There were more than 2,000 attendees at the HRMS/EXPO held September 11-13 at the Dallas Convention Center. The event featured an array of the hottest new products and services in the human resources industry.

Some of the topics covered at the event were how to use the Internet for personal career development, empowering employees through the Internet and the Intranet, and the future of HRMS. One of the keynote speakers, Harriet Kiehl from IBM, spoke on "The Brave New World of the Internet: Optimizing HR Strategies," which offered insight on utilizing the Internet and human resource online services.

Featured Products

EZaccess featured its Automated Recruitment Management System, or ARMS, a new Web-enabled software staffing tool that offers resume scanning, information extraction and sophisticated search and retrieval capabilities, specifically designed for placement firms. Advanced Personnel Systems featured its SmartSearch2 product, which is the first scanning-based applicant tracking system of its kind and which lets users manipulate the user interface (database screens and forms) as well as the structure and customization of data.

Cyborg Systems, known for having leading payroll processing solutions, provided information on its Solution Series/ST (application that processes payroll and integrates time and attendance data in any client/server environment. IBM had a similar application called HR Access that is also a fully integrated client/server strategic human resources, organizational administration, payroll and benefits solution. IBM's HR Access utilizes a single Worldwide Information Model (WIM), classified as a multinational repository for information on the organization and its employee population. New capabilities via the Internet and Intranet to access benefits information is a new trend in the industry, and some of the key players include InterVoice and Edify. InPower's Self-Service application offers an HTML browser-based client application that unites Edify's Electronic Workforce and facilitates InPower's 4.0 application servers through offering users voice response, e-mail and fax services. InterVoice's OneVoice platform provides interactive voice response and World Wide Web access for employees to manage their own information and accounts through 24-hour access to their HR and employee benefits information.

Lotus introduced a new application called Domino that can be integrated into transaction-oriented systems like PeopleSoft and IBM's HR Access. Domino employs Lotus Notes' robust workflow, application development and integrated Web server capabilities to reach employees via corporate Intranets. HR departments use the Web to publish company policy and benefit information in addition to offering interactive services such as compensation administration, benefits enrollment, employee record changes, recruiting and training.

Online Recruitment

There is also a convergence of accepting online recruitment as a method of locating qualified candidates in the HR industry, and job seekers have plenty of new sites to post their resumes on. Career Mosaic, The Monster Board, CareerWEB, Decisive Quest and CareerPath.Com are a few of the online employment services who attended the show.

Decisive Quest has a unique service called QuestMatch, which uses proprietary database software search tools and presents detailed pre-screening software templates that offer a real-time national database registry for job candidates and comprehensive searching capabilities for hiring companies. QuestMatch is geared toward professionals including computer software engineers, electrical engineers, information systems professionals and accountants.

CareerPath.Com was actually formed as a result of an alliance between 21 major newspapers around the nation. Job seekers simply choose the newspaper and are automatically hyperlinked to either a direct contact at the paper or an online version of the newspaper to check out local job opportunities.

If job seekers want to search for job listings by category and geographical location, they can fill out CareerWEB's JobMATCH. The site offers career assessment tools, career resources, answers to FAQs about Internet recruiting and Connections, CareerWEB's online newsletter.

That's a wrap. For more information about these and any other products and services featured at the HRMS/EXPO, contact Bettina Mikelberg, Blenheim NDN, 415/966-8440 or e-mail bmikelbe@blen-usn.mhs.compuserve.com. Or you can look up the HRMS/EXPO home page at http://www.shownet.com.

Information provided by How to Get Your Dream Job Using the Internet, written by Shannon Bounds and Arthur Karl. This book is a comprehensive guide that includes hundreds of company employment Web sites, job-related newsgroups, bulletin board systems and job hunting resources. The book sells for $29.99 and includes "The Dream Job" CD-ROM (for Windows) that provides Web page creation software with HTML editors, resume builders and direct links to job openings around the world.

Laura Stadler is a freelance writer for Computer Currents.

© 1996 Laura Stadler. All right reserved.