Interesting read from the Career Strategies section of the WSJ Online in the last week or so. Beyond Job Boards: Targeting the Source provides me with some more cannon fodder for my Using Social Media in Your Job Search presentation I am trying to give.
I was arguing with CareerSherpa’s Hannah Morgan the other day (we do that…a lot 
over job boards and their increasing irrelevance due to an increase in the use of social networking by companies.
Along comes this WSJ piece that adds to it by saying are focusing inward and tightening up their OWN pages. Why do they need job boards when they can do a BETTER job on their own of finding TARGETED, SPECIFIC people.
Companies say they are scaling back advertising on online job boards, which saves them money. By focusing more on their own career pages, companies also reduce the number of applications they need to sift through. And, they say, people applying through a prospective employer’s own Web site are on average better-qualified than applicants coming through job boards.
The article offers a scary but SOBERING stat: “In May, 22.9 million unique visitors searched for work on job boards…”
MILLION.
UNIQUE.
37% increase from last year.
How are you getting through all of that NOISE?
1 response so far ↓
1 Matilda Heart // Aug 3, 2009 at 6:19 am
You’re ‘sobering’ statistics of a 37% rise in Job Seekers using job boards really should not be that surprising.
Although we are undoubtedly in a recruitment transition, it is inaccurate and overly presumptuous to assume that job boards are, or will become, redundant. Job boards are still the first point of contact for a large majority of Job Seekers and to be absent from this sphere would undoubtedly diminish many employers chances of finding relevant and quality candidates.
From my experience in the recruitment industry, one of the main problems employers have with social networking sites, particularly those with CV databases or candidate profiles, is that information is often outdated and too much time can be wasted tracking down individuals who have long since found work.
Recruitment Consultants from Employment Office- an Australian recruitment solutions company- are quick to point out the advantages of targeted advertising as an ideal recruitment process. Instead of posting your advertisement on all-industry job boards, try sector specific websites.
For example, niche online job board http://www.bluecollar.com.au is becoming increasing popuarl with both Australian Job Seekers and Employers, because it not only offers a platform for visitors to browse related opportunities with multiple companies, but also tends to attract candidates who are experienced and interested in the Blue Collar sector.
Today there are multiple ways to recruit- so embrace social networking tools, but don’t limit your opportunity to network friendly, Gen-Y users.
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