Human Resources has long suffered a need for good productivity tools in the information technology world but with the tidal wave of products coming out related to the use of the internet/intranet, they may soon be suffering from too many to pick from. But given the alternatives, this is good news compared to having no tools at all.

Many of the tolls being developed today are based fully on the internet itself with little or no software being required on the desk to other than one's own browser (Netscape, MS Explorer, etc.) such as SkillScape http://www.skillscape.com/corp/. SkillScape has a number of applications that enable a company to load software onto their corporate server or to use SkillScape's computing power to utilize specialized software to aid in managing skills and competencies and to assist in recruiting.

Their SkillScape Recruiter enables the hiring organization to custom define the skills and competencies they need for each job. Applicants visiting the web site answer the questions related to these areas, giving the company a better idea of the person's actual skill set than they normally obtain from just a textual resume.

There are other new tools of interest to Human Resources professionals being developed that have a relationship to the internet but also come with software for the desk top computer. One that has not even been announced yet, at least at point of writing this article, is Resume Assistant, a productivity tool that can sit on anyone's desk and give them the ability to manage small to very large volumes of resumes in a very efficient manner.

The Resume Assistant puts the power of intelligent extraction of the information within a resume into the hands of anyone who hires at any time. Like the lucky test car drivers in the Saturday papers who get to road test the new cars before the public can get to see them, I got to test drive Resume Assistant. I found it quite handy just to manage the resumes that cross my desk. Although I am not in the recruiting business, I often do receive resumes from contacts that ask me to keep an eye open for a specific opportunity, and now I have just the tool to do that with.

This new software application is very much geared to people who hire only occasionally, or use some sort of service that provides them with resumes. Many HR practitioners from time to time have to conduct a search to fill a specific position and they surf the Internet job boards looking for likely candidates. When they find one, they usually print off their resume and related information and build a file folder of prospects. With the Resume Assistant they have the ability to store and retrieve those resumes intelligently and according to their own requirements.

Resume Assistant is a Knowledge Based software tool that understands and extracts information from most styles of resume automatically into a database. This database tracks applicants and their qualifications. The software searches for the specific skills that the HR practitioner, or line manager is looking for and locates them within a resume. This means that the system can be "taught" and used to find applicants for any type of position in any field. The system also contains built-in functions for searching, reporting and summarizing the information found in the database.

This new software product is aimed at anyone who hires or tracks resumes at any time. Small and medium business owners who are receiving resumes and must track job applicants, line managers in large organizations, one-person recruiting firms and people who use job boards or attract e-mailed resumes. Essentially, the Resume Assistant is a tool that replaces the need to print out resumes and file them in an organized manner. While large HR departments and recruitment firms will have a full scale Applicant Tracking solution internally, the Resume Assistant gives those people receiving resumes a new tool.

Resume Assistant is an affordable product selling for $159.95 (US) per workstation, well within the reach of an individual recruiter, staffing department or small business. Demonstration copies of the software can be downloaded from their web site at http://www.resumeassistant.com. I went this route and absolutely no problem downloading the software and getting started. I quickly moved all the resumes on my desktop computer into Resume Assistant and worked with the material right away. It takes about 10 minutes to download the software, depending upon the speed of your connection. I am working with a 56K modem that runs at 50K on a good day.

In a bold move, the developers of Resume Assistant plan their full marketing strategy around the Internet, with it as the only way one can buy the product. For those who are nervous about paying for something over the Internet using their credit card, they will let clients mail in payment, but they do expect that most clients will interact fully through the Internet.

The developers of Resume Assistant plan additional Internet-based capabilities for their product, including a spider that can surf the web searching job boards for a specific set of skills.

-Al Doran is President of Phenix Management Int'l, a Toronto, Ont. management consulting firm specializing in HRMS issues. He is co-author of a new book published by Nelson Canada, "Human Resource Management Systems".

He may be reached at: aldoran@pmiHRM.com and his home page is http://www.pmihrm.com/

-Al Doran, CHRP
Copyright © 1998 Phenix Management Int'l

AlDoran@pmihrm.com
Phenix Management Int'l, Inc. 58 Penwick Cr., Richmond Hill, ON L4C 5B4
phone: 416/505-6204 fax: 905/883-8081
http://www.pmihrm.com