Jeff Dickey-Chasins's Blog (160)

The dangers (and benefits) of backfilling job listings

Once upon a time, if you visited a job board, you knew what you would get: whatever jobs the board had on that day. These were jobs that the board’s sales force had convinced employers to post, on that job board. If you clicked on a job, you went straight to that job posting. And if you applied for it, you did so through that particular job board.

Well, those days are long gone. Since the advent of job board aggregators such as Indeed and Simply Hired, it’s become so easy for a job… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on October 13, 2009 at 9:04am — No Comments

Pay per posting vs. pay per response

For the past 15 years, the job board industry has been dominated by the ‘pay per posting‘ revenue model: an employer purchases a job posting (and sometimes resume access or other add ons).

Yet there’s another model that has been around a while: ‘pay per response‘. In other words, you post your job, and when job seekers apply to your job, you pay for each application.

On the surface, it seems that pay per response would be more attractive to most employers – after all, if… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on October 6, 2009 at 9:33am — No Comments

What is the value of job seeker registration?

Is job seeker registration good or bad? And if you require registration, how much is too much? And…how much value should you attach to these registered users?

Personally, I think a little friction is a good thing (as does Seth Godin, apparently). If a job seeker wants to land a job, why shouldn’t he (or she) give up something? After all, your site is delivering something of value, correct?

“But you lose job seekers every time you require registration,” I know some of you… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on September 30, 2009 at 9:43am — No Comments

Site ranking tools: sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down

Sometimes it really is all about the numbers. For instance, you know that your customers (and competitors) will probably use Alexa, Compete, or QuantCast to evaluate your site’s traffic.

Never mind that any of these can be grossly inaccurate – you have to live with their numbers (unless, of course, you’re willing to open up your Google Analytics account to pretty much everyone).…

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Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on September 24, 2009 at 9:06am — No Comments

Should job boards have resume databases?

In the beginning was the job post – a classified ad on the internet.

Then came the resume database – a collection of job seeker wit and wisdom, long and short, awful and awesome.

Employers and recruiters saw the resume database and liked it. They flourished.

Jump to now. I’m guessing that at least one-third of the job boards launched during the past year lack a resume database. What gives?…

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Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on September 16, 2009 at 9:15am — No Comments

Remember me?: Maintaining a profile in your target audience

A rule of marketing (which I learned through hard experience was in fact true) is that a prospective customer must be exposed to your message 3 to 5 times before the message is ‘received’. Why? Because they’re bombarded by thousands of other messages, and it takes that many exposures to make an impression. (This rule, by the way, should probably be updated to 6 to 9 times, given the fragmentation of traditional media).

So how does your job site keep its visibility high?…

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Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on September 9, 2009 at 9:07am — No Comments

Is ‘free’ the wave of the future for job boards?

You can’t cough these days without bumping into a ‘free’ job board, i.e., a job board where employers can post their jobs at no charge. Free job site, free Tweets, free everything. Now, there have always been a few of these boards around, but in the past year or so, it seems like they’ve been reproducing like the proverbial rabbits.

What gives? Some would argue that Free, by Chris Anderson, put a voice to a burgeoning movement: “In a marketplace with low marginal costs and many… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on September 1, 2009 at 8:48am — No Comments

What woodworking has taught me about job boards

I’ve built various items with wood for many years. Some resemble furniture, others…well, they were interesting to create. Yet, apart from the sheer fun of cutting, chopping, paring, and (occasionally) pounding wood, I’ve also managed to extract a few lessons that have crossed over to my life in job boards:

1. Never cut first, measure second. Translating to the job board world, that means you should take some time – a goodly amount of it – thinking about what your next big move… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on August 21, 2009 at 9:17am — No Comments

Elbowing your way into a crowded market

One of the most common questions I’m asked (apart from “Are you British? Because those hyphenated names are always British“) is “How can I compete in (insert your favorite market category)? There are so many competitors!”

(And no, I’m not British).

Well…almost all market categories are crowded. Trust me, this is a good thing. This means that there is business to be had. Yet it’s true that a crowded market means that you can’t simply waltz in with a half-finished job site… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on August 19, 2009 at 9:11am — No Comments

Are job boards dying…or evolving?

There are an endless number of articles predicting the imminent death of job boards. Yet this one caught my eye – it was thorough and it was re-Tweeted a number of times. (In the author’s defense, it was aimed at job seekers – and despite the provocative title, was fairly balanced. Nonetheless, CB took issue!)

