Communication and Management in Technological Innovation and Academic Globalization
Competencies and Online Recruiting for
Banking Occupations
Vasile Paul Bresfelean, Ovidiu Veres and Cristian Bologa
time spent seeking for applicants, superior value of replies,
enhanced interactions with possible candidates, the simplicity
in utilizing such a system, etc. Specialized job portals and
software bring about important data to the managers with the
aim of administrating their organization, for salary raises,
promotion results, and succession arrangements.
Advanced technologies, such as Web 2.0 [10] are used to
find competency better, engage with competency better, and
identify which online channels offer top results. Firms can also
achieve cost savings thanks to web recruiting, by: cutting the
costs and the time spent for the whole employment procedures.
At the same time, candidates transfer their customary job
searches from usual job boards to a new arrangement of online
resources that socially link them together in seeking better
employment.
In the following pages, the authors review some of the
features in online recruitment, beginning with its advantages
and disadvantages for both employers and employees, and
continuing with several of its key components. The main part
of the article includes the authors' own studies on the
Romanian labor market, the competencies required for the
entry-level position of Assistant Client Account Manager, in
the standardized acceptance of government agencies. Also, in
the final part, the authors make an analysis of several online
ads is for this occupation, representing commonalities and
differences between them.
Abstract— Modern recruitment is not limited by geographic
restrictions or communication – consequently, online recruitment has
grown to be a practice used by all employees in numerous fields. In a
labor market dominated by continuous shaping, it is important to
perceive the features of this form of recruitment, accompanied by the
advantages and disadvantages for both employers and employees. In
this article, the authors present their own studies over the
competencies required on the Romanian labor market, and their
investigation of specific online advertisements, representing
commonalities and differences between them.
Keywords— competencies, job ads, job boards, on-campus
recruiting, online recruitment.
I. INTRODUCTION
O
NLINE recruiting has altered the employment setting
equally for both companies and job searchers in the most
recent years. Many companies that still make use of timehonored habits to post openings nevertheless have also
included the Internet to the blend of their recruitment.
Attributable to this, firms are able to employ staff from around
the world by integrating systems and policies for recruitment
with the understanding of local staffing markets.
The Internet’s capacity to distribute progressively more
greater ranks of innovation and efficiency for both the
employer and the job seeker can be diminished merely by the
margins of connectivity, the firms’ appetite for novelty, and
willingness to “do something new” and “stop doing something
old” [11].There can be several important benefits for the
employers in online recruitment, such as: diminution of the
II. ONLINE RECRUITMENT
Employees are the essential resource in any business,
determining the success of an enterprise, despite of its size [4].
Modern information and communication technologies (ICT)
have an outstanding part in advertising, recruiting [12], and
selecting employees who best fit in an organization and its
requirements.
The Association of Online Recruiters (www.aolr.org)
considers the term “online recruitment” as covered by any
recruitment activity that uses the internet as the principal
medium of communication. In today’s global market-ICT mix,
recruitment is not restricted anymore by geographic
boundaries; therefore, companies have the opportunity to
publicize an open position across the world for a reasonably
low cost [12]. This ‘revolution’ [11] has put millions of job
opportunities just clicks away for any candidate, and also has
offered the employers significant databases of potential
employees, lowering their costs and time waists, and
Manuscript received October 31, 2010. This work was supported by
CNCSIS IDEI 1598 Grant “Invatamantul superior si piata muncii. Cercetari
bazate pe tehnologii informatice privind corelatia dintre calificarile cerute de
piata muncii si cunostintele reale ale studentilor” (Higher education and the
labor market. IT-based researches on the correlation between the
qualifications required by the labor market and real knowledge of the
students), manager Nicolae Ghisoiu, Professor PhD.
V.P. Bresfelean is an assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and
Business Administration, Babes-Bolyai University , Str. Teodor Mihali, Nr.
58-60
400591,
Cluj
Napoca,
Romania
(e-mail:
paul.bresfelean@econ.ubbcluj.ro).
