Job Boards Marketshare Up In Tough Recruitment Market

Jan. 8, 2009 - PRLog -- In the worldwide economic slump, which saw over 533,000 US workers lose their jobs in November alone, niche job boards are delivering value for both employers and job-hunters, competing increasingly strongly against the big employment sites.

Brendan Delaney, founder of our US media-oriented jobs board MediaJobs.net, believes that niche job boards offer employers access to stronger candidates. "Job boards connect them with smart and qualified candidates, who have done their due diligence planning their next career move or just finding a new job in this market climate.

"The big employment sites like Monster.com deliver the mass audience to employers but are steadily losing market share, that trend will continue. Savvier job seekers are increasingly foregoing the big employment sites in favor of a more targeted approach utilizing an ever-increasing number of niche job boards".

Delaney's belief that job boards are collectively capturing increasing market share is backed up by research from internet marketing specialist eMarketingSilo.com. Out of 3,900 HR professionals and recruiters, 84% said *niche sites* provide access to the best talent, while only 11% gave the nod to general-purpose recruitment sites.

Nearly 54% of respondents agreed in eMarketingSilo's recent studythat geographic and *industry-specific* job sites are most effective when searching for a job. Some 24% of job-seekers indicated their resume is posted on 1-2 job boards, with 29% posting resumes on 3-4 job boards and 18% posting on 5+ boards.

Delaney comments that even in the current dire economic climate "where the pie itself is temporarily shrinking, job boards that deliver value by connecting employers with talented candidates will get a bigger piece of the pie."

JobBoarders.com's Chris Russell observes that specialst boards which are both well-established and marketed, will have the upper-hand in current market conditions. "Smaller job boards can offer value over the big guys by offering better content and targeting their niche very specifically, simultaneously building a community, not just a job board.

Russell refers to approximately 40,000 job boards operating online in 2008. "i've seen stats that say anywhere from 4-20% of people now get hired this way."

Delaney said his experience with Media Jobs Network and other specialist sites demonstrates that niche job boards attract quality candidates. "They know they are more likely to stand out on a targeted site than on a site catering to millions of general job seekers."

That viewpoint is shared by Trip Young, Account Manager at The Q Works Group. Depending on the industry, I think niche job boards bring significant benefit over the traditional Monster/CareerBuilder.

Niche job boards are more difficult to identify, so the casual applicant most likely is not on such sites, so you have a tighter pool from which to target. From a candidate's perspective, niche boards are also a great resource as their information does not get lost in the "flood" of resumes that Monster and CareerBuilder are known for."

The next few months are going to be challenging, but promising too, for the job boards sector of online recruiting.

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About Media Jobs Network. For more information on our US specialist employment network of job boards focused on the media industry. visit www.MediaJobs.net.

All-round value: 6.74 million quality US media candidates and over 2 million active resumes save employers fees, time and searching. US network of 15,000 employment sites - 3 million unique visitors and 20 million page views monthly.