Using technology to recruit in Asian power markets

Industries all over the world are continually facing hurdles when it comes to recruiting and retaining qualified personnel. Besides the common challenges, the power industry has experienced additional setbacks related to an aging workforce and poor public perception.

The unprecedented growth in Asia’s energy demand has created yet another challenge for this specific market’s recruitment teams. With more open jobs than available candidates, attracting the top talent can be costly and time consuming. To combat this latest challenge, the most successful companies in the industry have turned to technology.

Companies looking for growth, especially on a global scale, will need more than just email and spreadsheets to entice new employees. Specific staffing programs are vital to the success of current and future recruiting efforts. There are many useful recruiting software programs available today.

Such programs, both custom and pre-developed, allow companies to collect and store essential information about candidates - including resumes, experience, training and performance certificates. With this information, companies are quickly and easily able to match a candidate’s qualifications with a project’s needs. This takes the guesswork out of placing the best people on the right jobs.

Pre-screening prospective candidates is another valuable tool available through such software solutions. By pre-screening job seekers’ qualifications, companies are able to save time, money and paperwork. Determining which applicants best fit your organization’s needs and culture will ensure that the limited resources available to human resources departments are used in the most efficient manner possible.

By using software based methods of pre-screening, firms are able to eliminate the large portion of candidates who don’t add value to the workforce. The best pre-screening methods allow companies to sort candidates by skills, experience, training certificates and personality profiles.

Understandably, the cost of the best and most useful recruiting software can be more than most human resources budgets allow. In those circumstances, many organizations turn to third party recruiting companies. By acting as virtual staffing departments, third party companies provide the benefits of expensive software packages without the commiserate capital costs and extraneous office staff. Firms in the power industry turn to professional recruiters to provide a tailored inventory of candidates.

These candidates have all been pre-screened and vetted by the third party, so only the best applicants are presented for final selection. As anyone in the Asian power market knows, getting the right mix of Western ex-pats and local engineers is key to continued success. Beyond simply providing a narrow list of candidates, third party companies are also adept at managing on-the-job and employee care needs.

The days of shot-gun style general placement ad recruiting are finished. The modern power industry depends on special purpose technology. Firms that invest in either their own recruiting software or partner with a third party recruiter will be the ones that land the top talent and the most lucrative contracts.

Ashley Kelly, PIC Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd. 

About PIC Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd.
PIC Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd. is a leader in supplying Professional Staffing Services to the global power industry. With offices in Kuala Lumpur and Manila, PIC Asia Pacific (a subsidiary of U.S. based PIC Group, Inc.) has supported Asia’s power generation business since 1994. For more information about PIC Asia Pacific, visit www.picworld.com.my.