O. Veres is a PhD. candidate at the Faculty of Economics and Business
Administration, Babes-Bolyai University , Str. Teodor Mihali, Nr. 58-60
400591, Cluj Napoca, Romania (phone: +40740174873; fax: +40264412570;
e-mail: ovidiu.veres@econ.ubbcluj.ro).
C. Bologa is a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business
Administration, Babes-Bolyai University, Str. Teodor Mihali, Nr. 58-60
400591, Cluj Napoca, Romania (e-mail: cristian.bologa@econ.ubbcluj.ro).
ISBN: 978-960-474-254-7
117
Communication and Management in Technological Innovation and Academic Globalization
increasing the value of applicants reaching their offices.
Large companies have long been integrating online
recruitment methods into their talent strategies [15] by
progressively using the Internet as the key recruiting method,
particularly in attracting top-performing applicants.
In the last years, with the intention of becoming competitive,
even the small and mid-size companies (SME) have embraced
modern online recruiting techniques. An essential condition to
obtain higher levels of performance at the individual,
department, and organization levels, is to enhance the
collaboration between human resources (HR) and ICT to
create value [12].
recruiters who still see the online ads as a substitute for the
printed version of a newspaper classified [14]. Researchers
[11] consider that, due to the fragile economic situation, the
next phase of the online recruiting revolution would be defined
by how it responds to five central market adjustments:
1. Skills shortages.
2. The death of the resume.
3. The rise of employer branding.
4. The critical role of career networking.
5. The explosion in hourly staff recruiting.
Based on University of Texas Arlington [16] studies on
“How to post and hire for administrative and staff positions”,
we drew up the stages of modern recruitment processes that
can be applied to online recruitment (Fig. 1).
A. Advantages and disadvantages
The traditional behavior is sometimes hard to drop when it
comes to recruiting. There are still a large percentage of
1.
Prepare online posting document
2.
Advertise position

4.
Review applicants’ resumes
3.
Receive applications

5.
Close job posting
6.
Conduct interviews
7.
Check applicants’ references
8.
Send offer letter
Or
Send regret letters/emails
10.
Complete and approve the online
recruiting summary


11.
New employee orientation
Fig. 1 Stages of modern recruitment processes, adapted from [16]
Recent studies [17] tried to oversee general advantages but
also some disadvantages of Internet recruitment and selection
for employers:
- Advantages: geographical spread, larger audience, greater
chance to find right candidate, higher quality of applicants,
better match workers/vacancies, more opportunities for smaller
companies, etc.
- Disadvantages: higher expectations regarding relocation
costs, outdated resumes, overwhelming number of candidates,
number of unqualified candidates, poor segmentation of the
market, development fees for small companies, transparency of
data, etc.
The job seekers try to find online opportunities to meet their
needs and expectations, whether it could be permanent jobs in
ISBN: 978-960-474-254-7
a certain domain, short-term contracts or temporary work,
whatever the need. Some of the benefits of online recruitment
for applicants (www.aolr.org) include:
• Searching through a large number of sites for the latest
most relevant vacancies;
• Storing the CV, where it can be accessed securely by
potential employers;
• Applying online for jobs or more information;
• Finding background information on companies applicants
are interested in;
• Updating personal details to ensure they are always
accurate;
• Using value added services – these range from preparing
your CV to self-assessment questionnaires;
118
Communication and Management in Technological Innovation and Academic Globalization
for 5 or 500. A well-planned strategy in this direction may
possibly give the companies a balanced source of qualified
entry-level employees, by synchronizing their recruitment
messages with the best candidates on campus. Firms interested
in campus recruitment pursue top quality schools based on:
their competence in bringing up gifted individuals each year,
alumni, academic ranking, curricula, local community etc.
Universities have long been hosting services to local
communities, to both public and the corporate sector. They
organize regular programs, like job fairs, information sessions,
networking events or speaking in class, but many of them offer
flexible arrangements to employers outside of the regular
recruiting seasons [2]. Here are some on-campus recruiting
services offered to companies who search for the next
generation of quality graduates:
• Workshops;
• Career/Job Fairs;
• On-Campus Interviews;
• Program/research sponsorship;
• Internship prospects;
• Online recruiting platforms (for students and alumni);
• Publication and distribution of resume books, newsletters,
Intranet and notice boards;
• Employer site visits;
• Classroom collaborations etc.
