"You're not really recruiting if you're using a job board"

This is FALSE and a MYTH.

TRUTH = Using job boards is a legitimate method of recruiting and does not mean you are "cutting corners for your fee".

When it comes to the technology end ... using a job board in itself does not a placement make! To gain success from the job board you must be a masterful expert in its use. Here at IRES, we use such boards but only with a high level of mastery exceeding most corporate recruiting ad results.

Consider This:

• An ad in a job board must often compete with 800 or 3,000 other similar ads in the same geographic vicinity!
• A recent search for "Financial Analyst" in Cincinnati produced 850 similar hits in Hotjobs.
• A search for "Marketing Manager" in North New Jersey produced 3,115 hits on Monster!

Do you r-e-a-l-l-y think producing a candidate from search tools is as simple as placing a bland, poorly conceived ad?

As my teenage son would say: N-O-T!

To obtain success from online boards you must:

1. First be an excellent, compelling ad writer (90% of corporate ads are so boring I fall asleep reading them) ... to be fair legal issues prevent colorful ad writing which we are not quite bound by. Ever see salary ranges on corporate ads? Rarely. Ever see descriptive career projections? No, it could result in liability issues. As an Expert Recruiting Consultant we have more liberty in describing the job.
   
   
2. Secondly - Use Karate like tactics to make sure the force of the search engine makes your ads rise to the greatest level of visibility.
   
   
3. Employ maximum html advantages - You must trick the search engine to force your ad to rise higher than others. (You may call our office at 973 300-1010 for a one hour tele-consulting course on this specific technique if it interests you).
   
   
4. Use the Board for MORE than just finding candidates - (I had a great trainer from HOTJOBS that taught our recruiters some cool stuff)
   
   
5. Cross-Reference bits and pieces of information from the job board with your own internal data to create a more complete picture

I COULD GO ON ... Etc. Etc. Etc. with at least 10 more tips.

Its not the web site that results in candidates. As I tell our clients: "It's our ability to use such tools at the most sophisticated, mastery level possible which leads to precious gem candidates being found". Placing one of our IRES ads side by side by a client ... I guarantee the IRES generated candidate will:

• Notice our ad first before a company's ad
• Have a higher probability of actually applying once its read
• And have more interest in the position from the get go!!

Remember - We are NOT "T-P-R's" as some online recruiting forums would love to have us believe (acronym for Third Party Recruiter).

Truly successful recruiters are "Wizards of Recruiting and Search Experts Extraordinaire !!!" I refuse to use the label "Third Party" when I know our worth far exceeds the "first party" corporate recruiter's ability (for reasons that go beyond personal of course).

So next time a company tries to get you to believe you are not worth the fee only because the candidate came from some job board or other electronic, web based tool, make sure you straighten out this common Myth-Conception.

Internet job boards such as Net-Temps, and others are tools just like a hammer is a tool.

Some people consistently bruise their thumb and bend nails in half when swinging a hammer. Others build handsome custom cabinetry and built-in bookcases without ever bending a nail or stubbing their thumb.

Frank G. Risalvato, CPC is president of IRES, Inc. His newly redesigned recruiter training site is updated weekly with loads of original content and is found at www.searchwizardry.com. He has been speaking and providing recruiting training materials to the search profession's trade groups since 1987. His Recruiter Training Guide is available online for electronic download. Contact Frank by phone (973) 300-1010 or email him: frank@searchwizardry.com. Be sure to sign up and be the first for his soon-to-be-released book The Kentucky Fried Secret Recipe to Recruiting Millions®.

Click here to read more articles by Frank Risalvato.