Online Recruitment - old habits with new resources?

As part of my role I come across a lot of online recruitment companies promising the world for next to nothing. So I decided to blog what I found...

As we all know the online recruitment market has gone wild in recent weeks and months. Every Google search for “flat fee online recruitment” yields a new result everyday. So with all these options available to you, how do you know where to put your limited recruitment budget?

First of all you need to know the basics – what do these companies give me for my money?
Well the truth can often be, not as much as you think! Lets break it down.

Most companies in this market will offer (or showcase) hundreds of job boards to try to make you believe that you are getting the best possible value for money. Claims include “we have partnerships with xxx job board” or “we will post it on every major job board” or even “we’ll post it on over 600 job boards”.

The truth?

1. “We have partnerships with xxx job boards”.
Partnerships? Does that mean they will post on these boards for you? No. Does that mean you will see the benefits of all of these job boards? No.

2. “We will post it on every major job board”

Every major job board? By whose definition? There is no guarantee or transparency as to where your advert will appear. Chances are the major job boards they define won’t be the ones you would.

3. “We’ll post it on over 600 job boards”

600 job boards? Even with mass posting software this is a big ask! The company doesn’t post it on 600 job boards, it assumes that 599 job boards will helpfully cross post their original advert on to their own. To clarify, cross posting occurs when one website takes an advert from another (like canvassing) to make their own site look more populated and therefore generate more traffic to that said site. This is therefore free and doesn’t necessarily add value as quality candidates mostly always come from quality job boards. Do you really want 599 poor quality job boards hosting your advert directing completely useless traffic your way? Quantity is not quality!



Don’t be misled!

Unfortunately however the false promises do get worse. Have you been promised a “No win, no fee” guarantee?

Win?

No, I didn’t think recruitment was a recognised sport either!

How can you have a “win” in recruitment? What is a “win”? Is a “win” a placement or is a “win” agreeing to certain KPI? Is it sending 10 CV’s? Is it an offer?

There is no way to be sure unless you read the T&C’s front to back. Be aware of the small print!

Online recruitment should not be about cheapening old habits by using the internet. It is the equivalent evolution of mugging to phishing. Piracy to p2p. Blackmail to DoS attacks. Same principle, new methods.

The price may be lower this time, but it’s still the same poor agency service.

Online recruitment needs to change the methodology with the methods. Bad e-practices are still bad practices.