• Saving time by subscribing to a Job-by-email service.
B. Online job boards
A part of the nowadays-recruiting takes place through online
job boards [1], which can best be described as an electronic
version of the newspapers’ classified ad section. They offer
original tools that improve different aspects of the search
results for both employers’ and candidates. Companies use the
boards to publicize comprehensive descriptions of their
vacancies to millions of potential applicants, and to scrutinize
through online resume databases, while job searchers submit
their resumes to online resume banks and search for the posted
jobs.
C. e-Recruiting software
A key tool to help the organization automate aspects of the
recruiting process is represented by e-Recruiting software
represents, which integrates Internet resources and methods,
and save money by reducing cost-per-hire and time-to-hire
[15]. State of the art software uses Web browser and selfservice and is able to automate [15]: job requisition creation
and approvals, career center and job board postings, employee
referrals, online applications, resume submissions, applicant
screening questions, interview scheduling, correspondence
with applicants, on-boarding for new hires, affirmative action
reporting, sourcing, cost and time-to-hire reporting.
III. OUR RESEARCH IN ONLINE RECRUITMENT
D. .jobs domain
A further advancement worth mentioning is the .jobs
domain, which offers organizations a different conduit to more
efficiently direct job seekers to organizations’ own
employment Web sites [5]. The intended use of the domain
jobs is for companies and organizations to provide a simple
and consistent method for the human resource management, by
registering versions of their corporate names and use it to
communicate the exact online destination of their
organization’s job page to job seekers.
For this present article, we try to expound a part our studies
of the CNCSIS IDEI Grant 1598 for the Romanian recruitment
market. We were interested to make an analysis of the national
labor market, with implications and possibilities for FSEGA
(Faculty of Economics and Business Administration) students
in finding a good job after graduation. One of the first jobs
sought by the graduates of economic specializations is the
entry-level ‘administrator cont’ job (Assistant Client Account
Manager in USA) in the Cluj-Napoca local branches of major
European banks, and in region of Transylvania. This is
because banks have been in most recent years (before the
global economic crisis) in a continuous expansion, in terms of
number of branches and agents, and the most extensive
recruitment campaigns have been organized specifically to fill
in these positions.
The recruitment campaigns for each new bank opening in
country’s capital Bucharest are usually represented by ads
placed in national newspapers, nevertheless, in other cities;
additional ads emerge in local media [18]. Other progressively
used instruments, which work in parallel with traditional
models of recruitment, are job portals and websites that bring a
large percentage of all the resumes sent to the Human
Resources departments.
Furthermore, there were organized some recruitment
processes for middle management people, which are mainly
selected from inside the bank [18]. Any employee with a
history in the same bank could apply for such a position, and
after a training program, the employee is deemed ready to take
E. Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is a collection of technologies that provides users
with interactive information sharing, interoperability, usercentered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web
[10]. Several of the trendiest Web 2.0 applications include
social networks, blogs, podcasts, and online video. Online
recruitment campaigns can adapt these technologies so to
capture and uphold the consideration of candidates. Web 2.0
allows an inventive and functional recruiting and branding
avenues due to its focus on applicants’ experiences (such as
Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Wikipedia etc.).
F. On-campus recruiting
For long-strategy oriented companies, using simply on-line
recruitment is not always the optimum answer to find the best
applicants. On-campus or graduate recruitment can offer the
employers a variety of opportunities to directly source the
brightest and the best [2], despite the fact they are recruiting
ISBN: 978-960-474-254-7
119
Communication and Management in Technological Innovation and Academic Globalization
new responsibilities. In this way, it is ensured the continuity in
the bank through gaining valuable people and promoting them,
for the reason that they have the advantage of understanding
the objectives, mission and organization’s specific culture.
