Blueprint for a better 51job.com
By Jason Xie
Though a leader in online recruiting, 51job.com fails to offer a user experience equal to its market status. Instead of just joining the critics, here's a new approach: If I were a product manager at 51job.com, what improvements would I make?
Many firms, having published advertisements on 51job.com, have learned that it is quite common to receive hundreds of resumes for a single notice - 95 percent of which may not even be worthy of an interview. I once advertised for an account manager, only to find that more than half of the resumes coming in were for the position of an accountant. Either the applicants did not even take a cursory glance at the job description, or they did not know the difference between "account" and "accounting." They just clicked the mouse and their resumes got sent. There are many similar situations: a job opportunity that requires three years' work experience attracting a bundle of CVs from fresh graduates; another for a computer science major drawing a flood of applications from humanities majors... The result: the HR department is overwhelmed with screening the resumes, only to find that fewer than 10 percent are suitable for an interview.
To avoid the disadvantages of online recruiting, I did an experiment by having the HR department place an ad in a newspaper, leaving only a postal mailing address - no e-mail. I received 20-plus resumes, out of which 10 were chosen for an interview and 2 were finally employed. Why was there such a big difference in the efficiency of the two recruitment attempts? The reason is simple: the cost of mailing a resume (the time and energy spent), is much higher than that of sending an e-mail. This serves as a natural screening mechanism of sifting - job seekers will make a rough estimate before making their decision whether to apply. This is the equivalent of a job seeker's self-interview.
It is clear from the experiment that an effective system of screening benefits both recruiters and applicants. 51job.com lacks neither job seekers nor talent hunters; what is missing is a mechanism that matches demand and supply of job opportunities, particularly one that helps companies to screen applicants. The Career Development Centre at CEIBS, my alma mater, has established an effective screening system which can serve as an example for 51job.com.
At CEIBS, companies that come talent hunting are required to reserve certain opportunities for public applications. If a company intends to interview ten applicants, seven of whom are picked by the company out of the cluster of resumes, the remaining three spots will be set aside for open competition. Every CEIBS student is given a certain sum of initial points (e.g. 20), and they can apply for the public interviews by means of point bidding. You can bid for a single interview with all 20 of your points, or you can "spend" your points, bit by bit, on multiple interviews. If a bid is successful, points will be deducted accordingly. If the bid is unsuccessful, no points will be removed.
This system has several important merits. Firstly, students seeking a career transfer may be given new opportunities. When they do their own resume sifting, companies usually prefer students with relevant work experience. This system of point bidding allows transfer-seeking students chances to receive interviews. Secondly, "interview busters" can be effectively prevented from abusing interviews. Excellent students may obtain interview opportunities from multiple companies. If they participate in many interviews but do not take the jobs in the end [interview busting], CEIBS' image - as perceived by recruiting companies - would be damaged. In addition, other students would be deprived of a chance to be interviewed, which is clearly unfair. The CEIBS method ensures that there are fewer unnecessary interviews, while companies and students both benefit.
Based on the CEIBS experience, 51job.com can address several issues immediately:
1. Establish an automatic screening system. Some of the hard-and-fast requirements such as education and relevant work experience should be made structural so that a fresh graduate applying for a position requiring three years of work experience will be rejected automatically.
2. Offer tools of assistance in the categorization of job hunters. For example, for some jobs requiring a good command of the English language, recruiters may very well demand job hunters' finishing a couple of questions that test their English listening skills before the submission of their application. Some foreign companies ask job seekers to fill in online resumes based on employer-customized templates, or even to complete related character tests before submitting resumes online. These are effective measures that can be duplicated. The results of character tests may only serve as a reference, but the test itself screens out those not interested enough to invest 20 minutes on the test.
3. Establish feedback systems tracking user behavior. If a job seeker always applies but cannot land an interview, if one receives a job offer but refuses it, if a company is always posting recruiting advertisements but rarely gives job offers, all these factors should be clearly indicated by some means similar to the seller-rating system by users at e-Bay and Taobao.com.
51job.com, the ball's in your court!
Author: Jason Xie
Class: MBA 2000
Based in: Beijing
Title: Sales & Business Development VP for Elong.com.
Blog name: Xie Zhen
URL: zhenxie.javaeye.com
Family: Met his wife through the Internet when he studied at CEIBS. They now have a five-year-old son
Buddha's Mercy
By Jun Wang
Imagine that Wuchang (the Chinese Grim Reaper) suddenly paid you a visit and dragged you off your feet to face a judge in the Afterlife.
"It's the end of my life, NOW? What about my fortune, my career? I, I haven't been able to relax and enjoy life! Have I worked in vain all those years?" you cry, wrangling bitterly with the Ghost.
An amiable voice answers back. It is the Buddha speaking to you: "From ancient times until today, it has been rare for humans to live past 70. You're almost 70 now and you'll soon die a natural death, which is heavenly grace upon you. So what are you upset about?"
"Buddha! I've worked hard throughout my life, and I had no time to enjoy myself, which I feel is most unfair! Can you allow me a bit more time on the mortal plane? Whatever it takes!" you plead. (Buddha has mercy, so feel free to ask!)
"How long would you want?" Buddha asked.
"I would give all my fortune even for a single year!" you answer.
"No need for that. If you had been mindful during your life, you could live 20, 30 more years or even longer," Buddha smiled.
"Aw?! Really? How?" you ask.
"When you were living, you savoured all kinds of processed and refined food. However, if you had eaten more cereals, vegetables and fruit, you would have had five more years of life."
(Luxury did me no good, what a shame!)
"Often you did not sleep until after midnight. If you had slept one hour earlier, you could have lived another five years. If you had slept two hours earlier, your life could have been extended by ten years."
(Such regret!)
"Dur ing your lifetime you were angry with others countless times, which only left both sides unhappy. If you had had a broader mind and a broader smile, you would have had fifteen more years of life..."
"But all that is in the past! Now I've seen the light!" you promise fervently.
"If you could be young again, would you be able to do what I said?"
(A slice of hope! Buddha the Almighty might help.)
"If I could live again, I would definitely do all that, I swear to you...," you vow.
"Shhh...! No promises. Don't swear so easily before the Buddha. Throughout your life, I tried to give you this advice - on TV, in newspapers, magazines, through mail, and in Zhongweizi's (the author's) blog - but you failed to listen."
"Ah? But I didn't know it was you then! This time I will certainly do it, I swear upon my... - well, let me save that promise. Have mercy on me!"
"All right, all right!" (Buddha does have mercy!)
A fragrant breeze blew and you became dizzy...
Why are you still staring at this page?! Forgotten what Buddha said?
Author: Jun Wang
Class: EDP CFO 2005
Based in: Zhejiang
Title: Vice General Manager, Zhejiang Super Lighting Electric Applicance Co.
Blog name: Qian Jiang You Shui Qian Jiang Yue
URl: http://blog.sina.com.cn/zhongweizi 
