January is traditionally the busiest month in the recruitment calendar due to the ‘New Year, New Career' attitude. Candidates start to really focus on their job hunt and employers fight to source the best before their competition.

 

No matter what size your recruitment campaign is, using an online job board can be very cost effective and save you a lot of time. However, with so many on the market, how do you know which one is right for you? I've put together some basics to look out for, to try and make your life a little easier:

 

  • CV Database

Nearly all job boards will offer recruiters a CV database to source candidates from and a job posting platform. Always check you can access the database with your job board subscription and the terms and conditions that apply. Some job boards only give you a set time to access the database e.g. 24 hours, while others will charge you per CV downloaded. CV-Library offers all clients full access to their database and unlimited CV downloads for the entire length of your contract, whether it's one month or 12. We also offer a free CV Watchdog service which delivers CVs that match your criteria directly to your inbox the moment they're registered.

 

  • Post Your Vacancies

Job posting facilities will allow you to attract candidates directly to your jobs, saving you a lot of time. Double check where your jobs will be posted and how many applications that job board receives. CV-Library receives, on average, one million job applications per month and all jobs are posted onto a huge network of relevant career sites. CV-Library owns many other niche, sector and location specific sites, which means your jobs will be seen by thousands of relevant candidates. It's also worth checking how job credits are sold, either in a package or one by one. You can often save money by buying a bundle of job credits to use throughout the year. Also, check how long your job will be posted for. As standard, CV-Library leave every job live for 30 days.

 

  • Niche vs. Generalist

There are two main categories of job board; niche and generalist. If you only recruit for a specific sector then a niche job board might work better for you. However, don't rule out all generalist boards. Many of the large, well-established job boards attract more sector specific candidates to their databases than the niche ones. CV-Library, for example has the largest CV database in the UK with 5.5 million CVs registered from over 70 sectors; top industries include Administration (872,000 CVs), Retail (760,000 CVs), Customer Service (675,000 CVs) and Sales (490,000 CVs).

 

  • Candidate Attraction

How does your job board attract new candidates and engage with current ones? You want to ensure your jobs will be seen and a steady flow of new candidates will be joining the database. Engaging with candidates could be anything from offline marketing, such as TV advertising, newsletter updates with relevant job links, Jobs by Email alerts, push notifications on mobile apps to social media profiles and retargeting online banners. CV-Library covers all of these methods and more, to ensure your jobs receive the best coverage.

 

  • Free Trial

Still trying to decide between two or three job boards and you only have the budget for one? All good job boards should offer you a free trial, in order to access their CV database and check they have the candidates you need. If you fancy looking around CV-Library's database on a no commitment trial simply follow this link and you can access 5.5 million CVs today: http://www.cv-library.co.uk/link/TIF7

 

Job Board Checklist

 

ü  Size of CV database and terms and conditions of access

ü  Job posting facilities, cost and length of each job posting

ü  Network of sites owned by job board

ü  Sectors covered and number of CVs in each relevant industry

ü  Check how new candidates are attracted to the job board and more importantly to your jobs

ü  If you're still stuck ask for a free trial, all good job boards should offer one

 

If you're interested in recruiting online and would like some more information, please do not hesitate to email CV-Library's sales team using sales@cv-library.co.uk or call 01252 810995.