Major banks have integrated on-campus recruitment through
special Internship programs (such as Raiffeisen Trainee
Program [13], Bursa Raiffeisen (Raiffeisen Scholarship), ING
Management Trainee, etc.) for prospective top graduates, so as
to allocate a limited number of places and scholarships to
candidates who are chosen after a rigorous selection process
(screening resumes, interviews, skills and personality tests,
Assessment Center). Students and alumni are offered the
opportunity to know the bank from inside, gradually, with the
support of the best professionals in the field, a fine way to
learn what the banking activities really denote.
According to [13], the young people invited to apply for
these programs, should approach the following profile:
• Are graduate students or terminal year (regardless of
specialty);
• Want a career in banking;
• Have good results during college;
• Are members of student associations, were involved in
extracurricular or volunteer activities;
• Have a solid general education, are interested in
economic life;
• Fluent in two foreign languages (English mandatory);
• Have good computer skills;
• Are determined, confident, dynamic, goal-oriented
objectives;
• Have good communication skills, flexibility and
entrepreneurial spirit.
In our research, we first addressed the entry-level
‘administrator cont’ occupation (Assistant Client Account
Manager) following the standards set by the National Council
for Adult Vocational Training (CNFPA) [3] as follows:
- Occupational Standard Code: P5
- Occupational Standard Name: ‘administrator cont’
- Name the occupation COR (Classification of Occupations
in Romania): ‘administrator cont’
- COR occupation Code: 421203.
Based on comprehensive standards issued by The Romanian
Labor Ministry [9], we organized a table showing the most
important competencies and details of the entry level
‘administrator cont’ occupation, divided into sections: Major
competencies,
Verification
competencies,
Support
competencies, Customer Relations competencies (as seen in
Table 1).
TABLE 1
ASSISTANT CLIENT ACCOUNT MANAGERS – COMPETENCY ASPECTS, BASED ON LABOR MINISTRY ISSUED STANDARDS [9]
Competency type
Aspects
Major competencies
Proper application of internal rules and legal regulations
Ensuring compliance with safety rules
Interactive communication in the workplace
Perform basic mathematical operations
Improving the quality of personal activity
Fundamental computer skills
Verification Follow the method of calculating interest and fees
Follow the way of performing settlement operations
Support Release of printed standard documents
Promoting the bank image
Testing the demand for bank products
Customer Relations Acceptance of settlement documents
Issue statements
Providing banking services and products to the
customer
Resolve customer complaints
Resolve customer requests
All the way through our studies, we have addressed the
online recruitment environment through specialized
employment portals between 2008 and 2010. We searched for
specific announcements of major banks in Romania for the
Assistant Client Account Manager openings. If during 2008
we had observed that recruitment portals were packed with ads
for banking employment, starting with 2009 we found a
regression of these announcements and a sharp decline in 2010
due to global financial crisis. We chose as case studies several
important recruitment portals/boards in our country:
ISBN: 978-960-474-254-7
• www.myjob.ro
• www.finjob.ro
• www.bestjobs.ro
• jobs.bizoo.ro etc.
We approached the analysis of these ads by exploratory
grouping them based on several criteria (Table 2): Job
description/Responsibilities (Customer relations, Verification,
Support); Requirements (Completed studies, Major
competencies), Benefits/bonuses; Employer description;
Contact Info.
120
Communication and Management in Technological Innovation and Academic Globalization
TABLE 2
PARALLEL ANALYSIS OF ONLINE JOB ADS FOR ASSISTANT CLIENT ACCOUNT MANAGER
Employer
Portal
ProCredit Bank
Banca Transilvania
www.myjob.ro
Own website
13-08-2010
Customer relations:
• Identify customer needs, advise and
recommend appropriate bank products
and services,
• Customer management activity by
maintaining and developing partnership
relations with bank clients,
• Open and manage customer accounts.
Verification:
• Verify and validate the transfer orders
received at the counter and their related
documentation
Support:
• Internal & external reporting activities
• Promote bank products and services,
especially those relating to operations in
RON and foreign currency, both inside
and outside the bank, and in particular
promotional campaigns.
