The Truth about Job Boards
by Ross Macpherson, President, Career Quest
Without question, online job boards have made job searching easier. Companies post jobs online and job seekers access them from the convenience and privacy of their home (or office) computer. And the numbers using them are staggering - millions of jobs posted and millions of people accessing the sites every day. For many people, job boards represent the heart and soul of their job search.
But there's a problem.
The problem is that the number of jobs listed online, and the number of job hunters looking online, are no indication of the number of jobs actually FILLED online. While the job boards lovingly boast the millions of people using the service, you might be interested to know that they neither track nor publish their success rates - i.e. how successful they are at actually filling jobs.
Truth is, there's a darn good reason why they don't advertise their results, and this brings up a major dilemma for you, the job hunter - how much can and should you rely upon job boards to make your next career move?
At best, job boards generally account for about 10-15% of the available jobs out there, with the bulk (60-75%) still found through networking. If this is true, then why are millions and millions flocking to the job boards? The question gets really interesting when you look at the latest figures.
In a 2002 study by CareerXroads, the publisher of a web-based directory that reviews online career sites, employers were polled to see what percentage of their new hires came from the largest online job boards1. Here are the numbers:
Monster.com - 3.6%
CareerBuilder - 1.5%
Hotjobs - 0.5%
Yikes! So let's get this straight. Companies are spending millions to post on sites that, in come cases, account for less than 1% of their new hires? Millions and millions of job hunters are flocking to these sites and religiously piling through postings for a whopping 1.8% average success rate? Even if these figures have doubled since 2002, these are not figures to brag about. What's wrong here?
The truth is, the big job boards are not all they're cracked up to be, and so there are a couple things you should be leery of:
Convenience
The biggest problem with online boards is that they are simply far too
easy and convenient to use, and as such too darn attractive to you, the
job hunter. As a result, millions use them because there's minimal effort
involved. Therein lies the trap, and a lot of frustration and wasted time.
Conflict of Interest?
Many of these job boards are owned and supported by major newspaper and
media giants. For example, CareerBuilder is owned by the same consortium
that owns USA Today and other huge newspaper chains. Canada's Workopolis
manages job listings for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and others.
So what, you ask? Well, when you consider that these same newspapers also run career editorials that often encourage you to use these sites, but never publish the actual success rates, one can't help but think they're trying to promote the very service they own. Why else would any objective professional recommend a resource that has a success rate of 1.5%?
So What Do You Do?
Despite their abysmal success rates, I am not recommending you altogether avoid them. By all means, use the job boards, apply to the openings, and use every trick in the book to maximize your chances. What I AM telling you to do is to RECOGNIZE THEIR LIMITATIONS. A 3% success rate isn't anything to brag about, but there are great positions available, and 3% of millions of jobs does add up. Just don't devote inordinate amounts of time to them.
Here are some tips to using them efficiently:
- If job boards are going to account for roughly 10% of the jobs available, then devote no more than 10% of your time to them (maybe 1 hour per day, for example)
- Spend at least part of your allotted time "re-posting" your resume online (some recommend re-posting every day). A pain in the neck, yes, but at least your resume will be ranked high when someone searches for your skill set.
- Fine tune the Job Agents that email suitable openings to you. You only want to receive the best matches so that you minimize wasted time.
- Try to focus on job boards that are specific to YOUR industry (i.e. just medical, just marketing, just deep-sea pearl fishing, whatever), and don't forget to look at postings on the websites of industry associations, Usenet groups, etc. The biggest major job boards try to cover everything, but little niche sources can really pay off.
- Research specific companies within your target industry and access the postings on their sites directly. Companies love to hire off of their own sites (it's cheaper and generally attracts a smaller and more motivated pool of candidates).
Remember, the internet is a very convenient source of massive amounts
of information, but that doesn't mean that it's always an "efficient"
or an "effective" source. Passive job search strategies, which
includes relying too heavily on online job boards, generally yield minimal
results. As long as they're there, use them, but please don't fall into
the trap of relying upon them. Get positive, get active, get networking,
get out there, and make it happen for yourself. It takes more work, but
you'll be far happier with your own success rate.
1. Impact of Internet on Source of Hires - 2002, Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler, CareerXroads, Kendall Park, NJ.
© 2003 Ross Macpherson
About the Author
Ross Macpherson is the President of Career Quest, a Certified Professional Resume Writer, and a Career Success Coach who has helped thousands of motivated professionals advance their careers. To receive more valuable career advice, sign up to join his monthly newsletter "Career Quest Café" by visiting www.yourcareerquest.com.
NOTE: You're more than welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains intact and unaltered (including the "About the Author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to ross@yourcareerquest.com
