Employer: Amazon Job portal
- Description of the position (Inside Sales Rep) includes:
- Specific questions about the position and motivation;
- Overview of tasks and activities;
- Job details, related jobs;
- Expectations for the employee (bullet points);
- Basic, minimal employees’ qualifications;
- Preferred employees’ qualifications;
- Statement on diversity and inclusivity of the workplace;
- The application process is the following:
- Creation of the account or signing in;
- Contact information (name, address, phone number, etc.);
- General questions (eligibility criteria, work permits);
- Data about an applicant (education, work experience);
- Assessment part (work- or other related questions);
- Self-identification (gender, race, veteran status, etc.);
- Review & submission of the application.
The position is the following on Amazon Job portal. Assessing the job posting, one can say that the description provides specific skills, knowledge, and qualifications for applicants to evaluate their experience and understand whether it will match the job to be a successful candidate. At the same time, the job posting does not include any information they want to know about the organization. Culture, leadership principles, benefits, and blog stories are located on other pages that can be found on the job portal.
It can be noted that Amazon provides a very user-friendly interface for the online application process that generally requires an applicant to have only updated CV to apple for a position. Amazon job search portal also includes an opportunity to look for specific positions, filter results, and remember information that a person has already filled previously. Therefore, the application process is easy and convenient, requiring candidates to spend a short amount of time and see updates in the account.
Employer: Schneider Job portal
- Description of the position (Sales Account Rep) includes:
- A combination of the position and opportunities’ description;
- Overview of tasks and activities (bullet points);
- Salary, benefits, opportunities, vacation plans;
- Employees’ qualifications and skills;
- Company overview, links to videos about office culture;
- Core values and vision statement;
- Statement on equality and inclusivity of the workplace;
- The application process is the following:
- Creation of the account or signing in;
- CV & contacts (name, address, phone number, etc.);
- General questions (eligibility criteria, work permits);
- Specific questions on education, salary, sales experience;
- Attachments (certificates, diploma);
- Work experience, education;
- eSignature, review & submission of the application.
The position is the following on Schneider Job portal. Evaluation of the position gives an overview of the activities, tasks, and qualifications required from applicants. In comparison to Amazon’s posting, the description of skills and requirements for the job is a bit vague and needs further explanations. Unlike in the Amazon description, this job posting includes clear information about Schneider, its values, work culture, links to external videos, which might be appealing for candidates and helpful in the decision-making process.
Schneider uses the Taleo platform for online applications that has a user-friendly interface. Still, the application process is less appealing and time-consuming because the platform requires to fill forms correctly. If an applicant fills in the wrong type of data, the platform asks to fill the information again. Schneider’s job search portal also includes an opportunity to look for specific positions and filter results. Thus, the application process is less convenient, which might be explained by the fact that it aims to automate the collection of applications.
Quality of the job portal: Indeed
- Applicant’s view:
- User-friendly platform;
- Opportunity to send CV directly to employer;
- Broad coverage of job positions;
- Different filters to narrow search;
- Disclosure of data about salary, specifics of job;
- Employer’s view:
- Easy to connect to the platform;
- Opportunity to collect CV via portal;
- Broad coverage of applicants;
- Space to present company’s information, manage reviews, etc.
- Statistics and dynamics of applications available.
Comparing the quality of the job information for employers mentioned previously and Indeed website from an applicant’s and employer’s point of view, one can say that this job portal might bring a company broader reach among applicants than the comprehensive job portal of the company, which increases the chances to hire a better candidate. At the same time, it gives candidates a broader option to search for specific positions and choose the most appealing ones.
Quality of the job portal: Simplyhired
- Applicant’s view:
- User-friendly platform;
- Opportunity to send CV directly to employer;
- Broad coverage of job positions;
- Different filters to narrow search;
- Disclosure of data about salary, specifics of job;
- CV-builder and other related services;
- Employer’s view:
- Easy to connect to the platform;
- Opportunities for free posting;
- Opportunity to collect CV via portal;
- Broad coverage of applicants;
- Statistics and dynamics of applications available.
Comparing the quality of the job information for employers mentioned previously and Simplyhired website, it can be noted that the site acts as Indeed website but has fewer opportunities for companies to manage their reviews, salary estimations, and overview. At the same time, Simplyhired provides better career services for applicants, including tips, CV-builder, etc.
Summary of findings for CapraTek
- For using job portals:
- User-friendly platforms;
- Opportunity to get more applicants;
- Management of companies’ brand image as employer;
- Easy to collect and manage applications;
- Against using job portals:
- Greater competition of job positions;
- Job posting appearance depends on search algorithms;
- High number of unqualified candidates;
- Redundancies in applications and spam.
Summarizing all findings, it can be concluded that CapraTek might need to advertise its jobs via job portals, in case the company needs to build the brand image as an employer and reach a broader target audience. Job search portals might be helpful if the company does not have its online application website and resources (LinkedIn) to post job opportunities. However, the number of irrelevant applications might be high and lead to redundancies for HRs. At the same time, the competition among job positions of different companies might also increase indirectly due to job portals.
Necessary qualifications for CapraTek sales representative
- Educational background: Bachelor’s degree (preferably Marketing, Business, Management, Social Sciences areas).
- Technical experience: knowledge of MS Office, CRM systems (SAP, Salesforce).
- Skills: 3-5 yrs of experience in computer or consumer electronics sales; consultative sales approach; track record of achieving revenue KPIs; communication and presentation skills.
- Abilities: to travel to clients (50-100% of time); to build relationships with C-level clients; to negotiate and close deals.
CapraTek is looking for a regional sales representative with at least a bachelor’s degree with 3-5 years of experience in sales or other related fields (Robert, 2018). A person should be able to communicate with different clients and convey the value of CapraTek products. It is essential to travel to clients and have a passion for consultative sales methods (Olensky, 2015).
The physical environment and working conditions at CapraTek
- Physical environment:
- an open workplace, with rooms for calls and meetings;
- work at places in client’s company may differ;
- dynamic environment with facilities full of light and air;
- Working conditions:
- full-time work at client’s sites and the office;
- an equal opportunity employer;
- opportunities forflexible work schedule;
- benefits (medical and tuition reimbursement, 401K retirement plan).
It is essential to balance the information about the physical environment at the office of CapraTek and the facilities of clients because they may differ substantially and influence the motivation of the sales representative to work. Nevertheless, the benefits of working at the company should be highlighted as CapraTek is an equal opportunity employer and has excellent benefits for employees that help them develop their skills (McQuerrey, n.d.)
The essential duties of a sales representative
- Essential:
- Visiting clients to assess needs or give presentations (40% of the time);
- Generating leads (20%);
- Negotiating contracts with prospective clients (20% of time);
- Preparing and closing sales contracts (10% of time);
- Helping to create pricing quotes, promotions (5% of time);
- Preparing reports (5% of time);
- Non-essential:
- Support relationships with clients daily;
- Maintaining client data;
- Answering client questions about promotions, products, credit terms, prices and availability;
- Coordinating sales efforts with marketing department.
A regional sales representative should focus mainly on generating leads, visiting clients to estimate their needs, asking questions, giving presentations of products and services, negotiating contracts, and preparing sales deals. Among non-essential but still crucial tasks is a communication of efforts and development of promotions with a marketing department, keeping client’s data and records, updating clients on their questions.
References
McQuerrey, L. (n.d.). How the physical environment of the workplace affects your work. The Nest. Web.
Olensky, S. (2015). 6 tips for hiring the right employee. Forbes. Web.
Robert, H. (2018). Making your final hiring decision. Robert Half. Web.