Perhaps there are some lottery millionaires out there can maybe vouch for the predictions of Mystic Meg! The rest of us remember her as the psychic who raised our hopes and flattered our cosmic egos. ìThe winner today will be a Sagittarian or Virgo with a blue garage.î The reality was that you were left with a redundant ticket and the promise of a far greater opportunity in next weekís jackpot roll over.
Does Internet recruitment advertising make you feel a lottery hopeful? Lots of choice, but which job boards should you choose? What are the odds of your ideal applicant applying once you advert is live? Are the expectations set or sold too high? Do you have a better chance by making a lucky dip?
Internet recruitment doesnít have to be such a lottery. Many job boards work and work well. But which ones will work for you? Well there is an alternative to the crystal ball. Statistical information, based on actual historical response data, is now available to help you select the right mix of job boards for your next campaign.
Why do you need help? Applicant measurement analysis of 1000s of client branded postings using 100 or more top job boards over the last two years shows that response for a single advert is likely to come from over 50 countries. Across clients'' UK based positions, applications have been received from 157 different countries. This phenomenon does not just apply to the UK. Experience of posting jobs across 20 countries in Europe, South Africa and Canada indicate similar findings with response from 174 countries worldwide. Whilst in most cases the majority of the response will come from the country in which the advert is placed, it is of little surprise that the most popular of overseas response comes from countries like India, USA, Canada, South Africa and Pakistan. However, at the other end of the scale applications have been received from numerous smaller dominions, such as Brunei, Saint Kitts & Nevis and the Cayman Islands.
The level of response can vary from 0 to several 100s of applicants per job board depending upon the advert content e.g. company brand, salary level, job category, job title, timing of advert, country of work, keywords etc. Most job boards can only record approximately 30% to 50% of the total response. Independent consolidators, like advanSe, with recruitment advertising and response management software can capture and analyse 100% of all response.
Fine tuning the most appropriate candidate source should not just be limited to the Internet. However, until recently, press advertising hasnít found it commercially viable to try to quantify or qualify response; so historical data is limited. But now there is the ability to measure response from the Press, and to the same extent recruitment agencies, comparative data will increase for all the main recruitment channels.
The ability to provide supportive evidence for an advertising strategy creates confidence and can save money on otherwise wasted advertising. The level of response can you expect, where will it will come from and whether you need to do filter response or not should be the intangibles of the past.
ëSmartí recruiters and advertising advisors are seeking the means to analyse response directly to increase job board knowledge, client credibility and achieve cost efficiencies. The use of an Internet ASP technology solution, such as ëTalentNetí that measures the complete response against of all three candidate sources i.e. Internet, Press and agencies, provides statistical analysis to help determine best value and best practice for the recruiter or the client.
Success can never be guaranteed. However, if you prefer a lottery, Mystic Meg can be found doing the rounds on the after dinner circuit, or you could always post yet another lucky dip!
Is Recruitment Advertising a Lottery?
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