Just about every business is scrambling to take advantage of the Internet - and finding that many of the "advantages" of cyberspace don't live up to the hype. For example, using the Internet to find job applicants seemed promising. But have recruiting firms and employers truly benefited from what appears to be a lower cost alternative to recruitment?

"Hiring over the Internet is like trying to pick your spouse out of the combined personal ads of every newspaper in the country," responded a human resources executive. "The quality of the match probably won't justify the effort."

The Internet is proving successful in a couple of industries. Recruiting for Information Technology will never be the same as before the Internet. Its players are all wired, and the search firms and employers with needs are typically willing to dredge through the massive number of resumes because of the severe current shortage of qualified individuals. Also according to a fellow recruiter for Academia, "The Internet is a bright spot of success for them. Academia is typically so inefficient in their search and selection processes that the obstacles of the Internet are not significantly different form their other normal methods."

Bottom line, Internet employment is geared to the job seeker, not the employer. Web sites allow potential employees to post their resumes, attend virtual job fairs, and peruse employer's ads and profiles.

The employer, however, isn't served nearly so well. True, these web sites allow a business to greatly increase their recruitment reach. Without an experienced screening professional to assess the person behind the resume, however, a company can easily wind up with an unmanageable flood of unqualified applicants. Many employers report spending countless disappointing hours, digging through e-mailed resumes.

"Most companies just don't have time to search for a virtual needle in a virtual haystack," another client responded. "After all, the problem in most instances isn't getting applications: it's getting good applications. You have to weigh the benefits of getting more resumes versus the time it takes to go through more resumes that miss your criteria."

In essence, the pool of applicants available through the Internet is wide but shallow. Many of the most qualified potential employees prefer not to openly post their resumes. Those who are currently employed, for example, may recognize the danger of a public acknowledgment that they are on the hunt. Some of the very best candidates, particularly for an important permanent position, aren't actively looking at all. They're too busy working. The most effective recruitment method is more geared to quality than quantity. It reaches out to these hard-to-get winners. Some web-based employment services have internal search engines that allow you to specify resumes in broad categories, such as "management" or "engineering." Others charge for screening and assessment assistance. The problem is, it is the applicant who determines their suitability for the category.

To illustrate, we recently accessed one of the better-known employment sites, and searched for software engineers. The search engine located approximately 350 resumes quite rapidly. Unfortunately, the resumes ranged from students to Chief Technical Officers - and even included one from a welder!