1. What impact do you think Hire.com’s screening tools have had on the HR departments of Southern and Plantronics?
2. What competitive advantages do you see in using online screening tools to screen applicants?
3. Do you see any drawbacks associated with the Hire.com system, and, if so, how might they be addressed?

Layne Buckley and Eric Muller both need to hire engineers, and those engineers need to understand electricity. But the recruiters are looking for two very different types of candidates.
Buckley, staffing manager for communications headset manufacturer Plantronics Inc. in Santa Cruz, California, wants engineers who can design the electronics for audio equipment. Muller, on the other hand, is recruiting a team leader for the energy firm Southern Company, and that calls for an engineer to run nuclear, coal, natural gas, and hydroelectric power plants. Both recruiters have one problem in common: Each has too many applicants to weed through.
“Our recruiters were overwhelmed and couldn’t pinpoint who they should hire for a particular vacancy,” says Muller. “They were victims of their own successful sourcing efforts.”