Nice logos all around from the new Irish start up recruitment agencies, and here is one more contender. Not really a recruitment agency, but a jobs board but still in diapers and therefore appropriately listed within the start-ups.
So here is the new logo for the Jobs Board (www.JobsBoard.ie):
Recruitment Roadshow 2008 took me to Swords and Tallaght today visiting the two La Creme & Premier offices. It was really interesting how the same presentation I am giving every day evolves from the contribution from the recruiters I meet every day. The most interesting topic we spoke about today was the Job Titles. Basically the question was:
What is The Best Job Title?
Since the Job Title appears in the Job Search Results on the job boards, and it also appears on the Search results of the search engines, it is very important to write the job title in a such way that it invites the web site visitor to click on it. If the job title does not make a job hunter click on it to see more of the job, the application process gets ‘broken’ and a visitor/CV is lost.
The conclusion is that a job title has to be:
By looking at the Google Analytics data of a recruitment agency web sites or a job sites, and comparing the number of views of the same job with a different job titles gives a definitive answer, and that is that:
The job tile on a recruitment agency web site and a job boards shouldn’t be the same!
Why? Simply because you are trying to attract the job hunter in the different environment.
Job Titles for the Job Boards
Job boards contain thousands of jobs. Most likely there will be numerous jobs with the job tile that is exactly as yours. Standing out is a good thing. Sometimes you need to ‘Go Crazy’ as well (for certain type of jobs). I have heard how the tiles like: ‘Can you sell ice to the Eskimos’ work well, simply since they stand out.
Recruitment Agency and Corporate Site Job Titles
Job tiles on your own web site need to be far more formal. There are two reasons for it. Here you do not compete with the rest of the recruiters in the country. Here it is all about you and your brand. Informative, descriptive, short, attractive…
Another point is that your web site content is the main driving force to the web traffic to your recruitment web site. The majority of the content of the recruitment sites are the job descriptions. Google just loves your jobs online since they get updated regularly, and Google ‘loves’ the live content. Your job titles will most likely (should really!) contain the most used search phrases to drive the traffic from Google. If you want relevant traffic you need the job titles that are 100% relevant to your jobs.
This simply points to the obvious:
Job titles for the job boards and job titles for your company web site shouldn’t really be the same.
Larry Heiman wrote a nice blog post: Recruiting is a Marketing Task
Here is the part where he explains the Marketing processes applied to the recruitment, and sourcing to help you find that right candidate for the your jobs:
As an enlightened business owner, you understand the importance of doing market research on your prospective customers. For example, you want to know where they’re located, any common characteristics they may have and, ultimately, as much as possible about how they think – their needs, wishes, and motivations. The goal, of course, is to refine your ability to effectively and efficiently target your message to those with whom you most want to do business.
Well, you may be surprised to learn that this wisdom equally applies in seeking prospective employees. In fact, marketing for customers and marketing for employees address the similar four key questions:
• What is my likely trading area? (Where are my likely employees located)?
• What is my product? (What is the position?)
• Who is my “ideal customer”? (What are the qualities of my “ideal employee”?)
• How can I best attract their attention?
Even when you are feeling the pressure to quickly fill an unexpectedly open position, you’ll save yourself a lot of grief if you take the time in advance to get very clear on the answers to those four questions.
In the Irish market – that is dominated with the recruitment agencies advertising on the job boards and the traditional media, would you see such model as a ‘workable’ one? The most agencies will try to get the candidate who is slightly overqualified, to impress the employer with a quality of the CV. Also they try to match the same role title – of the past and the future role of the candidate.
So in a sense – the recruitment agencies her in Ireland do all the opposite to what Larry is suggesting above.
I personally like the marketing processes applied to the recruitment model. I can see it work beautifully, especially with the lower level jobs in Ireland.
An Online Recruitment Jobs Fair has several advantages over a Traditional Recruitment Fair.
Jobs Fair for Recruiters
More convenient: No staffing required.
More effective: Lasts for two weeks instead of a few hours.
More cost-effective: Cheaper than holding an actual job fair. No material, travel, food and accommodation costs.
More targeted: Targeted at specific industries/audiences.
Global scope: Available to anyone with an internet connection.
Jobs Fair for Candidates
More convenient: Can visit several companies from the comfort of their own home, and can be accessed from anywhere in the country 24/7.
More cost-effective: Can attend without the expense of time or travel.
More interactive: Host of user-friendly and state-of-the-art features including Podcasts, Employer Videos and Webinars.
Do you think Irish Recruiters are ready? For Employer Videos? Podcasts? Webinars?
What about Job Hunters? Aren’t they just interested in a better salary?
Defining the list of the jobs that are really Irish Jobs, or specific to Irish people both in Ireland and abroad is not an easy task. There are the traditional jobs Irish people have been associated before that include the list below
This is a list of the truly traditional Irish Jobs:
Those jobs are all based on the old Irish traditional values.
Where are we today?
Traditional Irish jobs are not advertised online today The modern Irish online recruitment industry does not serve the traditional Irish jobs recruitment at all. The Farmer inherits the farm from his father. Same as the brewer. A dancer, a musician, a writer, they are just born with a skill that if nourished blooms into the piece of art.
Modern Irish Jobs advertised in Ireland by both employers and recruitment agencies are some completely different Irish jobs. Based on the numbers advertised online on the Irish jobs sites the Irish Jobs sought today in Ireland are:
Pharmacy Jobs
IT jobs
Sales Jobs
Banking Jobs
Marketing Jobs
And so on…
Notice the difference? We still drink milk (or beer&whiskey) every day! Where is a Farmer’s job advertised? A Brewer’s job?
If you want to get a job in Ireland to contribute to the Irish Dairy or Drinks production, you will not get a job as a Farmer or a Brewer. What you will get is one of those beautiful Modern Irish Jobs.
A Dairy Factory will have a list of Jobs like:
Junior IT Customer Support (1st level)
Senior Management Consultant
PA to Marketing Director
HR Administrator
Experienced Process Technician
Hey? Where does the milk come from????
Good old Irish Jobs were much simpler…
It is interesting to see how Microsoft employees know how to blog only, and I mean ONLY about Microsoft. They might stride to a game of golf, but in general, every single blog post from a Microsoft employee is about the Glorious Microsoft. No other company managed to ‘swing’ the employees as well as Microsoft does.
Declan is a Lead Techincal Recruiter in Dublin. Check the blog yourself:
http://internationaltechjobs.spaces.live.com/
‘www.joinmicrosofteurope.com is brilliantly designed using’…. something tells me I will disagree, but let’s not jump o conclusions, perhaps this Silverlignt is not as it looks like, just another Flash. I will be writing about SilverLignt as a development platform for a recruitment agency web site early in the next year. It would be interesting to see if Silverlight can challenge WordPress (on php!).