Research-focused healthcare company Roche has been identified as the organisation with the best online career presence in the UK, according to a global study of more than 30,000 people.
The Potentialpark Online Talent Communication study (OTaC) 2012 audited more than 2,400 online career presences, of which more than 400 were UK-based. Of these, it drew up a top-30 list of organisations in terms of online talent communication.
According to Potentialpark, an effective careers website alone is not sufficient when trying to attract candidates – employers have to compete for job seekers’ attention over social networks and smartphone platforms.
In a survey of more than 30,000 students and graduates worldwide (2,321 in the UK), and through online career presence audits, Potentialpark analysed where employers meet talent online.
This is the 10th Potentialpark study on this subject, but this is the first time the research has looked at seven major communication channels.
Roche is a star performer
According to the research, Roche not only has the sixth best career website in the UK, the second best online application system and the best Facebook career website from a candidate’s point of view, they are also present on LinkedIn, Twitter and run a career blog.
All of these online career presences are interconnected and utilise the company’s employer brand consistently, using employee case studies and Roche’s slogan “Make a mark, improve lives”.
The research found that, while Roche may not have the single best presence in each channel, it is strong across most of them.
Jobseekers are going multi-channel, and employers are following
The survey found that 96% of UK students use the internet to research employers and careers, and 75% of these go on to visit the companies’ career websites. The corporate career website continues to be the centrepiece and the hub of top employers’ talent communication, as it contains company information, jobs, event calendars and application forms.
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The survey also found that 42% of career websites link to the employer’s Facebook career page and 49% to LinkedIn or another professional network presence, which underlines the extent to which social channels are dovetailing with employers’ use of longer-established online media.
However, the findings also highlight the fact that company websites rarely offer the opportunity for any direct interaction between candidates and organisations.
Potentialpark suggests that this gap could be overcome by the use of social media and business networks online.
Twenty-nine per cent of students in the UK actively use professional networks such as LinkedIn to look for employers and careers, and 17% use social networks such as Facebook for this purpose.
When asked where employers should be present, 64% of students in the UK said that they expect employers to be on Facebook and 52% expect them to be on LinkedIn.
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Meanwhile, 79% of student respondents agreed with the statement: “If I find content on Facebook that can help me in my career, I am open for looking at it”, 43% have searched for jobs on professional networks and 27% have seen an interesting job posted by a friend on a social network.
“Jobseekers in the UK have gone multi-channel,” says Julian Ziesing, research spokesman at Potentialpark. “The question is: can employers keep up?”
