Job boards don’t have a great reputation when it comes to sourcing the right talent for current positions in your organisation.

Generally speaking, job boards are the first place graduates that are looking to enter to workforce will go in search of employment, or experienced employees hoping to switch careers will go seeking new opportunities.

The truth of the matter is that there are number of reasons why job boards fail to live up to the expectation of both employers and job seekers. Let’s explore some of these reasons.

1. Employers

Part of the problem regarding job boards is partially down the employers and their standard practices. Nowadays, most employers use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to collect applicants’ CVs and professional information and attach them to open positions. An ATS will generally allow employers to search its database for profiles that fit the position’s required qualifications, therefore enabling the employer to construct a pipeline of candidates long before the job ever reaches a job board. Also, an ATS will often rate a candidate’s fit for the job based on his or her CV. The jobs that get posted will often receive hundreds of applications, employers usually only view a handful of applications based on fit. A good ATS will notify those who weren’t selected, many applicants never receive a response, causing more frustration.

Of course this isn’t the fault of the employers, there are however those who try to abuse the system and benefit from job boards at the candidate’s expense. There have been reports of employers posting jobs that do not actually exist in order to gather information, and generate website traffic. There’s nothing new here. Some businesses, like academic institutions are required to post every open position on job boards, regardless of the position type, what stage of the recruiting process they are at or where they plan on hiring from. The result is often the same – frustrated candidates who wonder why applying to job posting doesn’t produce results.

2. Candidates

Believe it or not but applicants aren’t the only ones who get annoyed with job boards – in fact, sometimes they’re the ones causing the frustration. Despite what some may deem to be common CV writing knowledge, one search of a job board’s CV database often shows the best and the worst. CVs devoid of formatting, covered in spelling and grammar errors and poorly worded experience summaries add to the difficulty in finding candidates who meet experience requirements. Add to the fact that those candidates that upload their CV on jobs boards but then receive an offer of employment soon after, rarely remember to remove the CV, leaving tens of thousands of posted CVs for candidates no longer on the market.

Another factor of the jobs boards that is sure to irritate an employer are the candidates that apply for several jobs for which they are not qualified.  Of course, it’s understandable that some candidates are urgently seeking employment as bills begin to build up. However, this often results in candidates treating the application process as a numbers game and apply to as many open positions as possible. This is sure to frustrate employers, that are already inundated with applications for vacancies.

3. Social Media

Over the course of the last 10 years or so, there have been significant changes in the way that we see companies sourcing and recruiting their talent. One of the biggest changes being LinkedIn. The site was developed and designed for employers and recruiters to discover and connect with employees with the exact skill sets that they require. Other less career focused social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram allow employers and job seekers alike to utilize the skill of networking to connect with people in every corner of the world in various different industries.

4. Referrals

When taking hiring metrics into consideration, employee referrals beat hiring from job boards in nearly every category. Time to hire, cost of hire, time to onboard, tenure at the company – employee referrals always rank at the number one position. Employers realize that good employees know other good employees. When faced with the option of paying to post a job advertisement, screening hundreds of CVs and conducting dozens of interviews, the option of relying on employees’ recommendations to build a candidate pool is usually a lot more appealing.

The bottom line is

Job boards will always be around but that doesn’t mean that they are necessarily the best option when comes to

A) Sourcing talent and candidates for your organisation:

Many jobseekers will apply for numerous positions at once, some of which they are not even qualified or skilled enough to perform. Ultimately wasting a hiring managers time.

B) Securing a job interview:

Due to the high volume of applicants for certain roles there is no guarantee that employers will ever actually see your resume or contact you to arrange an interview

Here at Red Chair Recruitment if you are an employer looking for candidates we will go above and beyond to ensure that you get nothing but the best caliber of candidates for your organisation. Someone that is going to the distance for your organisation and become an integral part of your team, an asset to your organisation.

On the other hand if you are a candidate looking to take the next step in your career then we will do everything in our power to help you find your dream job and work with  you through every step of the hiring process to make sure that you are comfortable and happy where you are working and above all else that you enjoy it.