Talent Management Processes

Debunking Myths About Online Jobseekers

by Taleo Research

The corporate Career Web site is both a leading corporate ambassador, and a significant candidate sourcing and prescreening tool. Large corporations have increasingly recognized and responded to the power and potential of using the corporate Web site in the recruiting strategy. A Taleo study, Where The Jobs Are, found that 81 percent of Fortune 500 corporations are posting jobs to the corporate Careers Web site. Furthermore, Fortune 500 corporate Careers site job posting greatly exceeds job board utilization.

As adoption of this low cost/high exposure method continues to rise, large corporations also have a burgeoning need to be conversant with the attitudes and behaviors of visitors to corporate Careers sites. Specific information about online jobseeker behavior, their preferences and expectations from large corporations conducting online recruiting is analyzed in the Taleo study, Perception vs. Reality: Jobseeker Behavior Online. Let’s look at three perceptions of jobseeker behavior—how they arrive at the corporate Careers Web site, what level of job they are seeking, and their willingness to answer skills-based questions—and see how those compare to reality.

Sources of Careers Site Traffic
The perception that job boards are the main driver of traffic to corporate Career Web sites runs counter to survey results showing only one out of eight corporate Career Web site visitors comes from job boards. The data shows three times as many candidates come to the corporate Web site Careers section from “word of mouth” (34%), and from a homepage/within-the-site link (38%), than from job boards (12%). Less significant drivers of traffic come from print ad (3%), email from a company (3%), news article/broadcast (5%) or a job fair (5%).

Traffic arrives at the corporate Web site and its Careers section from different sources and with different intents. Happily employed passive jobseekers can be attracted to the Careers Section with homepage links and well-placed, well-designed crosslinks from elsewhere within the corporate Web site.

Experience Level
The view that experienced candidates are not seeking jobs online also does not correlate with survey results showing almost half of Career Web site visitors are seeking mid- to senior-level positions. Eight percent of online candidates responding to the Taleo survey are seeking director or executive-level positions. In addition, 35 percent of online candidates are seeking mid-management positions. Other positions sought after online include staff positions (29%) and entry level (28%). As is evident, corporations may use the Careers Web site as a source of candidates at all levels within the organizational chart.

Skills Questions
One of the most interesting misperceptions about jobseeker behavior relates to skills-based questions. There has been concern over whether the candidate is willing to take the time to provide the answers the recruiter is looking for. However, survey data is clear; candidates will respond to skills-based questions. When online jobseekers were asked what information they would be willing to supply in an online job application, 88 percent responded as willing to answer questions about their skills.

Online recruiters can use the greater interactivity of the Web to pull the information that they need from candidates in order to make a proper and faster hiring decision. This involves asking direct questions about the match between candidates’ skills and the requirements of the position.

Skills-based questions can be asked of Career Web site visitors 24/7 and, with the right back-end processing, can effectively be used to prescreen candidates and automatically generate a short list. With nearly ninety percent of candidates willing to answer questions concerning their skills and how those skills relate to the requirements of the specific job position being applied for, corporations have a tremendous opportunity to arrive at a shortlist of candidates quickly and more efficiently.

Optimize Your Careers Site

The corporate Careers Web site can be a broad-reaching, central component of the corporate recruiting strategy. It must provide a pleasing experience to visitors, and an efficient interface for the corporation’s back-end recruiting process. Perception vs. Reality: Jobseeker Behavior Online reveals valuable observations about candidate behavior, preferences and expectations of corporations offering employment. The report includes recommendations for results-based actions for corporations to improve the interface and interaction between the corporate Careers Web site and its visitors. With an optimized corporate Careers Web site front-end unified with a staffing management system’s automated workflow on the back-end, large global corporations today can reap the benefits of powerful, enterprise-wide recruiting.