Think job boards are dying? Think again.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the outplacement firm, just released results from a new survey of HR executives, asking them to rate the effectiveness of various job search methods on a scale of 1 (least effective) to 5 (most effective). The results show that networking both offline and online (on sites such as LinkedIn) were the most effective methods with average ratings of 3.98 and 3.3, respectively. Responding to newspaper classified ads (1.7) and attending job fairs (1.6) were the least effective.
Those surveyed gave Internet job boards relatively high marks. It averaged a middle-of-the-road rating of 3.0, but 38 percent of respondents gave it a 4.0.
Here is the ranked list of all the job search methods:
1 Networking
2 Using social/professional networking sites
3 Targeted management recruiting firms
4 Using online job boards
5 Applying for jobs via an employer’s website
6 Cold-calling employers
7 Sending unsolicited resumes to employers
8 Responding to newspaper ads
9 Attending job fairs
While this ranking represents the effectiveness of job search methods, HR executives likely answered the question based on their experience sourcing candidates.
So look all you naysayers, job boards are still a very viable tool for recruiting. Anything said to the contrary is hype or misinformation surrounding the real truth.
