Greetings!

Welcome once more to the whatjobsite online recruitment newsletter. This month we are looking at the results of the recent-published National Online Recruitment Audience Survey 2009 and what they might mean for you; we introduce a slew of new job boards on whatjobsite; we bring you the latest job board news and research; we give you the results of our February survey; and, as usual, we've got a bunch of exclusive offers from our job board partners.

If you have any comments or feedback about the newsletter, or would like us to cover something for you, please drop me an email. I'd love to hear from you.

Editor

Feature Article

The Noras 2009 Results

Results from this year's National Online Recruitment Audience Survey were published in mid February. The survey looked at the users of 31 job boards in the UK and gives us an insight into both the profile of online candidates and the job boards. Now in its eighth year, the National Online Recruitment Audience Survey is one of the most important pieces of independent research in online recruitment sector.

It's all going on the web

This year, the survey picked up on continuing trends in candidate behaviour that will be of particular interest to recruiters. Firstly, a full one in seven of the people surveyed now use the internet as their only method of job seeking. This figure has risen from one in eleven in 2008, while it was just one in sixteen in 2007 and reveals a very consistent trend which is only likely to continue and deepen.

Secondly, the survey also showed that online job seekers are increasingly adopting newer technologies in their recruitment effort with one in ten indicating that they had used a smartphone or blackberry to look for a job. While the numbers are still small, it is also inevitable that online recruitment strategies will increasingly have to embrace these newer technologies.

Who is using job boards?

NORAS tells us very clearly that job boards aren't just for younger people. The demographic breakdown of the combined audience across all the sites showed that 21% of users of the job boards surveyed are in the 16 - 24 age group; 29% are 25 - 34; 22% are 35 - 44; 20% are 45 - 54; and 8% are 55 - 64.

What's more, over the last three surveys there has been a subtle change in the demographic with the 45 - 54 group rising from 15% to 20% and the 55 - 64 rising from 4% group to 8%. While these changes may be due to the changing composition of the survey group, I do suspect that it is reflective of more older people using job boards. Even if it isn't, the audience figures give a picture of who is using job boards: and it's not all about kids.

The Niches and the Generalists

What is also interesting are the differences the survey suggests exist between the candidate profile of generalist recruitment websites and the niches. [Generalist sites are websites that cover all kinds of jobs in all sectors and locations. Niche job boards tend to specialize in a particular job role, industry sector or location.] The difference is subtle but telling: in salary terms the niche job boards tend to attract a higher paid demographic than the generalists.

This supports the commonly-held view that niche sites tend to be a better the higher up the career ladder you go. Obviously, as people move up in their jobs their job skills and their industry experience become more specific. This candidate specificity attracts a higher salary premium within the industry sector which is reflected in the candidates on the niche job boards. 

What do we learn?

The NORAS survey tells us that the profile of online job seekers is much more diverse and intricate than is commonly thought. It is older than we may have thought and more and more people are only using job boards to search for jobs.

More interesting, however, is that using job boards for higher salaried and more senior roles, roles that one would traditionally have assumed to be the terrain of the recruitment consultant, is now a very real possibility. Job boards offer a viable and compelling option for recruiting at the higher level.

For more information on online recruitment and job board advertising visit the whatjobsite Recruiter Zone.

New Job board partners on whatjobsite

Six new niche job boards from Incisive Media

Whatjobsite.com has added six new niche job boards from Incisive Media to its collection of approved job boards:

ComputingCareers.co.uk

Computing.co.uk has been providing IT news and information to IT professionals for over 35 years and will continue to be the industry mouth-piece. Through our unrivalled network of market leading sites; Computing.co.uk, vnunet.com & theinquirer.net, ComputingCareers.co.uk can get your vacancy to over 2.5 million IT professionals each month... find out more

Accountancy Age Jobs

Accountancy Age has been providing news and information to accounting and finance professionals for 40 years and continues to be the voice of the accountant. With Accountancy Age Jobs and our network of accounting and finance websites, your advert reaches both active and passive job seekers in a way none of our competitors can match... find out more

InsuranceJobs.co.uk

InsuranceJobs.co.uk is the general insurance recruitment marketplace with vacancies across all levels within actuarial, broking, claims, compliance, sales and marketing, reinsurance, risk, underwriting and Lloyds and London markets... find out more

LegalWeekJobs.com

LegalWeekJobs.com makes it easy for lawyers to find the latest jobs in private practice and industry. We offer recruiters an invaluable opportunity to engage with job browsers and job seekers alike... find out more

The Actuary Jobs

The Actuary Magazine is the recruitment marketplace for the Actuarial industry, targeting all members of the Actuarial profession, both in the UK and overseas. The Actuary Jobs allows recruiters to reach this important candidate audience... find out more

AdviserCareers.com

AdviserCareers.com is the UK's specialist job board for financial intermediaries. AdviserCareers.com works in partnership with the leading news and information brands in the market; IFAonline , Investment Week , Professional Adviser, Mortgage Solutions and International Investment... find out more

News & Research from Job board

NORAS puts s1jobs.com top of the league in Scotland

The recently published results of the National Online Recruitment Audience Survey (NORAS 2009) indicate that whatjobsite partner site s1jobs.com now attracts over three times more Scottish job seekers than its nearest competitors in the NORAS survey... read more

FECareers in two Online Recruitment Awards

The whatjobsite partner site FE Careers is finalist in two awards categories in the 2009 Online Recruitment Awards. FE Careers is up for the Best Public Sector Recruitment Site Award and Innovative Online Marketing Award... read more

To find more research and news from our job board partners, visit our Online Recruitment News & Research area.

 Whatjobsite February Poll Results

How many job sites do you use to advertise a job?

53% of whatjobsite users said that they used up to three job boards to advertise a job vacancy. Approximately 35% said that they used five or more. While the remaining 12% said that they used just one.

It's encouraging to see that employers are adopting a strategic approach to online recruitment. Most online recruitment experts suggest that recruiters should select a number of job boards to better improve chances of online recruitment success.

This month we're asking the killer question: 'In 2008, how many of your hires came from job boards?' Go to whatjobsite and tell us.