5 Reasons Why Job Boards Are the WORST for Recruiting

Finding amazing talent with real staying power is the goal of every talent acquisition leader. Unfortunately, in this competitive hiring landscape, hiring and retaining employees is also the largest challenge our workforce is facing. Our only hope is to keep looking for techniques that resonate with candidates and work for hiring teams, not against. One of these very techniques is that of the online job board. In most cases, this tool is a candidate’s first resort when looking for new employment. It’s generally a cost efficient way to clearly communicate with interested talent and is simple to use for one business owner or entire recruiting teams.

But, it’s simply the worst for talent acquisition efforts. Or, is it…

Job boards reach too many job seekers.

Only 35% of positions are filled using job boards, and that means the possibility of a lot of wasted effort and extra competition. Reaching potential candidates with one posting is far from what a company wants. Having options and the opportunity to communicate to the community how amazing your organization is simply isn’t a priority. Especially if the job board is niche and all the candidates you speak with are interested in working within your offices and have the unique skill sets you hope to hire.

The truth: 1 in 6 external hires are made via these sites. Job boards offer opportunities to grab the attention of not just many job seekers, but many job seekers who already have an interest in your organization. Depending on the position, your hiring team can select a niche job board that will ensure the people who see the job advertisement fit within specific skill sets or have experience in specific industries.

Job boards ease the process for talent acquisition teams.

Time might be money, but practice makes perfect. If recruiters and hiring managers save too much time, they may get a little rusty. Though there are probably plenty of opportunities for the talent acquisition team to spread their wings into other, possibly more creative and lucrative hiring techniques, it’s best to avoid some forms of automation.

The truth: Your recruiting and hiring team has a lot to offer your organization, but some of their daily duties can be a little meticulous and time-consuming. Unfortunately, sourcing candidates is something that, while necessary, just can’t be pushed to the backburner. Who would you interview if you didn’t have candidates? A job board strengthens the efforts of recruiters and communicates that position to the masses so recruiters can spend that time on other things like finding experienced passive candidates and interviewing top talent.

Job boards are too strategically sound.

When a company posts an opening on a job board, the recruiting team has to dive deep into understanding what people an organization is hoping to hire as well as what experience and skills the internal team will need to have a success. Not only that, once these well-thought job ads make it onto the internet, they will have easily shareable links that can be placed on social media and within emails. Not to mention, with a digital job ad, companies have the opportunity to optimize their job description for search engines. Frankly, that’s way too alignment.

The truth: Candidates want a few things from your company when they explore the idea of your offering. Firstly, they want transparency. They hope to learn what your company values, what the culture will be like and the details of the job, good, bad and in between. Secondly, they want an easy way to not only find all this out but also apply for the position. With online job boards, your company can quickly communicate the details of the job as well as provide a digital path to sharing a resume.

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The Branchers

We build the best damn marketing campaigns on the planet. And we do it for industries and companies you might not identify as easy to market (right away). Working here takes a very special kind of person.