Many professionals believe that the humble job board is on its way out. With social media taking the recruitment world by storm, you could be forgiven for thinking this is the case. But the advent of social marketing doesn’t necessarily spell the end for job board advertisements.
In fact, there is no reason the two can’t work side by side. According to studies, job boards are responsible for 18% of all successful hires, whilst social media only contributed a mere 3% of them. Not too bad for a method that is supposedly becoming obsolete. Not only this, but job boards are the people’s choice. Around 65% of candidates are seeking new employment directly through these sites, with 1 in 6 external hires made in this way. So what exactly does the job board offer that other forms of recruitment don’t?
Discover Candidates From Unexpected Sectors
The main problem with social media recruitment is that you are unlikely to reach a diverse range of individuals. In order to secure an employee long term, you need to find a candidate who is already skilled in your chosen area.
This can be difficult if you are only advertising to a small number of Facebook or Twitter followers. The likelihood is your ideal candidate won’t be following you on either of these sites. By taking the time to enter your criteria on a job listing site, you are reaching a much broader spectrum of workers and will find that more of your candidates match up to your high standards.
Simplify The Recruitment Process
Skilled entry level employees do exist, but trying to discover them one by one isn’t worth anyone’s time or investment. If you are hiring for multiple positions this problem can be a hundred times worse. A recruiter spends on average 2 hours of their time sourcing and communicating with a single prospective candidate. If you have 50 people to interview, then these hours soon add up.
A specialised job board (focusing on a specific field of expertise) cuts down the number of unfit candidates who apply for the role and makes it easier to scan through CVs. By shortening the recruitment process you save yourself a lot of unnecessary work and manpower.
Cut Your Recruitment Budget
Everyone knows time equals money and in-house recruiters aren’t going to work those hours for free. Although job board advertisements are considered by many to be expensive extravagances, they can actually be a cheaper alternative to costly salaries.
The average job post will cost you around $250, whilst the average salary of a technical recruiter comes in at just under $70,000. This means you could post 280 ads per year, across a number of job sites, for the price it would cost you to hire a skilled recruiter.
According to Forbes, a single job post from a well-established company will attract around 118 candidates. With 280 ads online you could potentially receive an incredible 33,000 applications each year. Although this is only an estimate, a recruiter working flat out would struggle to get anywhere near this figure, proving that you really do get more for your money with the job board.
Work In Harmony With Your Social Media
At the end of the day, there is no reason why you should favour using either a job board or a social media platform. It is a simple task to link your job listings with sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, meaning you can cover a much larger network of candidates.
By operating via a job board you increase the chances of finding skilled and professional applicants. Although social media can help you unearth new talent, it is simply not sufficient by itself. So before you start designing a recruitment campaign solely for your social media presence, consider how a job board might help you find your next employee of the month in half the time.
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