What a Healthier Economy Means for Your Job Posting Strategy

The US economy is prospering, and it’s safe to say we’ve turned a corner since the Great Recession. The unemployment rate is hovering around 5% (its lowest point since 2008), nearly half of companies are actively looking to fill roles, and there are jobs aplenty in all types of industries and organizations (and we all know that humans love having choices — thinking of my Amazon Prime addiction solidifies this idea).

Gone are the days of an employer job market where businesses had the upper hand in finding and attracting candidates, and in its place is a candidate’s job market that has no pity for one-trick pony recruiters and hiring leaders.

Meaning, if your recruitment strategy only includes posting jobs to free boards and your own career site, now is the time to take another look into an integrated job posting strategy that includes everything from an employee referral program to employer brand building.

At its simplest though, this new outlook absolutely demands you adopt some kind of paid posting. As the market stands now, without sponsored advertising you might run the risk of never finding the perfect candidate, or many candidates at all for that matter.

Don’t get me wrong, using free job boards is a crucial piece of the puzzle, but it’s just one part of a larger picture (related read: [Infographic] Why Paid Postings are Essential).

What do I mean by this? Well, let’s look at an example. Say your company is looking for customer service representatives (CSRs for short). This is a very common job, so when a jobseeker lands on a popular job board and searches for CSR, they might see something like 200 open positions at a variety of companies.

Which job posting are they most likely to click? To find the answer, it’s simply a matter of looking at search behavior.

Studies have shown that listings toward the top of a search result page receive an overwhelming majority of clicks. So, if you had a sponsored (paid) job posting that appeared above most of the 200 open opportunities, you would know with confidence that your job is in a position to get more clicks, and as a result, more candidates, faster and more consistently.

More specifically, here are some advantages that paid job postings provide over free ones:

1. Paid postings don’t decay

As previously discussed, time decay is a serious issue for job postings. Organic (or free) listings can move down search rankings very rapidly due to the high volume of jobs coming into sites, while sponsored jobs stay closer to the top thanks to the fact that you paid for prime placement. Why is this important? Postings that are higher up on the page tend to get more views and more candidates, and they don’t lose candidate volume over time.

2. More options

Did I already mention people love choices? While there aren’t many job boards that exclusively offer free postings, there are plenty of paid job board options to choose from. Whether it is a niche board or a well-known player in the market, there will be plenty of opportunity for you to sponsor job ads to unique communities.

3. Less conforming, more comforting

Whether it’s the way your ad has to look, the way candidates have to apply, or the requirement of an Applicant Tracking System to qualify for organic listings, free job boards usually make you conform to their standards to get on their site. Sponsoring jobs gives the power to the employer. You are paying them money to advertise, so it is more likely you will have more control over how you want things to work and look.

4. The job boards are on the clock

Paid boards also have an obligation to get you candidates in order to keep you as a customer and to keep getting your money, so they’ll work harder to make sure you are a happy camper. This could mean they’ll do some of their own advertising or marketing to promote your listing.

5. It doesn’t have to be expensive

Some people are hesitant about paid advertising. They claim that it’s too expensive, often lacking a positive ROI. My guess is that most people are only aware of flat rate postings, which in general have underperformed over the last few years. However, let me tell you now that there are PLENTY of options depending on your strategy.

CPA (cost-per-applicant) and CPC (cost-per-click) job board options like Indeed and Appcast allow recruiters and hiring leaders complete control over their spend. You decide the max budget you’d like to allocate to promoting a certain job, and you only pay when results are achieved. Not to mention, both CPC and CPA job boards usually deliver better results than a flat rate board like Monster.

In short, it doesn’t seem as if the economy is heading back into the dirt anytime soon, so if you are hoping to fill those open roles at your company while competing with the rest of the herd, take a look at your options and invest some money into sponsored advertising. Or let MightyRecruiter’s team of job promotion experts do it for you and optimize your recruitment budget using JobPromote today. Just click here to start your free trial.

And finally, to learn more about how to evaluate paid vs. free job boards and how to get more candidates from your postings, download our free eBook, Developing a Mighty Job Posting Strategy!