Completed studies: University diploma
Major competencies:
• Average PC knowledge,
• Excellent communication and
relationship skills,
• English language ability,
• Dynamic attitude,
• Team spirit,
• Problem-solving capacity in a timely
manner
jobs.bizoo.ro
www.finjob.ro
13-08-2008
Customer relations/ Support:
• Provide customer interface by
making and delivering documents
to enter the banking channel
• Assist in selling bank products
and services
Banca Carpatica
Benefits/bonuses
An interesting and challenging job in a
dynamic international environment,
characterized by a simple hierarchy
Employer
description
Contact Info
Yes
www.finjob.ro
www.bestjobs.ro
21-04-2008
Customer relations:
• Open accounts and term deposit
accounts for corporate and bank
customers
• Perform operations with the cash
receipts and payments from
customers
• Ensure the smooth conduct of
intra & inter-bank settlement
• Western Union operations
Support:
• Ensure the popularization of bank
interest and inform customers of the
advantages of bank’s products and
services
Verification:
• Collect, process and monitor the
preparation and proper use of
payment instruments
Completed studies: University Completed studies: University
diploma, preferably in Economics diploma or Baccalaureate
Major competencies:
preferably in Economics
• Customer orientation, proactive Major competencies:
attitude;
• Relevant experience in economics
• Excellent communication skills, and in dealing with cash is an asset
• Team spirit;
• Good knowledge in banking
• Resistance to stress and
• Knowledge of banking products
prolonged effort;
and services market
• Good PC knowledge;
• Computer skills
• English language-an advantage.
• Attractive benefits package;
• Opportunity to build a solid career
• Opportunity to join a young and in a rapidly growing bank in a
professional environment
enthusiastic team;
• Professional training and
• Professional training and
development;
development
• Opportunities for career
development;
• Performance is appreciated and
rewarded.
Yes (only on jobs.bizoo.ro)
Yes (only on bestjobs.ro)
Yes
Registration on the job portal
No
Yes (only on bestjobs.ro)
Registration only on the job portal Registration on the job portal
Post date
Job description/
Responsibilities
Requirements
We chose several advertisements for the job mentioned
above, three of them being presented in Table 2, related to
prestigious banks in our country (ProCredit Bank, Banca
Transilvania, Banca Carpatica). Overall, the ads present
various resemblances in terms of content, and requested
competencies, responsibilities, diplomas required from the
applicants. While ProCredit and Banca Carpatica focused
more on criteria to be met by the aspirants for the position of
ISBN: 978-960-474-254-7
Assistant Client Account Manager, Banca Transilvania
presented a higher enunciation of its own offer, explicitly
presenting the benefits, bonuses and promotion/career
opportunities.
There were observed similar ways of approaching the
advertising of this job, but at the same time, we perceived
some differences derived from the diverse concepts and
development strategies of each bank. Generally, we noted the
121
Communication and Management in Technological Innovation and Academic Globalization
[8]
absence of remuneration details to be offered to future
employees, in almost every online ad examined in the
Romanian labor market. This is principally a general feature of
our society, in which earnings are considered "confidential".
[9]
IV. CONCLUSION
[10]
In this article we began with an analysis on the
characteristics of online recruiting from most up-to-date
research literature, showing its advantages and disadvantages
for both companies and employees. We made a presentation of
various components of this type of recruitment, such as: online
job boards, e-Recruiting software, .jobs domain, Web 2.0, oncampus recruiting. In the third part the paper, we put forward a
part of our studies under CNCSIS grant IDEAS 1598,
consisting in an analysis of the competencies required in
Romania for the entry-level position of Assistant Client
Account Manager, and their standardization offered by
specialized government agencies. We went on to consider
various online ads posted on major job portals, as well as their
evaluation based on several common criteria but also on
differences between them.
In continuation of our research, we are considering a
broader analysis of the following: the labor market in our
country, job portals, as well as the similarities between the
competencies required on the labor market and the real
knowledge of Romanian graduate students.
