other optional ``value-added'' services. ``We actually will be able to do what a headhunter can do from beginning to end.''
Bublick said employers could spend as little as a few thousand dollars or well into the tens of thousands a year to use the service, depending upon how many pages of information and job listings they post.
Ten pages of company information and 10 job listings a month will run $16,740 a year. ``Pre-qualifying'' applicant-screening services will cost another $100 per listing, she said.
KEYWORDS: EMPLOYMENT SERVICE INTERNET by CNB