Online job boards gained considerable popularity in the 90's, when companies such as Workopolis and Monster first introduced themselves. These job boards provided a platform where employers and job seekers could easily find hundreds of jobs at their disposal, all in one location.
This dramatically increased the reach for employers and opened up to job seekers more variety than ever before. It was also considerable cheaper for employers to recruit candidates. Before online job boards came into existence, it was said that the average recruiting cost for one applicant in the US was between $8000 and $10,000 – depending on the position. Whereas the use of online job boards in recruiting reduced this cost to $900 per applicant.
There's no doubt then why employers and job seekers both chose to accept this new method of recruitment as it was a cheaper and more effective alternative to traditional forms of recruitment, such as newspapers and trade journals.
If you fast forward back to 2009, online job boards are still widely used by individuals all over the world. Monster, for instance, receives about close to three million unique visitors a month and Workopolis receives close to four million visitors a month.
While these sites no doubt attract a large user fan base, it is interesting to note that much of their sites and the way they operate haven’t changed much since their induction. Both sites operate on a similar format: the job seeker searches for the jobs that match what they’re looking for and then the candidate is given the option to apply.
Usually, a candidate is redirected to the company’s website, where they are free to research any information they would like on that particular company and are then given the chance to apply. While minor changes may have been made to these online job boards, for the most part, the way they function and the options they’ve made available haven’t changed much considerable within the past 10 years.
PCMag.com recently gave a listing of the top 100 websites in the world, and interestingly – with four million visitors a month each – Workopolis and Monster didn’t make the list. PCMag, when writing this article claimed they selected the top 100 classic websites based on a number of factors, stating:
whether they are leaders in their field both in innovation and in the numbers of their readers and/or users. We also looked for sites that are either regularly adding cool features or started out so unimprovably perfect that they shouldn’t ever change.
Related sites that did however make the list include Indeed.com and LinkedIn. Indeed.com operates as an online search engine for jobs pulling in millions of listings from thousands of websites. LinkedIn on the other hand, acts as a social networking site for professionals, where individuals are able to get connections when looking for a job or business opportunity.
Workopolis and Monster are both leaders in their field with a large number of users, but I think PCMag hits it on the nose when stating what it takes to be one of the top 100 websites. They need to be a leader in innovation in their field or should be regularly adding cool features to their site.
As neither of these online job boards made the list, I’m guessing PCMag believes that neither of them started out as "unimprovably perfect" either. What was interesting was that the job sites that did make the list are changing the way online recruitment is being done and it is said that social networking is the next big thing in terms of finding jobs.
With the state of the economy looming into recession, the number of companies laying off employees has risen drastically. And with the number of employees being laid off, it makes sense then that four million visitors would frequent these sites monthly. However, it isn’t very effective though if nobody seems to be hiring.
Whatever companies are hiring seem to find other means of advertising their jobs and sites such as LinkedIn have been more effective in finding these job seekers jobs. Job seekers too have expressed their frustrations with traditional online job boards as many have little hopes of actually finding the job they’re looking for on these sites. Traditional online job boards such as the aforementioned need to find new ways to fulfill their ultimate purpose – to help find people jobs!
With little changes having been made over the past 10 years, it seems that what once was a novel approach to online recruitment isn’t as effective as one might have thought. These sites need to upgrade and keep in line with the economic times, because if one thing’s certain, these traditional online job boards aren’t cutting it.
External Links: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2328656,00.asp
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