Internet Job Boards (e.g. Seek.com.au) are the most striking recruitment change of the decade. They are a blessing to businesses of all sizes. But they are also a curse. This article focuses on the blessings… stay tuned for the sequel to deal with the curse!
Before Internet Job Boards, businesses relied on print media (newspapers, magazines, trade journals etc), to promote job vacancies. Then along came the Internet… and the rules changed.
What are Internet Job Boards?
Internet Job Boards (e.g. Seek.com.au) let businesses place their own job advertisements on-line using self-service. Job-seekers visit and find vacancies by searching (e.g. "show me all the ads for receptionists in Sydney metro") or they set automatic email alerts for jobs that meet their pre-set criteria.
How do Internet Job Boards Work?
Job-seekers search and see matching job 'abstracts' (15-20 words… much like a GoogleŽ listing). It's your 'hook' to grab their attention. If your bait is interesting enough, a percentage of Job-seekers will 'click-through' to read the whole of your ad. And, unlike print media, you're not restricted. So you have plenty of room to detail the vacancy, address key criteria and benefits plus promote your organisation as a great place to work.
Ten percent click-through is average… less than this is a sign that you need to reconsider your 'abstract'. Is it compelling enough. Does it speak to applicants' interests.
Low unemployment means it's a buyers' market for job-seekers. So brand, position and promote your job vacancies in the same way you do your product or service. We see up to forty times more applicants when organisations rise to this challenge.
What are the benefits of Internet Job Boards?
Of the 10% or so who actually read your ad, only about 10% will make an application… that's 1 in 100 of those who 'eyeballed' your abstract. But the sheer numbers of 'eyeballs' (e.g. 2.4 million per month on Seek.com.au) is what makes this the most effective way of finding applicants. Again, if applications are less than 1% of 'eyeballs', you're doing something wrong.
And another great benefit of on-line advertising?… you can change your ad copy and reposition your ad as often as you like, usually for free. You can research what works best with real, hard data, not guesswork.
Your Job will be viewable for about 30 days. It will slip down the search results page as it ages and other (newer) ads will be shown at the top. Place it on a Monday or Wednesday (not a Friday… it's not a newspaper). On-line job-seekers use their employer's time, not their weekends!
Applications will surge early, with a long 'tail' over the remaining weeks. The 'tail' is valuable. It often provides excellent applicants… people who start job-seeking after you originally placed the ad, that you would otherwise miss.
The blessings of Internet Job Boards?…
And the curses?…
Expect a significant number of spurious 'flick-and-stick' applications… as many as 30%, or even higher, such as…
Our research shows this percentage doubled in the last year. But don't despair. Quick, simple and effective filtering strategies exist that I'll detail in my follow-up article.
So, is on-line advertising worth it? Undoubtedly yes!… providing you do it right.
On-line ad campaigns can successfully recruit at all job and skill levels. We see success stories from cleaners* to CEOs.
Why?… because every serious job-seeker today uses the Internet, regardless of education or industry. And every successful employer we know regularly uses on-line advertising.
So… avoid being left behind, build a cost-effective brand presence and make finding good quality applicants a breeze, even in the current tight labour market … get on-line today.
. https://www.expr3ss.com/media/PuttingOutTheGarbage-TheAustralian.pdf