But I (as you might guess) beg to differ. I think we’re asking the wrong question. The real… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on August 11, 2009 at 9:12am — No Comments

Perfection – and why it’s useful (sometimes)

You know your job board or career site isn’t perfect, right? (And if you don’t, I’m sure you can find someone that will tell you that). In fact, perfection can be pretty annoying, particularly when it manifests itself as a ‘rule’ or ‘mandate’.

But…perfection has its place. Let me explain.

A job board (or honestly, any decent web site) is never ‘done’. It’s always a work in progress. You add that job seeker forum you always wanted – and now you need a Twitter feed. But what… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on July 29, 2009 at 9:34am — No Comments

Does industry news matter?

Every day I peruse ERE.net, Cheezhead, Workforce, and a bunch of other sites. Why? Well, of course I’m avoiding my ‘real’ work…but I’m also trying to keep up with the ever-shifting winds of change in the HR, recruiting, and job board worlds. This task can take as little as 5 minutes – but it often sucks up much more time.

So I asked myself: does it matter? Is there really any reason to spend time that I could otherwise be devoting to my business and clients? For example, if Monster… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on July 14, 2009 at 9:22am — 1 Comment

Cool stuff – who needs it?

admit it – I’m a sucker for bright shiny new technology. In fact, I’m susceptible enough that I spend a good deal of time being very critical of anything new. Why? (a) I’m weak, and (b) a lot of this stuff just disappears and you can’t remember why you liked it in the first place.

And how is this relevant to job boards and careers site? Well…almost every couple of weeks I am approached by another vendor with a ‘killer’ tool that integrates into an existing site and will drive up… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on July 1, 2009 at 9:12am — No Comments

Twitter, recruiting, and job boards: round 2

A while back I examined the recruiting value of Twitter and its possible effects on job boards. Since then, Twitter has kept growing at a torrid pace, the economy continues to slide, and most job boards are happy if their revenues are only down 20 or 30 percent. I thought it was time to take another look.

Chris Russell created a very nice ’starfish’ that runs down the various social media tools… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on June 25, 2009 at 9:32am — No Comments

What’s in a name?

Naming a career site is something everyone thinks they can do – but few do well. Sorry, folks, it’s true. A good name is hard to find (and a good URL is even harder).

Well, you may ask, why? Let me suggest that these names come in 3 basic flavors, each presenting its own particular set of benefits and problems.

Keep reading....

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on June 16, 2009 at 4:33pm — 4 Comments

The death of job boards? Ahem…

I’ve been in the job board world since 1998, which probably makes me some sort of dinosaur or masochist. Strangely enough, the imminent death of job boards has been proclaimed almost since their inception.

Today is no different. Whether it’s here or here or here, the word on the street (or in the blog, as it were) is that the job board’s days are numbered because of a changing employment environment, Twitter, job board greed and incompetence, a surplus of recruiters, social networks,… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on May 28, 2009 at 9:05am — 2 Comments

The marketing tightrope

Marketing a job board is akin to walking a tightrope with two contentious children hanging from either end of your balancing rod. On one side you have your employers, wanting more exposure, better candidates, and yes, their logo in a prominent location. On the other side you have your job seekers, wanting some sort of response from employers, a really great (or at least well-paying) job, and lots of stuff for free.

The challenge? Too many job seekers and you’re most likely spending… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on May 20, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Randomness and recruiting

How can job boards even continue to exist? Because they connect job seekers and those who want to employ them. If a job board doesn’t do this simple task successfully, it eventually goes out of business.

But as any hiring manager, HR director, or recruiter knows, job boards are not the only solution. Why? Because the employment market is incredibly….random.

Think about it. If you’re a job seeker, you’re expected to know about the relevant job boards for your industry, the… Continue

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on May 18, 2009 at 11:19am — No Comments

What makes a job board suck? (Employer version)

Per the previous post, let’s take a look at a few things that can make employers (yes, the folks actually paying) throw up their hands and run screaming from a job board. (Remember, this is just one man’s opinion - throw your own into the mix with a pithy comment). So, without further ado, here are 4 things that make a job board ’sucky’:

Keep reading....

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on May 11, 2009 at 5:04pm — No Comments

Don’t make me jump!

If HMOs were developed to drive normally well-adjusted sick people over the edge, then I would posit that the typical ATS was designed to make a job seeker sink into deep and utter despair.

Yes, I understand why an ATS is a useful - in some cases, necessary - part of a company’s career site, particularly in these days of few jobs and many applicants.

Keep reading....

Added by Jeff Dickey-Chasins on May 8, 2009 at 10:33am — 3 Comments