Does your website expose a job search? Great, todays post is to challenge YOU!

What happens if you put a powerful large engine in a smart car?

Typically a bigger engine means faster car. The top of the range super cars have huge engines so surely we can copy this? We can shove one enormous engine into a little smart car to achieve the most
wonderful driving experience? Well NO, we all realise that this wont
work! Something is going to break, even if you did manage to physically
fit the thing, someone is likely to get killed if they climb into that
driving seat . The driving experience will be none existant.

Why do you have a job search on your website?

What are your online objectives?

If you are a Recruitment Agency or a plc HR I guess the following might be part of your answer…
1) To advertise available positions
2) To attract interest and receive applications
3) To get CVs without paying a Job Board
4) To direct your social network to something useful

These points or something similar seem to be the common business drivers, for online job search. It is unusual to hear the answer,

“To see what jobs people might be looking for, if we only had such vacancies.”

If you read Felix Wetzels challenging blog you may feel that acting on behalf of the candidate is the answer?

So you have invested in online search solution that let’s your candidates search by any criteria they want – such as Location, Keywords, Industry, contract or perm, salary range and position type
full or part-time? This super solution, with similar features to expert
job boards such as Monster and Jobsite is surely going to boost your
business and hit those objectives?

NO – probably not, sorry.

The key is having a search solution that matches the number of jobs you offer. If you have under 300 jobs and offer search options such as Location, Free text keywords, industry, etc you are giving the customer a
microscope. A microscope is great when there are thousands of jobs to
search. A microscope with 300 jobs is more like searching for a needle
in a haystack. A recent job search I reviewed offered so many search
combinations that it was easier to win £10 on the National Lottery than
be lucky enough to find a job.

Is your technology delivering over powered solutions ignoring the majority of your candidates? Is your Job Search a super engine simply in the wrong car?

The challenge of mobile recruiting forces you to consider simple search options that provide the candidate with jobs to view. Mobile is slow, a “no results” screen is very frustrating.

The take away from this post is think – Candidate Experience.

Consider your typical audience,is your website designed to help them and achieve your business objectives? Or as it is too often the case is the tail wagging the dog?

Think about it – pick up a CV (that did not come in from your website) and go search on your site as the candidate would? Do it properly and you will be shocked by your experience.