Key talent is slipping through the online hiring net with many companies missing out as a result.

Steve Carter, managing director of finance recruiter Nigel Lynn made the remarks in the wake of a recent KPMG report which claims that large employers are reducing the need for recruitment agencies by hiring staff through their own websites.

“One of the major problems is the way applications are filtered through automated checking procedures,” he said. “You may have the ideal candidate with exactly the right experience for a senior position. But if there’s no human being involved in that first CV filter then the company is going to lose out. Why? Because of the ridiculous scenario where good candidates will get deselected by what they forgot to put on their CV.”

Carter cites the example of a senior tax specialist who, because they did not have the phrase ‘indirect taxation’ on their CV was rejected by a major company. The candidate was snapped up by a competitor within hours, says Carter.

Carter says that another problem with relying solely on e-hiring is often the best candidates aren’t looking to jump ship and won’t visit the site anyway.

“In a world dominated by skill shortages, organisations have to realise that they are selling as well as buying and that the very best candidates are not going to spend time ‘optimising’ their CVs with keywords in order to try and beat an online system when they know they can go to a recruitment consultancy and get four interviews. People recruit people – not computers – you can’t e-mail a handshake.”

This week, HR Zone reported that at graduate entry level oversupply is equating to 29 applications per vacancy.