Why companies post executive jobs on job boards
A friend of mine expressed disbelief than any executive would even consider using a job board. He knows job boards don’t work. He maintained that no executive is so naive to believe an anonymous resource like a job board could be considered as a tool by any executive who has ever hired anyone. I couldn’t agree more.
Yet many six figure plus executives do believe they will land a job through job boards. Some job boards are so aggressive they advertise they only source jobs and candidates over $100,000. Research proves these executive level job boards vet neither candidates nor job submissions for income level. They do charge candidates for what is promoted as a premier job board, but there is nothing other than cost to differentiate them from other monsterous job boards.
I contend that people do what is easy. When they are stressed and their confidence is on the wane, they grasp at anything that requires only a little effort. They are willing to believe the magic of random submissions. They are convinced their resume is spot on to the job description and all they need to do is submit and wait for the phone to ring.
More often, the executive finds using the computer for outreach and research far less daunting than talking to people. The prospect of rejection and the feelings of inadequacy that accompany joblessness destroy the urge to reach out.
Would that it be true. Less than 1% of executive level jobs are filled through job boards…spread out among all of them, that leaves any one job board with a dismal record indeed.
So why to companies post on job boards? If the stats are true (and they are) why are executives finding so many job openings listed? Human resources professionals are typically chartered with hiring new executives less than 5% of their employment time. They are not experts and they are not, for the most part, skilled in locating candidates. They post but they do not read.
Many companies have specific rules that say any job must be publicly posted before it is filled from any source. Thus, instead of a newspaper ad, which was the former outlet, jobs are posted on boards.
Some less than scrupulous recruiters thrive on job boards and the candidates they find there. Great, you say, that’s fine with me. Well, maybe not. Frequently, the jobs are not real, the ad is simply used to lure resumes of high income individuals for other reasons. That contact information if quite valuable. Or worse, they use the resume to penetrate companies for jobs they don’t have an assignment to fill.
Frequently internal recruiters post their job openings on job boards out of habit or desparation. While they have little reason to expect to find the right person, they post because they have a budget to do so. Why do they have a budget when using the boards is so futile for executive level jobs? Because boards are a very good resource for finding individual contributors.
And let’s not forget the multi-level marketers who lure candidates with glorious job descriptions that turn out to be bogus with a bait and switch result. Many job boards are simply scams.
How many times have you submitted a resume which caused no response? You felt it was not even read. You are mostly right. Companies of all sizes rely first on referred candidates. Many have financial incentives for employees to refer their friends. In today’s market, the referral from current employees works well because everyone seems to know folks out of work.
What’s the antidote to job boards? Networking. Well over 75% of all executive level jobs are landed by networking. You even have to network to find the most professional of recruiters. Networking has always been the most productive way to land a new job. That has not changed. People are still willing and eager to help. They just need to know what help looks like.
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Rita Ashley is a career and job search coach for executives. In the last two years 98% of my clients achieved their goals within six months. Is it your turn? Contact me directly to discuss a customized solution.
Career advice, Job Search Tools, Networking, Recruiters, Six Figure Jobs, coaching
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bad recruiters, executive jobs, get a job, JOB BOARDS, Job scams, job search engines, rita ashley, Six Figure Jobs
Themocracy
I’m glad that you found my article on job board scams to be helpful. Even as an owner of a high traffic job board, I totally agree with you that most people find jobs through networking and that’s as it should be as the likelihood of a good match is higher. But that doesn’t mean that other tools like job boards are a bad idea or should be ignored as many (not most) do find job through job boards, whether they’re the big, general boards or the small, niche boards.
Steven, Thanks for sharing your views. I am glad we agree that for individual contributors and those young in their career, job boards deserve a place at the table. But we also agree that Executive level job search is very different and job boards are not an appropriate resources.
Thanks for commenting.
Rita