Posted April 3rd 2009
The constant theme in these posts is that recruitment advertising is not going to come back as it was before, what is needed now is to look at alternative ways to increase revenues from a decreasing space.
I hope I have added food for thought with previous posts about lateral revenues, outsource and out-placement opportunities, and headhunt services.
In my first post I touched on online recruitment fairs. I want to return to this in more detail as an excellent opportunity to extend the job board brand and add more recruitment services.
In the past 7 years there has been exponential growth in two areas of the media space, recruitment advertising and events. Yet for the most part these two areas have been largely distinct. Mostly because, as a job board owner, you would not want to alienate your major client base, the recruitment consutancies and agencies. However, now that they have left you, why not look at ways to capitalise on this opportunity for targeted direct employers.
Virtual Recruitment Fair software, which simply plugs into your current software and CMS is already out there and keeps on improving. Some publishers have trialled their own version, Trinity Mirror is running something at the moment (the service, I think, misses several tricks and has terrible user experiences, but at least they are trying to increase yield and their service). Adicio were at the Onrec Conference and they demonstrated that they are pretty much leading the way with their plug in virtual fair platforms.
But why stop at virtual? What more can be offered? Job boards are increasingly the brand that job seekers and direct clients are turning to in this climate rather than the recruitment consultancies. Am I missing something, but why isn’t there a job board that is currently delivering compelling recruitment fairs that engages the job seekers and employers online but also delivers a powerful face to face experience, with all the additional opportunities that can bring? An event that adds value to your audience and extends the brand. Particularily when most job board owners are media companies that also own event businesses!
Jobserve is trying something similar with jobservelive.com.
Personally, I would have had more niche events, that were sector and geographically specific, with a less confusing mix of attendees and exhibitors. And would also have joined up the virtual with the face to face more effectively, through micro site creation and relevant job listings and application processes on and offline to track the success. But it is still an attempt to look at online recruitment creatively.
And there are many other ways in which job boards could create effective on and offline events which add value and increase revenues. There are various options, but it’s mostly common sense, boiling down to the relevance, resonance and return on investment for all involved.
And why does it just need to be a recruitment fair, what other face to face experiences could be considered? What other ways can you extend your brand and services?
As always these are just some thoughts and ideas, if you would like me to expand on these points, feel free to get in touch. I am always interested and appreciative of feedback and comments.
I have had a couple of requests to build a forum for this discussion, so have put something together called very grandly Recruitment Futurology on LinkedIn. Feel free to join up, it is a place for Job Board stakeholders, online recruitment specialists and HR professionals to share ideas on new ways job boards and online recruitment can be effective in the new economy.
Steve Evans
Don Skinner
Michaela Timmins
