• The internet is a means to generate potential applicants and turn leads into quality hires.
• Appoint an internet recruiter to quickly, accurately, and courteously respond to applicants.
• How a company sets their parameters and minimum qualifications will determine the number of inquiries they might receive.

The internet is a powerful recruiting tool that can be used to supply a company with driver applicants at a very low cost per lead and per hire. The difference between success and failure with internet recruiting will be determined by how well a company follows up and works with the internet generated applications.

The following internet recruiting tips are provided to help companies tap into this incredible driver recruiting source.

• Make internet recruiting the primary responsibility for a select recruiter. Response time is critical. Too often, internet inquiries and applications are a secondary concern for many recruiting departments. Drivers seeking information and employment opportunities over the internet desire timely response.

If recruiters don’t give these potential employees fast, accurate, and courteous turnaround, the company will lose them. Checking and reviewing internet inquiries and applications should be part of the recruiter’s daily morning routine. The internet recruiter should check the databases of internet recruiting sites for any applicants who may qualify. The internet recruiter’s computer should immediately receive all internet applications. This will allow the recruiter to respond quickly and possibly move to a one-on-one email or voice discussion.

• Use the same tools they use. These applicants contacted the company via the internet. This indicates they are computer savvy and literate. The expectation is that the company will reply in kind. As part of the response, always invite them to contact the company on the 800-recruiting number.

Keep in mind that the internet is simply a means to generate potential applicants. The goal is to turn these leads into quality hires. In order to achieve this, a company needs to personally talk to the applicant as soon as possible.

• Don’t miss an opportunity for contact. If an internet recruiter is diligent, they may catch the applicant still online. In this case, a two-way dialogue may be initiated immediately.
• Copy all the recruiting information that is sent out via mail in an electronic format. Whenever a driver applies online, send them an email response. Start with a personal opening paragraph, then copy and paste the recruiting information for the applicant to review. End with a personal closing paragraph inviting them to contact the company and supply the phone number.

Nobody likes to be a number. Personalize all responses so the applicants feel that they are getting personal attention rather than a canned response.

• Don’t lose a driver’s email address. Use it for future follow-up communication to continue the recruiting process, and to keep the relationship alive.
• Drivers search for career opportunity through a variety of targeted searches, including by:
  • Driver type
  • Job type (e.g., tanker, on the road OTR, flatbed, less-than-truckload, refrigerated carrier, etc.)
  • Experience
  • Equipment type
  • Region
  • Company name

Because of this, how a company sets their parameters and minimum qualifications will determine the amount of inquiries they might receive.

• Internet driver recruiting is extremely competitive. Drivers seeking employment online will make inquiries to several carriers at the same time. This makes a company’s response time the most critical element of internet recruiting.
• Driver recruiting is about establishing relationships. Perhaps the greatest weakness of the internet recruiting is its failure to appreciate the very personal, relationship-centric nature of the recruiting process. Linking drivers to carriers is only partly about matching skill sets with skill requirements. What is much more important is establishing and building a relationship. This requires trust — which is hard to build via email. Doing this is largely the role of recruiters.
• The internet should not become the recruiting department. The most realistic role for the internet with regards to driver recruiting is as one additional tool for finding and identifying qualified candidates. It should be used to supplement more traditional methods, such as:
  • Proactively contacting individuals who are currently employed to see if they would be interested in new career opportunities.
  • Getting referrals from current employees. Personal referrals from current staff remain the best way of identifying good potential drivers.
  • Soliciting driver inquiries through classified advertising. By no means does internet recruiting supplement this most widely used method of recruiting drivers.