The Ministry of Public Service and Labour (MIFOTRA), on Thursday announced it was introducing a new recruitment process in Public Service known as e-Recruitment.

The online recruitment is the practice of using technology, and in particular web-based resources, for Human Resource Management tasks involved with finding, attracting, assessing, interviewing and hiring new employees.

In a press release, the ministry indicated that the introduction of e-Recruitment was one of the government’s continued efforts aimed at improving efficient service delivery in public service.

An effective recruitment and selection management process is vital in matching the right person with the right job in any institution, the ministry said.

"In order to ensure timely and effective recruitment and election of Public Servants in the Rwanda Public Service, an effective business process that clearly defines the job requirements and allows for an efficient candidate application for job openings is indispensable,” reads part of MIFOTRA’s statement. 

"The purpose is to ensure that the process of job application and application screening is automated online, which will eliminate the current manual processes that are in place and hence improve efficiency, effectiveness and candidate data management”.

It is not yet clear exactly how soon it will be scaled to other public institutions but Gaspard Musonera, Coordinator of the Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) at MIFOTRA, told The New Times on Friday that the system was "being tested live with the ministry’s job vacancies” and the outcome will determine the scale-up plan.

"But the government intends to move as fast as possible as the system bears significant benefits both for institutions and the public,” he said.

Musonera said the new system helps the applicant to process his or her job application online, continuously monitor the application status, appeal at any stage and get a feedback on it from the institution or the Public Service Commission as provided by relevant regulation.

He said e-Recruitment was one of the many modules of a larger government system called Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) managed by MIFOTRA and is supporting the government in management of public servants. 

"The system allows online interaction between the applicant and the institution seeking employees up to placement notification. It ensures transparency throughout the process and cost efficiency and ultimately improved service delivery,” Musonera said.

"If you want to apply at MIFOTRA you go to www.mifotra.gov.rw and you immediately see the e-Recruitment link and it is going to be the same for all public institutions. Once you are in, the system guides you how to proceed”.

For the system to work, however, it is clear that the internet is a prerequisite.

Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) March 2015 report says the number of people with access to the internet 3.14 million.

The country targets to have 95 per cent of its more than 12 million citizens connected to the internet by 2017.

Is low internet penetration an issue?

The purpose of e-Recruitment, according to experts, is to make the processes involved more efficient and effective, as well as less expensive especially since online recruitment can reach a larger pool of potential employees and facilitate the selection process.

Hexakomb Ltd, an IT solutions company based in Rwanda, is one of the proponents of the new system.

The company puts emphasis on efficiency and maximizing the use of information technology.

On whether Rwanda’s low internet penetration could be a drawback to implementing e-Recruitment, Ernest Kayinamura, Chief Executive Officer of Hexakomb, explained that internet penetration although low, was growing rapidly.

"The great thing is, these days a computer is not required, but if they [job applicants] have a smart phone they can apply online.  We plan to create job centers throughout the country with our HR partner where people can walk in and have someone create a professional CV for them. This will increase the reach of jobs to citizens without connectivity,” he said.

"For e-recruitment to succeed the entire process must be paperless.  www.work.rw is the only e-recruitment profile in Rwanda that is completely paperless.  What distinguishes us from other job portals is that we are completely paperless from the job advertisement, short listing, and online review.”

Kayinamura said the entire recruitment process can be completed online with instant data.  Human Resource managers, he said, often complain of the high volume of CV’s and the challenges of sorting them. But with Hexakomb’s e-Recruitment platform, employers have key statistics for their recruiting needs.