Guest Blogger - Jason Perry

Point and Click

So as many of us venture into the online world, and expect to do our marketing and socialising online, isn’t it time we did the same with recruitment? Well here is an interesting statistic – 91% of applicants say their most useful resource when seeking a new job are the online job boards. To those of us who have witnessed the decreasing size of the jobs pages in our local paper this probably isn’t that much of a surprise.

But here’s one from the same research that surprised me .



Only 30% of job applicants register with employment agencies.

That’s right, just 30%. Little surprise that recruitment agencies are in decline with 450 branches closing between 2008 -10. So where is the growth? Well you’re reading a social media blog so it’s no surprise to you I guess? It’s online.

Clearly the right recruitment decision is to go where the candidates are and get online isn’t it? But how… And what are the problems. Which job board should you use and how do you get the right advert copy? Just a few of the challenges to face you – but let me throw another at you. What if you get too many applicants? Yes that’s right – too many. One of our clients recently saw 1451 candidates apply for a receptionist role. And so very many of them were simply not suitable.

So what’s the problem?

Most of us now are using a smart phone or perhaps an iPad or similar device. We’re all familiar with “alerts” and making quick browsing decisions on the go. Whether it’s amending that order on your home shopping app or increasing your eBay bid in your coffee break.

But how about this – applying for a job at the bus stop?

Think about it. You have your favourite job boards new app on your smart phone and an alert pops up to tell you a new job meets your criteria. Now your bus is approaching – read and decide later or click the “apply now” button? What have you got to lose. You’ve guessed it – the “point and click” application.



The Problem With ‘Point and Click’ Candidates

Now, all of a sudden, the most effective method of telling the world you need to recruit has just become very messy… With so many candidates in the mix who might not meet your criteria… Simply because they didn’t read your advert.



How do you read through them all?

The question is whether your bought your advertising with a project manager who pre-sifts all your applicants for you to save you time and money… Or whether you opted for the cheaper option and need to review 1500 CV’s this evening.