Online Recruiting: Job Postings vs Resume Databases?

Online recruitment advertising sites will all tell you that their particular site offers you the best solutions to hire qualified candidates.  If your growing company is looking to use the the big job boards like Monster.com or Careerbuilder.com  to fill your company’s open positions, you might be asking, “Which makes more sense: to pay for online advertising, or to pay for access to the resume database?”  TalentWoo discusses when it’s best to choose one option over the other, both options, or  neither option at all.

We’ll use Careerbuilder for the sake of this illustration.   According to comScore Media Metrix, CareerBuilder.com gets 24 million unique visitors and over 500 million page views each month, making it America’s #1 online recruitment advertising website and one of the top 35 U.S. online properties.   Our first factor to consider is that according to the data on their web site, CareerBuilder.com attracts casual job seekers – over 76% are employed and looking to move up. They have an average annual income of around $70,000 and more than 80% are college educated.  The second factor is cost and scope of service, which we list for your consideration below:

Thirdly, you need to consider what type of candidate you are targeting, and the supply/demand data for your local market.  Are you trying to recruit a Regional Property Manager in Scottsdale, AZ?  Are you trying to relocate Investment Analysts from San Jose, CA to Manhattan, NY?  Are you trying to recruit recent college graduates from local universities to enter your corporate training program?   Below, we offer food for thought to help you, the hiring manager, small business owner, or HR professional make informed decisions:

Consider an “Online Job Board Posting” When…

• You are only hiring for only one geographic  market and…
• You are fairly certain you will have a good supply of qualified applicants, given the supply/demand of your local market
• You want passive job seekers or those currently employed (these applicants will frequently peruse jobs, but for confidentiality reasons won’t post resumes for everyone to see)
• You have very inexpensive job boards that can generate high volumes of qualified applicants; in other words, the job is not that difficult to fill (ie posting a $25.00 Craigslist ad for administrative support roles)
• It is a niche job board that accurately targets your ideal candidate (ie Dice for IT talent, TheLadders for 100K+ jobs, etc)

Consider Adding “Resume Database Access” When:

• You have dedicated recruiting resources to do Boolean search strings, conduct targeted email blasts, and contact candidates proactively by phone to introduce your company and the job opportunity
• You are hiring for multiple geographic areas, and need to target candidates in multiple markets
• You think you might need to relocate candidates
• You have lots of openings to fill (the cost per hire decreases the more jobs you fill)
• You want to build a pipeline of future talent
• You want to network with candidates in the industry
• You would like market intelligence (What are other companies paying? What other companies employ the same types of people? What does the talent pool look like now?)

Consider Using Both Job Boards and Resume Databases When:

• It is not cost-prohibitive for your company; TalentWoo always recommends that companies incorporate all sources possible (traditional and non-traditional) to drive candidate flow
• You need to fill your position immediately
• You are trying to fill manager and director level positions

Consider Using Neither When:

• You have low-level, entry level, or high-turnover positions (may be filled by referral)
• You are hiring for retail store locations (posting a sign may actually work)
• You are targeting new college grads (you can use university career centers for little to no money)
• You are hiring VP level executives or above (Executive Search might be a better option here)

To find out more about how TalentWoo leverages crowd sourcing with its recruiting partners to offer employers in the real estate industry unparalleled marketing reach through job boards, resume database email campaigns, social media recruiting, and more, please contact us today!