Dispelling the myths
Ray Schreyer is an online recruiting pioneer and was one of the main players in the creation of DirectEmployers Association back in 2001. Today, Ray is responsible for the creation, innovation and management of IBM’s global recruiting initiatives online, which is why I wanted to share the following…
DIGITAL BUSINESS 2007:
Dispelling the myths of the internet job search
By Ray Schreyer, Financial Times
Published: Nov 07, 2007
Online job searching has evolved from a novelty into an essential career tool in the 10 years since I co-wrote one of the earliest guide books to using the new technology.
At first, internet job searching may seem quick and easy; however, having a strategy for navigating through millions of postings on thousands of sites helps increase the odds of landing a job, or even an interview. It helps to separate the myths that have evolved along with this multi-million dollar business from the realities that can help both job seekers and recruiters get better results from internet job search tools.
Myth 1: The big boards post the lion’s share of openings.
Reality: Only about 30 per cent of the jobs at major corporations are listed on the big job boards, according to research firm iLogos. Fewer than 25 per cent of internet users worldwide regularly use job boards. There are many more options to include in job research.
Corporate websites and niche sites, such as professional and industry associations, have grown in size and importance. For example, employers use their own sites to avoid the rising cost of job board advertising; they find the high volume of resumes produced by the big boards does not necessarily translate into actual hires. More often, they rely on industry and professional association sites and job aggregators to get the word out about new positions.
Employment search engines, which aggregate jobs from corporate sites, are invaluable to any job hunt, especially now that jobs are global. Top sites include JobRapido in Europe, Recruit.net in Asia and Jobcentral.org in the US.
To get specific vacancies in front of candidates with the required skills, corporations will also opt in the future for targeted search services, such as Yahoo Network’s Behavioral Targeting and Google Adwords.
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For more myth dispelling and the full article click here.
Comments(5)
Greetings!
I think this article touched upon a very important issue and did well to explain some of the misconceptions about job hunting online. A lot of people seem to think that posting their resumes online guarantees a job interview in less than a week. Since they don’t really see anybody else applying, they tend to forget that the Internet is one vast universe.
I have to agree with an article from Focus Management, a food recruitment consultancy, that: “online social networks, job boards, and intermediaries will supplement the older methods of networking, advertising, and CVs. These tools combined will not only expand the reach of companies and job seekers to a global scale, but also further expedite the ‘job game’ for both sides.”
When new technology develops, many people suddenly disregard the older, which could be detrimental. If a company or job seeker know how to and use the older and newer tools available, they can save the time, energy, and money that it would otherwise take in the job game.
So 70% of jobs are not posted? How did you arrive at that percentage?
I should ask if you believe that is actually true Ray–as you cite ilogos.
Ray is referring to jobs posted to job boards, not corporate career sites.
iLogos arrived with this %age some years back (2003) and then a private firm audited major job boards again in 2006, which provided similar results.
This is not a surprise to most of us, as companies cannot afford to place all of their open reqs on major boards. Moreover, I believe big boards will garner fewer jobs as the recruiting avenues of approach are growing much broader and more effective.