A recent international workplace survey has found that Australian job seekers topped a list of countries in their use of the Internet to find jobs, with a majority finding their most recent position online. Online recruitment eclipsed all other forms of recruitment including direct approaches, newspaper advertising, and word of mouth, according to the international survey.

The survey also found that more than a quarter of Australians have concerns about how they perform during face-to-face job interviews while one in three have doubts as to whether their CVs present them to potential employers in the best possible way. The Kelly Services global survey sought the views of more than 115,000 people in 33 countries including almost 19,000 in Australia on a wide range of issues about how they find work and how they deal with aspects of the recruitment process.

People are now very confident about applying for jobs online while employers are becoming much more skilled at dealing with the online recruitment phenomenon. While 54 per cent of those in the Australian survey found their most recent job online, nine per cent found work as a result of a direct approach to an employer, nine per cent from a newspaper advertisement, and eight per cent from a direct call from an employer or recruiter, and seven per cent through other methods.

Online recruitment is considered by candidates to be a better way to find a job, with 83 per cent pleased with the outcome compared with 51 per cent for traditional written and posted applications. However, that online recruitment should not be seen as a shortcut to proper evaluation of candidates.

Eight per cent of candidates admitted to being untruthful on their CVs or in interviews. The most likely untruths were omitting negative details from the past and claiming experience that a candidate did not have.

While 72 per cent of respondents said they performed well during face-to-face job interviews, 12 per cent said they did not and 15 per cent were unsure. Men were more confident in their ability in job interviews than women.

Some 37 per cent of candidates also had doubts about the quality of their CV with 11 per cent certain that it did not present them in the best possible way and 26 per cent unsure. And even though the task of applying for jobs and facing an interview can be daunting, it's not the worst part of the recruitment process according to candidates. The worst aspect of the recruitment process, nominated by 62 per cent of respondents was waiting for a response, followed by searching for jobs (13 per cent), attending interviews (12 per cent), filling in applications (six per cent), and preparing resume/CVs (six per cent).

Len Rust is publisher of The Rust Report.