Online recruitment in an economic downturn

The economic conditions are offering significant challenges for many businesses. Many are simply struggling to survive. But in spite of the downturn many SME will still need to recruit. New business-critical roles will need to be filled or departing staff will need to be replaced.

And finding the right staff isn’t any less important. Indeed, it’s more important than ever to find the right person for the job. So given the fact that you have to recruit, and that money is tight, how can you reduce the costs of recruiting?

Go online

With a name like whatjobsite.com you could hardly really expect us say anything different; but we really do believe that now, more than ever before, is the time for SMEs to think creatively and take advantage of the job board revolution.

Compared to traditional recruitment agencies or newspaper advertising, job sites and job boards are a fraction of the cost. Where a recruitment agency might cost you many thousands of pounds or Euros and a newspaper cost you  many hundreds, good job boards can cost from as little as fifty pounds (sixty Euro)

Online job boards are now an established part of job seeking. Indeed, recent research from NORAS suggests that a full 9% of job seekers only use the internet to search for jobs.  And right now there is good talent out there. Talent is not so short and job seekers are a little less demanding than they used to be. While the war for talent might not yet be over, there is a definite ceasefire.

And bear in mind too that job boards are businesses and they, like you, are facing less buoyant times. They will be a little bit more eager for your business. The sales team will want to close that deal with you. So ask what deals are available, or get a free product upgrade. Make sure you get the best deal you can from them.

But that’s not the end of the online story. In the last number of year, many companies have invested heavily in social media as a recruitment option. For us at whatjobsite.com, the sheer effort and resource required to use social media effectively as a recruitment media weighs against it as a viable option for SMEs.

But that it not to say that you should forget about it all together. There are many resource-light ways to use social networks to your advantage. For example, get your employees to tell their friends about vacancies in your company. Some companies even encourage their employees to promote vacancies in their companies on their Facebook or Myspace profiles. To encourage this, many companies run referral programs where employees are given a bonus for successful hires.

Another cost effective online tool that is often neglected is email signature. We recently saw the power of a simple “We are hiring” link at the bottom of an email. It turned out that the company did nothing else to recruit and hired within a couple of days simply by adding such a link to their standard email signature. Of course, put your job vacancies on your website so that potential candidates can find out about them. Putting your vacancies on your website is one of the most cost-effective things you can do… it’s free.