Stay Focused on Building Your Employment Brand

You need to ask the following question for each and every recruitment dollar you spend; is this developing candidates or is it a distraction? Put the .JOBS expansion in the distraction column.

Here’s the deal. Before, only employers' names can grab the .JOBS domain. For example, yourcompanyname.jobs. Now, the .JOBS domain will expand to industry and geography based names. For example, humanresources.jobs or boston.jobs. (See this informative article in the Wall Street Journal for details.) There is a private company that gets to decide how much these generic domain names should cost and who gets them. Do you think that this started a lot of chatter? You’re right. Check ERE.net for the many comments and opinions of recruiting industry leaders.) OK, back to the original question; is the .JOBS expansion helping you develop candidates or a distraction?

The .JOBS expansion is a total distraction for HR and recruiting professionals who should be embracing new channels and opportunities to interact with job seekers. .JOBS provides clear choices.

• Do you spend your time and money doing a CYA and buy your employername.jobs OR explore new approaches to leveraging facebook, twitter, and other social media channels to build relationships with job seekers.
• Do you want spin your wheels figuring out the number of visitors or resumes at a new ".jobs" regional job board OR would you prefer to work on your mobile recruiting strategy to build a better campus recruiting program?

Sometimes, you need to have the confidence to say, “no thanks, this new .JOBS job board is so 2004.”

My fundamental belief is that employers need to focus their energy and dollars on things that attract the right job seekers. Senior HR executives need to focus on building their employment brand. Focus your energies on creating a better candidate experience for job seekers. It takes time and energy to get out ahead of new consumer technology to learn how to connect with the "right candidates." The addition of .JOBS domain is a distraction that takes your time and energy.

Also, it is worth noting that you shouldn’t feel threatened by the .JOBS expansion. There is no quick way for an employer brand or a job board to sneak into the top of Google's organic search results. It takes time, effort and knowledge of search marketing. .JOBS is way behind, particularly if you are the type of organization who has already thought about spending time and effort building your brand.

Just adding .JOBS to your company name is not an innovative way to connect with the right candidates. Focus on building your employment brand by leveraging online marketing, social media and other emerging consumer technology. Choose investing in your brand and the target candidates, and don’t be hit by this weapon of mass distraction.