I cannot begin to tell you how upset I am about job board companies. I had a conversation with one of our job board vendors (ends in ER but can’t say who) today where the salesperson just didn’t listen and wanted to charge me more money for brand wraps that have not changed in the last year. Furthermore, this is the 5th account rep with that one company I have been given in the last 5 years. I AM DONE! I am at a turning point and need to make a tough decision about whether or not to keep them.
The issue….it is all about the money to them. They say they care about driving candidates to your site, but I can use many free resources versus paying serious money that yields poor ROI and a Source Ranking of 9th.
Our company has been very dependent on job boards for the last 10 years and we have spent a large chunk of money with below-average results. As we enter our new fiscal year in July, I have cut my job board spend with one vendor in particular by 65%. My boss challenged me when I said I was cutting my job board spend. “Be careful,” she said, “If you don’t have the candidates then our service levels go down. “It is a source of candidate flow.” My reply, “It is a source of candidate flow, but the candidate quality is poor. We have many other options and we will not let the quality or service levels drop because we are cutting back on the number of postings purchased”.
Too many companies still depend on job boards to bring candidates in through post and pray methodology. Why? Recruiting organizations can lean on the excuse that they have not presented candidates because not enough have applied and the ones who have applied are not qualified. Surprised? I am not. I have seen the trend downward the last 5 years.
Bottom line…Recruiters are addicted to Job Boards as a source for candidates.
I am excited because I get to take that spend and push towards building Talent Networks, a CRM tool, training and development for my recruiters around sharpening their sourcing skills. Am I nervous? Yes, but in a positive way as I take a chance to rely on the creation of microsites, Indeed.com, SimplyHired instead of using job boards to drive candidate flow.
Bad news job boards, I plan to cut another 20% by next fiscal year taking that money to invest in social, mobile and candidate engagement. I am no longer addicted to the fix of candidate quantity. Our focus is quality and my team knows how to find A-Level candidates.
Are you ready to cut back your job board spend? You should be because your ROI on post and pray is very poor and your leaders are concerned because you are wasting the company’s money.
Let me know if you have cut back and how your company did!!
Michael Goldberg, the Recruiting Concierge, has 15 years of recruiting leadership and difference-making with $1B organizations across the United States. Reach out to Michael should your team need help in finding more economic ways to attract talent.