The term “digital recruitment media” encompasses a wide range of marketing websites and methods, including job-sites, social networking sites, CV databases, iPhone applications, company career sites, newspaper websites and search engines. The choice is endless. The online revolution continues to dominate the way we work and operate on a daily basis and it’s probably difficult for those of us under the age of 30 to remember life before Google.
The advantages of online recruitment, or e-recruitment as it is perhaps more commonly known, are numerous. Posting a job online is usually more cost effective than other advertising methods; no more paying up to 20% in commission to recruitment agencies or paying for a one-off job advertisement, which your ideal candidate may or may not happen to see that day. Posting a job online is usually quite a straightforward process, provided that you have all the relevant information. It also gives employers immediate access to a diverse range of candidates, 24 hours a day for seven days a week, and allows them to track and monitor the response. Some sites also have an automatic system to update candidates on the progress of their application. There are some cons, however. Namely, being deluged with unsuitable applicants and having to wade through hundreds of responses before drawing up a relevant shortlist.
Cathy Richardson, regional director for the Institute of Recruitment Practitioners (IRP) in the south east of England, says online recruitment has totally overtaken print as the most popular medium. “There has been a massive shift to online in recent years that has totally changed the perspective of the recruitment landscape,” she notes. “Based on the like-for-like cost, there is no competition between print and online anymore. Candidates now expect to find jobs online, in their inbox and on their iPhone or BlackBerry apps, on Facebook and on LinkedIn.”
Online advertising is usually offered through four different ways: CPC (Cost Per Click), CPT (Cost Per Thousand Impressions), CPV (Cost Per Visitor/View) and CPM (Cost Per Mille). CPM, per mille, literally means per thousand impressions or downloads of an advertisement.
One of the most significant upsurges has been in social media recruitment, although this is still relatively new territory. Viral marketing, through emails and apps for 3G phones is also becoming increasingly popular. It’s usually free to post jobs on networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. Provided your company already has a Twitter account up and running and a decent number of “followers”, you can tweet your job to the masses. The main thing to remember is to ensure you get all the necessary information: such as job title, location, salary and company name, into 140 characters. Including a link to the job on your company website is also crucial. The same techniques apply to Facebook, where you can post a job to your company’s profile page or to a relevant group.
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Most business networking sites, including LinkedIn, now offer pay-per-click advertising or direct campaigns too. LinkedIn also gives recruiters the opportunity to search its profile database for suitable candidates. Although many of these candidates will probably already be in jobs and not necessarily looking on job boards, employers can approach these candidates about their vacancy opportunity.
With so many different options on offer, one of the most difficult decisions you will probably have to make is which to choose.
