Job Boards. The Simplest and most straight-forward recruitment strategy, yes? Well, not quite. They are tempting, and an easy Go To Recruitment starting point, but knowing how to utilise them to your advantage can be a tall order. This is a HR Manager’s Guide to Job Board Advertising, and how to get it right.
Business Benefits of Online Job Board Advertising
The business benefits of using online job boards are alluring to say the least. This article gives an excellent run down from a Recruiter’s Perspective: what’s good about job boards, the business benefits, and how to maximise their potential. The business benefits include:
- Online is the Place to Be: without a doubt, recruitment in 2016 is heavily reliant on the internet, therefore making sure you have an Employer’s Presence on the best job boards makes sound sense.
- Candidates Start Here: you only need to look at the odd article aimed at candidates, such as this one, to know that the most active candidates start their search here, having typed in a generic Google phrase. The candidates scour them, and the savviest of candidates know how to play the Job Board game, so if you’re not to miss out, you need to be there.
- Speed is of the Essence: with a quick click of the mouse and a few completed form fields, your vacancy is up, being advertised, and reaching out to candidates. It doesn’t get much faster than a Job Board. Time feels efficient because within minutes you’re accessing candidates.
- Ease of Use: When you have a million other tasks demanding your attention, job boards are easy because they are simple and straightforward to use.
- Money Matters: Recruitment Budgets are often being squeezed. A Job Board advertisement is one of the cheapest options on the Recruitment Market, or at least the upfront costs are known, quantifiable and low.
- You’re in Control: When you place the Job Board advert, the applications are going to come flooding into you. You know what you’re looking for, so post accordingly, and can filter accordingly. The leg work is down to you, so you can stay in control.
- Employer Branding Online: Utilising Job Boards can be a good way of getting your name out there about the type of employer you are, the roles you offer, and generally beefing up your image and Employer Branding.
- Linking to Social Media and Other Strategies: Job Boards are easy to link to your Social Media accounts and any other recruitment strategies you have. This makes a more holistic approach to recruitment.
Top Tips on Choosing the Right Job Board for Your Business
The problem starts when you realise that there are literally thousands of Job Boards out there. But not all Job Boards are created equal. There can be enormous variations from one board to another, and simply ‘dumping’ your post on a random choice is not going to come up with the goods: real, high-calibre candidates. Choosing the right Job Board ensures you attract the right candidates for your vacancy. After all, one high calibre well-experienced and accurately qualified candidate is better than a thousand inappropriate ones. So how do you pick the right one?
- Change Your Hat: Take of your HR Recruiting hat and put on the hat of a candidate. Think as they would think. Where would you start our new job search? Knowing the most savvy candidates, you’re likely to start with a quick Google search. So do this, see which job boards come up on the first page of results for jobs in the area you’re looking for.
- Think About Your Needs: Don’t just dive in but give some care and thought to your recruitment needs. Are you after a specialist or a generalist? Are you after someone with 10 years’ experience or a new graduate? Identify your needs and use this to hone your search.
- Location, Location, Location: Are you looking for a local recruit or are you casting your net wider to the global market?
- Your Niche: Understand and know your business niche. Which job boards cater to this?
- Identify the Top Boards: Now you should have a handful of ‘nearly’ appropriate job boards to choose from. Now is the time to compare them to one another by looking at factors such as site performance and traffic, and therefore narrow your choices down.
- Select the Job Board for You: Once you’ve done the above groundwork, you should have a good idea about which job board is best for you as a HR Manager. Now you can draft your post, fill in the online form, pay the sum, and get cracking.
For more top tips on how to choose the best Job Board for you, check out this Webinar.
Sounds Easy & Cheap
Job Boards do sound easy and cheap, but in reality things are necessarily all they are cracked up to be. Whilst your initial outlay may be low, chances are you’ll be paying a heavier price in the long run when other costs mount up (whether these be due to your time, or indirect recruitment costs such as losing a new recruit early on). Even assuming you identify the right job board for your vacancy first time from the thousands out there, you are still going to be a needle in a haystack. The right candidates finding you will still be largely down to luck. On top of this, you’ve just given your Inbox carte blanche to send you crazy. You will be inundated with candidates. Sifting through them to find exactly the right ones, the ones who do truly meet your criteria is going to take a great deal of time and effort.
Is There Another Way?
For savvy HR Managers there most certainly is. Whilst Recruitment Agencies can bring a higher upfront cost, they definitely bring a personalised and confidential service bringing you the very best pre-qualified candidates whilst honing your employer branding. They are time efficient and cost effective. Nonetheless, Recruitment Agencies can have a bad rap. That’s why Net Recruit is different. We offer a Campaign Builder package that allows you to know exactly what you’re spending and what you’re getting. The result: affordable high quality recruitment, for each and every vacancy, within the Job Board headache.
