So what does this mean to Job Boards? Most likely a slow dead when they stop innovating in combination with (too) high prices and low service. Their business models are unsustainable, as clients don’t accept this anymore today, or tomorrow. But the job search industry is changing and attempts are made to ensure that clients keep paying the premium prices for advertising jobs to active job seekers.
Here’s a top 10 list of some of excellent innovations that each Job Board should embrace:
1) Lower, free or pay-per-result pricing
This one is on top of my list. I haven’t paid for a Job Posting since 2008, via my own recruitment agency recruit2, but I would reconsider this approach when cheap and effective alternatives are being offered! When you think about free postings, consider online market places like Craigslist, eBay/Marktplaats and Werk.nl (the largest Dutch career site and its free!).
2) Smart job matching algorithms
Making it easier for Job Seekers to match their profile with jobs without the need to be a Boolean Expert. Check out Jobfox or Realmatch.
3) Become candidate-centric
Job Boards really need to become more candidate-centric and offer information, or even better a community, about resume writing, job hunting, interviewing, salary surveys, and company reviews (preferable by Glassdoor). Include career advice and coaching services to add value to the Job Seeker and build a loyal audience that returns more often to the website (Monstercoach, ikki.nl). And please, don’t let them jump through all these hoops before applying!
4) Consolidation of Job Boards
Job Seekers and Recruiters would welcome this very much, as the landscape is so diverse and unclear for the average person. This likely to be inevitable with so many lower-cost and multipurpose online alternatives. Look out for strong niche Job Boards who are in the perfect situation to tailor their tools and proposition towards the needs of their target audience (mediabistro.com).
5) Offer candidate surveys and benchmarking services to employers
When talking about adding value by Job Boards, other than simply offering a platform to advertise (and apply) for jobs, this is worth considering. Now, we don’t need all Job Boards to offer this service but if you as an employer are looking to improve your ‘operational excellence’ these candidate surveys and benchmarks are important. Best example: check Careerbuilder in selected countries.
6) Extensive jobs syndication
Syndication makes it easy for job seekers to view or receive jobs whenever and where they like; via mobile applications (iPhone, Android, Blackberry), widgets (DoNanza), customised RSS-feeds, email job agents or Twitter Direct Messages (Jobsite.co.uk). Also cross-posting employer’s jobs to additional locations may benefit clients which is already offered by leading sites such as Careerbuilder and Monster (Netherlands). Also a mobile-friendly website is a must have these days as mobile internet usage is going up very fast.
7) Facilitate online career events
I’ve had great success with dedicated online career events for targeted audiences in the past. They are a great way to attract a large audience and provide them with relevant real-time information during chat sessions. A dedicated event can be supported by a rich user experience such as employer videos, audio recordings and presentations with voice-over.
Unfortunately there seems to be a gap in the market for dedicated (!) online career events, supported by Job Boards, or does anyone have any examples? Please note that I’m not referring to Virtual Job Fairs with many other competitors (they already exist, see Monster Virtual Job Fair).
8 ) Encouraging referral hiring
This needs no further introduction. Except that this does mean more than a social sharing button on a webpage to me!
Now I know that online referral recruitment initiatives, like Jobster.com and Zubka, failed in the past. But have a look at JIBE or start-up company TalentGraphz who takes a slightly different approach and believes heartily in the process of “finding the company first and then the job”.
9) Real-time communications like chat, VOIP and video conferencing. Please share best practices!
10) Strong integration with Social Media
To be able to offer a richer user experience and collaboration more and more job boards are embracing social media (Superscout). Think about importing your LinkedIn profile, social sharing or check who yo already know within the company (SimplyHired). Check current best practices at College Recruiter or Dice Talent Network.
So what do you think will happen next? Is the future of Job Boards dead, social or …