June 1999

Finding qualified applicants in today’s tight labor market can be frustrating. The good news, though, is that the Internet can be a powerful recruiting tool. Not only can Internet recruiting cut your time-to-hire and lower recruiting costs, it may also attract better educated and more computer literate candidates. This issue examines on-line recruiting.

The quickest way to begin recruiting via the Internet is to add a “career opportunities” page to your web site. Design this page so that it is fast and easy for applicants to navigate and involves as little “scrolling” as possible.

Free job posting sites can widen your “applicant net” but to maximize on line recruiting efforts, we suggest you combine free sites with fee-based sites. Easy to use once you get used to them, you’ll want to determine which job boards attract the type of talent you typically hire, so you can establish a realistic on line advertising budget.

So, how much will it cost you to advertise your job on the Internet? Most job boards charge $100 or less for a single job 30 day posting, although a 60 day ad on Monster.com will run $225. In fact, an Employment Management Association survey calculated the traditional newspaper advertising cost-per-hire at $3295 while Internet cost-per-hire was pegged at $377. Most job boards let you post ads via phone or mouse.

However, before you decide to go with a job board, be sure you’re comfortable with the number and quality of links to it, its ease of use, level of local support, special posting features, timeliness of ad removal, database quality, search criteria, response options, appearance, cost, and amount of cross advertising (print, TV, and radio) in support of the site.

When writing your ad, keep it short, clear, and make sure it answers “top talent’s” first question: Why should I consider your organization?

For more information on this new recruiting tool, contact job boards directly or visit the business or employment shelves at your local bookstore.