Erasing The Job Board

 

 

Just how effective are job boards? Should employer and job seekers still use them? How do they compare to the new social media breakout?

 

Let’s face it, some employers don’t like spending the money on advertising on job boards. Some of their complaints are about the lack of control and the cost of the board. However, the targeted traffic makes it worth considering using it for some positions. The supporting network, tools and technologies have improved over the years. Recruiting on job boards isn’t any different then recruiting from anywhere else. Without thought and planning, however, on how and why you’re using that particular job board, it won’t be much use to you. In order for job boards to remain viable, the system must interact, and engage with the candidates. If you’re an employer, know where your participates are coming from. If you aren’t keeping track of how you find the people you hire, then you can‘t make intelligent decisions about where to post your job openings. As an employer, you have to understand where your applicants might be looking and place your ad in front of them. If you’re putting your job offer on a board, learn to write a great advertisement. A well posted job description will capture the attention and interest of the people you want to hire.

 

There are some concerns that the social media of Face book, Twitter, Google, Linkin, etc will be the end of the job boards. As a potential employee, you do have to realize that even on sites with good privacy settings, your profiles may be less private than you think. Potential employers can go on your website and see you downing that beer while dancing on the table. Not a good picture for your resume. If you have an incomplete profile, it can make you appear lazy and doesn’t show all your accomplishments and abilities. It is true that job boards can have the passive approach and social networking gives you the option of reaching out to hiring managers or recruiters at companies you want to work for. There was a study done by ExecuNet that showed 70 percent of executive recruiters reported that finding positive information online improves candidates’ prospects and can therefore elevate them to the top of the consideration list.

 

Just what does all this mean? Just as a recruiter has to have a recruiting strategy that uses many different mediums to attract people looking for jobs, the job seeker needs to use different mediums to find the new job. The job search process is filled with frustration and disappointment on both sides. Leaving the doors open to use whatever combination of resources you need to accomplish either hiring that new employee or being the potential employee looking for that great job. Having the job boards, the various social medias and working the potential of both is the way to get the best job or the best employee for both ends.

 

By Linda Lee Ruzicka

 

Linda Lee Ruzicka lives in the mountains of Western PA , happily married and with her 8 cats and three dogs. She has been published in Twilight Times, Dark Krypt, Fables, Writing Village, June Cotner anthology, The Grit, Reminisce , the book, Haunted Encounters: Friends and Family. She also does freelances work for Beyond and for Salesheads. More of her blogs can be found at Salesheads blog.