As a result of new technology and the digitally connected world we live in, never has it been easier for recruiters and candidates to interact and engage with each other. Thanks to the diverse array of online job platforms and professional networks such as LinkedIn, the relationship between recruiters and candidates has fundamentally changed.
Unfortunately, whilst interacting with potential candidates has become easier and simpler, the recruiter’s agenda has become significantly more complex. There are now a number of potential channels to investigate to find the talent they’re looking for. Recruitment agencies need to diversify both their practice and perspective to ensure they find exactly who they need.
For candidates looking for a new job, a quick search on a job-board is most likely the first port of call. It’s here where recruiters can promote a new job vacancy, and candidates can find positions they would like to apply for. For a recruiter, deciding what services to use and how to get the best results can at times be a complicated process, and having so many channels at your disposal doesn’t always help. In order to alleviate those concerns, this two-part blog series will discuss the different elements of job board posting and highlight some top tips and best practices.
Decide whether Industry Specific or Generic job boards suit your requirement(s)
When looking for potential candidates, it can be tempting to post a job advertisement on one of the most prominent job boards and leave it to operate. The problem with this approach is that you then end up with a wide spectrum of candidates – either qualified or unqualified.
Undoubtedly, generic job boards serve a purpose, however, if you’re looking for precise, high quality and targeted results in terms of your candidate pool, you’re better off taking the time to use an industry specific job board.
By using industry-specific job boards over generic job boards, you drastically improve your chances of getting to the right candidate, quicker. As a direct result of this, you can shorten your recruitment process significantly.
Choose the best job board for your agency/team
Choosing the right job board is crucial for hiring success, therefore it now becomes a question of what job board best fits your recruitment criteria.
The job board you choose will play an essential role in how your recruitment process unfolds. In order to determine which is the best fit for you, there are a number of questions you need to ask:
- Reach / Activity / Traffic – Does the job board get used regularly and if so, how many people use it? Do they have detailed statistics on the amount of users?
- Site Performance – How many people apply to the jobs featured on their site?
- Testimonials – Do people advocate the site? Is it their ‘go-to’ resource?
- Target Audience – Does the job board correlate with the industry you’re recruiting for?
- General or Industry Specific – Are you looking for candidates with a particular specialisation, or are you trying to fill multiple roles across a wide spectrum?
- Functionality / Account Management – Do these job boards offer any additional services or advanced job posting functions, such as the ability to define your keywords? A CV database? Candidate filtering?
- Cost – Does the cost justify the service? Are you getting your money’s worth?
- Popularity / Reputation – Does the job board attract new users on a regular basis and have they established themselves as a ‘go-to’ source?
Using these questions as a framework will allow you to determine which of the sites offer the most benefit, functionality and efficiency.
Use measurement to determine value
So, you’ve decided on the job boards you want to utilise, now you need the analytics at your disposal to determine how efficient and productive the job board actually is.
The most effective job-boards will offer you analytics and statistics on a number of variables, such as:
- Applications received or per job – This is crucial for helping you determine how many people are actually interested in your job posting. It’s one thing receiving the number of views for your job post – but if you’re on an industry-specific job board yet no one is applying, you may want to rethink your job-posting format.
- Views per job – If you’re able to accumulate views on your job, you can determine how many people are interested in that posting; combine this statistic with the amount of applications you receive and you’ll get an accurate representation of how effective the job board and job post really are.
- Actual hires – Unless you’re directly responsible for the hiring aspect of the process, as a recruiter this can be complicated to determine. If your client is willing to divulge such information to you, you can correlate the statistics between the amount of views, the applications you’ve received per view – and how many of those applications have turned into actual hires. This is your bottom line.
Now that we’ve established the primary elements for your job board postings, you need to maximise your results. In part two of this blog, we’ll summarise how you can be sure you’re getting the best results from your job boards.