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank CNCSIS (Consiliul
National al Cercetarii Stiintifice din Invatamantul Superior)
and to Prof. Nicolae Ghisoiu, manager of IDEI Grant 1598, for
the sustenance of their research. Additionally, the authors
express their gratitude towards the FSEGA managers and
students for the support received during their studies.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
Brencic V., Norris J.B., “Online Job Boards as an Employer
Recruitment Tool”, for 2008 World Congress on National Accounts and
Economic Performance Measures for Nations, Arlington VA, May 12–
17, www.indexmeasures.com/dc2008/papers/BrencicNorrisDC2008.pdf
Brown L.,”On-Campus Recruiting – Is It Right For Your Company?”
HR Professional, September 2002
Consiliul National de Formare Profesionala a Adultilor (CNFPA), Tabel
de corespondenŃă între standardele ocupaŃionale şi ocupaŃiile din
C.O.R., 2010, http://so.cnfpa.ro/so/Corespondenta%20SO-COR.pdf
Dragusin M., Petrescu R. M., “Specific Features of the Recruitment and
Selection Processes in SME: The Case of Bucharest”, Analele
UniversităŃii din Oradea, Volume IV, Management, Marketing and
Economic Informatics, 2009
Fegley S. (project leader) et al., Advances in E-Recruiting: Leveraging
the .jobs Domain, published by the Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM), 2007
Lacurezeanu R., Bako E.D., Nistor R. L., Chiş G., Tiron A., “A
Comparative Analysis of the Opportunity and the Possibility of
Implementing some E-Learning Components at FSEGA”, WSEAS
Transactions on Business and Economics Issue 8, Volume 3, August
2006
Lacurezeanu R., Bako
E.D., Nistor R. L., Chiş G.S.,”The
Implementation of e-Learning in Economic Higher Education”, The 5th
WSEAS International Conference on E-ACTIVITIES, WSEAS Press,
Editor: Mastorakis N. and Cecchi a., 2006, pp. 335-340
ISBN: 978-960-474-254-7
122
Lacurezeanu R., Nistor R. L., Chis A., Zagan-Zelter C. D., “M-learning
in Romania in the university context”, Education and New Educational
Technologies, WSEAS Press, 2008, pp. 182-188
Ministerul Muncii, Familiei si Protectiei Sociale, Portal de Consiliere
Educationala si Profesionala, Standard ocupational – administrator
cont,
http://consiliere.mmssf.ro/po.war/pdf/administrator__cont.pdf
O'Reilly T., What Is Web 2.0. Design Patterns and Business Models for
the Next Generation of Software, O'Reilly Media, Inc., 09/30/2005,
http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html
Pogorzelski S., “The Revolution Continues”, On Staffing:Advice and
Perspectives from HR Leaders, Burkholder N.B., Edwards P.J., Sartain
L. (eds.), John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
Ramlall S. J., “Enhancing The Effectiveness Of HR Through The
Integration Of IT “, Journal of Business & Economics Research Volume
1, Number 10, 2003
Raiffeisen Bank Romania, Programul Raiffeisen Trainee - la a patra
editie, http://www.raiffeisen.ro/presa/programul-raiffeisen-trainee-la-apatra-editie
Russell C., More Best Practices for Online Recruiting Success, 2005,
LLC, www.allcountyjobs.com/Article_More_Best_Practices.pdf
Sage Abra, “What Every HR Manager Needs to Know About Online
Recruiting”, 2007 Sage Software Inc.,
http://www.adssglobal.net/starinfo/abra/abra_q308_whitepaper.pdf
University of Texas Arlington, How to Post and Hire for Administrative
and Staff Positions,
http://www.uta.edu/policy/documents/employment/howtoposthire.pdf
Verhoeven H., Williams S., “Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet
Recruitment: A UK Study into Employers’Perceptions”, International
Review of Business Research Papers, Vol.4 No.1 January 2008, pp.364373
Vrinceanu C., “ProCredit: Ofiter de Credite si Administrator de cont,
cele mai cautate posturi”, 20 Iulie 2006, www.wall-street.ro
West A., “Middleware: Addressing the Top IT Issues on Campus”,
Educause Quarterly, 2002, pp. 6-10
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0241.pdf