Job Seekers How Do You Measure The Effectiveness Of A Job Board

Job Seekers How Do You Measure The Effectiveness Of A Job Board As we mentioned in last weeks blog, there are lots of things to consider when choosing a job board to use during your job search but did you know there are also lots of things you need to consider when deciding whether to stick with that job board? You see, just because youve chosen to use a particular jobs board, it doesnt necessarily mean you have to stick with your decision and it certainly doesnt mean that your chosen job board is guaranteed to be effective and to work for you! Just like anything else in life, different things work for different people so just because a jobs board works well for your friend or a jobs board works well  at the beginning, it doesnt mean its going to be great choice long-term and its worth sticking with. When it comes to assessing the effectiveness of a job board, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself. 1. Does It Do What It Says On The Tin? Looking for digital jobs and signed up with a jobs board that specialises in digital vacancies but that doesnt actually have any digital jobs on it when you visit? Uh-Oh!  If the jobs board doesnt do what it says it does, its telling porkies and its of no use to you   so Id ditch it sooner rather than later! On the other hand, if it does have digital vacancies but none in your area or your niche Id urge you to be patient! Trust me the number and the type of jobs that are advertised on a job board changes every day so I wouldnt ditch a job board just because no jobs have come up yet which match your criteria. 2. How Good Is Their Communication? If youve signed up for job alerts but received none, despite the fact youve seen new jobs come onto the board which match your criteria, youve got an issue again! This suggests the job board isnt set up properly and means you could miss out on the perfect opportunity! 3. How Easy Is It To Apply For Vacancies? As we mentioned in last weeks blog, user experience is really important when it comes to job boards so generally, the easier it is to apply for vacancies, the more effective the board should be. Going back to the communications point for a minute; you also need to consider what kind of confirmation messages the job board sent to you when youd completed simple tasks like applying for a job or uploading a CV. Whats that? You didnt get any? Now, this isnt a major problem but it is a courtesy thing particularly when confirming a job application which can help to put your mind at rest that the application has been received. In terms of hearing back from jobs youve applied for, this is a tricky one because theres actually nothing a job board can do about this. All the job board does is provide a platform for the application to be sent through to the recruiter and then its up to the recruiter to contact you or not contact you. That said; it might be annoying when you dont hear back from jobs youve applied for, but its not something you can attribute to the job board and its overall performance the problem lies with the recruiter! 4. How Useful Is The Information They Supply? Does the job board have a blog full of useful job seeker tips and hints (a bit like this one!)? If so, how easy is it to find and how often is it updated? The more often, the better. When using a job board, you also need to consider how often they spam you with newsletters/updates and whats in them. How useful and helpful is the information in these newsletters?  The more relevant and helpful, the more effective and useful the job board overall. 5. Would You Recommend It To A Friend? As any brand knows, reputation goes a long way and the same can be said with a job board. If a friend of yours was looking for a similar position, ask yourself if youd recommend the job board in question. If the answer is no, ask yourself why and then consider whether its worth you  continuing to use it. So there you go; five key questions to ask when assessing the effectiveness of a job board. Disagree with any of my points or think Ive missed something out? Leave me a comment below.