Harris says that technological advances have made it possible to perform or handle almost every task or process in the career services office more efficiently.

“Everything,“ she says. “Everything— from composing correspondence and reports, to communicating with others via e-mail and voice mail, to finding critical information online, to developing and giving presentations, to building and monitoring budgets.”

Brooks adds, “We can create and print our own attractive brochures without having to use an outside vendor.

“Also, our recruiting operations are totally online—employers and students register online, and resumes are uploaded and downloaded online. [There are] no more racks of hanging files into which students drop their paper resumes.”

Her department “uses our web site to provide access to services 24/7,” Brooks says. She thinks the most important technological developments include the Internet (as a tool for research about jobs and employers) and computer-based recruiting systems for resume collection and connections among employers, career centers, and students.

Ceniza-Levine uses Excel spreadsheet software to track Time Inc.’s interns, but has built them to her specifications.

“I can capture the fields I need to capture. I’ve become smarter about what information to keep,” she explains. Commercial software packages are available that track work force planning, selection, hiring, onboarding, and retention, but Ceniza-Levine prefers to tailor Excel spreadsheets to her business’s specific needs.

“The data bases are only as good as the data in them,” she says. “If they’re updated, I can find salespeople or whatever the hiring manager is looking for.”

Many employers use commercial software to follow candidates through their system. “We use a purchased applicant tracking system,” says Dan Black, campus recruiting leader for Ernst & Young LLP. “It replaced an in-house system we had been using for some time. [The purchased system] allows for better bulk processing, an essential component of campus recruiting.”

Black says another advantage of the system is that recruiters can access and update it from any computer with an Internet connection. “This is a handy feature for recruiters who spend a great deal of time traveling to different campuses during the year.”

Reporting is easier for Ernst & Young as well. “It [the system] has helped us to minimize the need for manual collection of data and maintenance of different systems in each location,” Black explains.

However, some of these systems don’t have features to keep track of “passive” candidates, says Dan Guaglianone, executive director of recruiting and staffing for Merck & Co. Inc. “Some applicant tracking systems don’t allow for good contact management with candidates that are not active, but that you still want to keep track of,” he says.

“Customer relationship software, however, can be good for tracking ‘passive’ candidates,” he says. Passive candidates are those who have expressed interest in your organization, but who have not applied for a specific position.

“And, recruiting is still about relationship building,” Guaglianone adds, “That’s why the use of customer relationship management software is more exciting if you’re doing ‘real’ recruiting— prospecting for and finding candidates that might fit in your organization.” Software that can track passive as well as active candidates can enable relationship builders to do a better job, he says.

Ceniza-Levine also says older technology is still helpful and cost-effective. “We interview by phone because we recruit across the nation and don’t have the budget to fly candidates in for interviews,” she says.

According to NACE’s 2006 Employer Benchmark Survey, posting jobs on corporate web sites and campus web sites are the two areas where technology is being used most often.3 And, employers are using the Internet and other technology more and more in their recruiting and hiring processes.

“The Internet has made big changes in staffing and selection,” Shepelak says. “We do keyword searches to find qualified candidates, e-mail them, and even do assessments online to help determine if there’s a good job fit.”

“We are looking at some online assessment systems for sales candidates,” Guaglianone says. “We think it will enable us to better identify the profile of a good candidate and better screen candidates. [We’re interested in] any tools that we can employ to get the best candidates.”

Shepelak also says that many tasks in the recruiting process can be successfully accomplished better, faster, and cheaper because of technological advances.

“We search the Internet to find qualified candidates, and we can have virtual career fairs,” he says. “We can even screen via search engines.” At the same time, prospective employees can send their resumes to SWIFT and apply for a specific job and receive an answer from a recruiter. “We can converse online and videoconference with them. And when we want to meet in person, we send an e-ticket,” he adds.

The use of technology does not stop after new employees come on board, Shepelak says. “When they’re hired, they enroll for benefits online. They can also track the 401(k) plan online and refer to HR policies online,” he explains.

iPods are already in use on campus as a learning aide at many colleges and universities, including Duke University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Iowa, Georgia College and State University, and Drexel University. Lectures, podcasts, and/or supplemental material can be sent to the devices. Students find it beneficial to have the lecture at hand any time they need it and some professors say using iPods increases class attendance.4

But, it is important to remember that students and new graduates, while wellversed in high-tech methods and devices, still value human interaction—the high-touch methods.

“I think the online [application] system has replaced the paper want-ads, and we have noticed an increased number of recruiters, much to our students’ frustration, who tell students at career fairs to ‘apply online’ even when a student is standing there with resume in hand,” Brooks says.

Results of NACE’s 2006 Employer Benchmark Survey bear this out. Two in five employers (41.4 percent) reported that they require new college grads to apply online for full-time entry- level jobs and another 5 percent sometimes require candidates to apply online.5

Regarding her school’s hiring practices, Brooks says “The University of Texas at Austin requires all candidates to complete an online application and profile before they can be considered for any position. We often then ask for a follow-up resume and cover letter via e-mail attachment or paper, but the first step is the online process so they can get registered in the ‘system.’”

Regarding Ernst & Young’s online application process, Black says, “Candidates not only apply online, but also have access to their profiles, can update resumes, and can opt to receive alerts about jobs they might be interested in. There is a lot of room for growth in this area of candidate self-service.

“Today’s tech-savvy college students are accustomed to accessing information that is specific to their personal interests at times that are convenient for them,” Black explains. “Providing access to this kind of information will give employers an advantage, freeing up time for recruiters to focus on relationship-building.”

If the past serves as an indicator of the future, then it’s clear that technology will continue to play an important role in the work colleges and employers do in counseling and recruiting students; given that, it’s equally clear that NACE will continue to embrace new technologies as it strives to provide its members with programs and services to support their efforts.

1 Mackes, Marilyn and Smith, Denise Dwight. “Collaboration Is Key to Career PlanIt and Other NACE Initiatives,” Journal of Career Planning & Employment, Summer 1999, Vol. LIX, Number 4, pp. 6-7.

2 How to Access the NACE Communities. National Association of Colleges and Employers. .

3 2006 Employer Benchmark Survey— Executive Summary. National Association of Colleges and Employers. May 2006, p. 4.

4 Fuson, Ken. “iPods Now Double as Study Aids,” USA Today, March 14, 2006.

5 2006 Employer Benchmark Survey— Executive Summary, p. 4.