Urban Outfitters gets help from the web in managing job applicants

Urban Outfitters Inc. has begun using a recruiting management software that will assist the firm in sorting through job applications that it receives over the Internet as well as applications that are delivered in person or through the mail.

The retailer will integrate the OpenHire suite of software from Winston-Sales, N.C.-based SilkRoad Technology Inc. into its legacy IT systems to help its human resources personnel field, track and manage the thousands of applications the company receives each year.

The system will accept and organize applications from multiple sources, including those that come online both directly through Urban Outfitter’s Web site and those coming from the major national online recruitment sites. The knowledgebase search options then automatically screen the applicants by preset criteria and eliminate the costs typically associated with importing resumes into a common database.

A SilkRoad spokeswoman explains the software can then match up the resumes against the criteria specified by the company for specific openings. And if a resume does not meet the specific criteria requested for current openings, but lists qualifications the firm often is looking for, it will keep the resume on file for future openings.

Urban Outfitters employs more than 5,000 persons in three divisions throughout the U.S., Canada and Great Britain.