Any custom job board worth including in your website’s audience and revenue development strategy should be more valuable than Craigslist or general job search engines.

Fortunately, most job boards are more valuable and effective. Earlier this year, SilkRoad released a study showing that job boards yielded more interviews and hires than other external sourcing methods, including Craigslist.

Considering that the average new hire costs a company around $3,500, employers want to make sure job boards are pulling their weight in terms of bringing in high quality candidates. In the SilkRoad study, job boards produced 54 percent of external interviews compared to job search engines and sources like Craigslist, so job boards are definitely on the right track. Here are some ways to make your job board more valuable than Craigslist or similar job search engines.

Include the Names of Hiring Managers in Job Posts

One of the most common complaints from Craigslist job searchers is that hiring managers are rarely listed, leaving most applicants feeling as if they’re sending their resume into a “black hole” when they apply. In fact, many Craigslist job postings don’t even identify the employer.

The best candidates simply aren’t going to waste their time applying for a mystery job. The internet has given people more tools than ever to learn about products, services, and companies, and frankly, people are suspicious when they’re given little to no information about who’s hiring.

The implications for employers that do not respond to job seekers can go beyond turning off potential employees. A StartWire survey found that 77 percent of job searchers have a lower opinion of companies that don’t respond to job applications, and 72 percent would actually be less likely to recommend that company’s products or services. A shocking 58 percent would be more reluctant to buy a product from such a company. However, only 33 percent of Fortune 500 companies give feedback during the application process.

Make Sure Your Job Board is Social Media and Mobile Savvy

Social connectivity with sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are huge pluses to today’s job seeker. Mobile friendliness is very important as well. Job seekers want to learn about the company’s professional network, and often they’re using their mobile devices to find this information. Furthermore, applicants are more likely than ever to want to apply for jobs right on their phone or tablet. After another horrible day at work, if they see a great opportunity while browsing jobs on the train home, they want to go ahead and apply.

Ensure that Job Listings are Easy to Share

Obviously, people are mostly looking for jobs for themselves, but there are occasions where someone may want to, for example, share an interesting job listing on Facebook. You may be looking for an executive level position for yourself, but if you happen to see a great opportunity that could help your twenty-something child be able to move out on his or her own, sharing it easily is a terrific bonus. When you can share a job listing with one click, you’re going to like that job board a lot better than a regular online classified ad.

Offer Direct Interaction Between Employers and Candidates

Online classifieds and job search engines often have unnecessary “friction” associated with them. First, there’s the friction of not knowing the name of the hiring manager or even the company one is applying to. Then there’s the waiting for direct interaction that may or may not ever occur. Great job candidates aren’t going to bother with that. They want a job board that facilitates direct interaction between the company hiring and the applicants.

Conclusions

Carefully launching a custom job board as part of your website’s traffic and revenue development plan gives your website value far beyond Craigslist or similar job listings. A good job board gives employers and applicants what they want and need to find each other as efficiently as possible. At RealMatch, we offer recruitment advertising solutions for media companies and digital publishers with all the great features that job seekers want. They’ll return to your website repeatedly, knowing they’ll have a job search experience free from the friction and the hassles of regular online job classifieds.

Photo Credits: David Castillo Dominici / freedigitalphotos.net, adamr / freedigitalphotos.net