Recruiters have always had a preference for local candidates. Yes, there are some positions – usually C-level jobs – that warrant a nationwide search. But most positions are filled with local candidates because many candidates aren’t willing to move.

This is especially true today, when moving often entails 1) selling a house in a horrible market, 2) selling a house at a loss, and 3) coming up with a substantial chunk of cash to cover moving expenses. Obviously, most candidates for mid-level (and lower-level) positions won’t be able to do any of these.

Readers of this blog know that I’m a big proponent of using social media and other internet resources in addition to recruiting software. The “big” recruiting sites like Monster and Indeed allow users to do local searches, but many job seekers focus their attention on local internet sites. Recruiters, then, need to work those local sites too. Some common local job sites:

• Craigslist. It has great functionality, which is why it gets millions of hits each month despite its boring interface. The “jobs” list is quite extensive, allowing a recruiter to target their pitch to the intended audience. Craigslist also gives recruiters the option of posting positions anonymously, which cuts down on the number of phone calls when a job is posted – although some would also say that anonymous posting is bad for a company’s reputation.
• Classifieds. Yes, newspapers still have them and people still read them. In general, the older the target audience, the more likely they are to read a newspaper ad.  Classified ads always run online, so it’s not as if a recruiter is sacrificing online presence by running one.
• Hyperlocal sites. AOL invested over $100 million in Patch, which aims to have local e-newspapers all over the country. Results so far are mixed, but my guess is that Patch, EveryBlock (started by MSNBC), and similar local-news/sports/blogs sites are here to stay. Recruiting through them makes sense, especially since long commutes are what workers often hate most about their jobs.

Do you know of any other ways to take recruiting into the local online community? Let me know and I’ll share your insights in a future post.

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