Use of ePortfolios for making hiring decisions: a comparison of the results from representatives of large and small businesses

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the study was to determine if representatives of small and large businesses in New Jersey believe portfolios would be valuable for evaluating applicants as part of the hiring process and whether portfolios would help applicants in the hiring process. Design/methodology/approach – Representatives from 109 small and 71 large businesses in New Jersey were surveyed about using portfolios in the hiring process. Findings – Representatives from both small and large businesses believe that the submission of a portfolio of exemplary work may help the applicant and the employer in the hiring process. Research limitations/implications – The study limitations are that the respondents had different definitions of ePortfolio, it was a convenience survey, and the researchers used two sets of data. For future research, conducting a study in a major region of the world would be a significant contribution to learning about the views of business representatives globally regarding the use of ePortfolios in the hiring decision process. Practical implications – The authors recommend that educational institutions encourage students to create portfolios as part of their career preparation to gain an edge as applicants in the job market. EPortfolios are an emerging tool to help employers in the hiring decision process. Social implications – EPortfolios would provide evidence of the employee's fit to the position, thus eliminating a mismatch of the employee's skill set and qualifications to the job. The ePortfolio aids the employer in seeing the candidate's skills for the position. Originality/value – This paper adds to the limited research about the emergence of ePortfolios having a role in human resource decision making.

Keywords

• eportfolio
• job applicants
• employers
• workplace skills
• hiring
• recruitment