Answer:

A Job Site (sometimes called a Job Board) is a website where employers and recruitment agencies can advertise their job vacancies to attract candidates.

In the same way that you might place a job advert in the local newspaper, you can place a job advert on a job site.

Job sites can be National, such as www.britishjobs.net, regional such as www.yorkshirejobs.net or specialist such as www.insurancejobsboard.com.

Research shows that jobs sites which focus on a particular geographical area or a particular market sector seem to perform better than more general job sites.

Answer:

The best place to attract job seekers is on the Web

The UK adult population stands at 46 million people. 25 million have accessed the Internet in the past month with 44% having looked for or applied for a job.

Only email, shopping, travel & banking come before jobs when people search the Internet, making online recruitment a very powerful tool for employers and recruitment agencies.

Job Site advertising is cost effective

The cost of a single advert on a Job Site is generally £50 - £100 compared to £300 - £1,000 for a typical box advert in the local press.

What’s more, the advert is live and viewable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 4 weeks from the date of posting. Most newspaper adverts are only printed once and the paper is only on sale for 1 day!

Job Site adverts gets results faster

Applications to online adverts are received immediately and electronically (by email), cutting down on paperwork & delays.

Job Site advertising is hassle-free

Advertising on Job Boards is simple compared to designing, proofing and publishing a newspaper advert which can take days. There are no publishing deadlines with Job Sites and you are in complete control of the content and layout of your adverts, eliminating third party errors.

Answer:

Employers

Employers generally want local candidates to apply for their vacancies. It makes life easier when people already live within commutable distance of the office.

Because local Job Sites market their services to local job seekers, employers receive more relevant applications to their jobs. This is a distinct advantage over some of the large national job boards which cannot easily achieve the same levels of market penetration on a local level.

Employers can become frustrated when they receive irrelevant applications, from outside the area for jobs which would not justify re-location. This is a down-side to advertising on some National Job Sites.

Local job sites are more targeted and this is the key to their success.

Job Seekers

When job seekers search for a job on a local job site they know that all the jobs are going to be in the right part of the country, which is a goods start! Most people don’t want to have to sift through hundreds of irrelevant vacancies to find the ones in their area. Geographical focus makes local Job Sites much more attractive to job seekers.

Answer:

One of the most effective ways to attract job seekers to your Job Site is through effective Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art of creating a site that your target audience can find easily through the major search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

The methods of successful SEO are diverse, dynamic and sometimes complex. In order for a Job Site to succeed, it is critical that the SEO is effective.

We have cutting edge knowledge and expertise in this area. If you want to learn more about SEO, you may wish to research the following areas; keyword analysis, writing content, link building and link architecture, page titles and meta tags.

In addition to SEO, pay per click advertising (e.g. Google Adwords) can be a very effective way to drive relevant traffic to your site in the first few months while the SEO takes effect.

Off-line advertising can also be an effective way to get your name out into the marketplace. Examples include bus and taxi advertising, roundabout sponsorship, leaflet dropping and radio advertising. Some of these methods can be more expensive than online advertising but are great for building brand awareness.

By using the right combination of paid online advertising, search engine optimization and off-line marketing, you will make it easy for job seekers to find your site and take advantage of your services.

Answer:

You make money from three distinct customer groups:

Recruitment Agencies

Recruitment agencies rely heavily on a constant stream of candidates to fill their customer’s vacancies. If the candidate flow dries up, the recruitment agency is in big trouble! The majority of recruitment agencies now depend on Job Sites as an indispensable source of new candidates. Take a look at any Job Site and you will see that a high percentage of the jobs advertised on the site are advertised by recruitment agencies.

Due to the volume of jobs adverts purchased by recruitment agencies, most job sites offer "job packs", where the agency can purchase multiple jobs at a discounted price, or in many cases, pay a fixed monthly fee for unlimited job postings.

Monthly advertising programs can cost anything from £250 - £500 per month. There are over 11,000 recruitment agencies in the UK. For any local jobsite, recruitment agencies are a key source of sales revenue.

This customer group will generally pay for the Job Packs by monthly standing order or invoice.

Employers

Local companies of all sizes and from all industry sectors are targets for a Job Site’s services. Traditionally, employers have recruited through the local press, or an employment agency.

The local press lacks many of the benefits offered by Job Sites (see "Why do Employers use Job Sites?") so employers who use the local press, or have used the local press in the past are a key target for Job Sites.

Employers generally purchases Single Job Postings as and when they are needed through the site’s online secure card payment system. This reduces administration and eliminates credit control issues.

Single Job postings can cost anything from £50 - £100 each.

As well as job adverts, employers and agencies also purchase other services from Job Sites including CV access (where they can view the CVs of job seekers who are registered on the site and contact them directly) and branded banner advertising on key areas of the sites such as the home page of job search pages.

Media Agencies

Media Agencies research the market and identify suitable media advertising opportunities for their clients. This includes internet media buying as well as magazine advertising and other forms of advertising such as TV and radio.

Media agencies actually buy the advertising for their clients and handle all communication with the newspaper, job board, magazine etc. through their own internal Account Handlers.

Media agencies tend to work on behalf of larger companies with complex or high volume requirements and often big budgets. Major banks, insurance companies, retail chains and some government organisations are examples of the types of clients that employ the services of media agencies.

Within the media agency sector there are a number of agencies that specialise in buying recruitment media (approx. 100 in the UK). These agencies are obviously prime targets for job board advertising services.

Answer:

Job Site services do not compete directly with recruitment agency services as the two services are very different.

Recruitment Agencies generally offer:

• In-house database search
• Vacancy advertising in the relevant media (including job sites)
• Candidate screening
• Provision of a shortlist
• Arrangement of interviews
• Negotiation of salary/package
• Placement of the candidate and follow up
• Low cost – typically from £50 - £100 for a single job posting

Benefits to the employer:

• Save time - agency does all the filtering, pre-selection and interview arrangements
• Simple – agency supplies 3-5 CVs of candidates that meet the criteria within 24 – 48 hours
• Peace of mind – agency does the work again free of charge if the candidate is unsuitable

Disadvantages: More expensive than Job Sites.

Typical price: £2,000

Job Sites generally offer:

• Branded job advertising
• Single or multiple vacancy postings
• CV search facility

Benefits:

• CVs sent directly to the employer’s inbox as soon as job seekers apply
• Applications easy to manage and vacancies easy to monitor
• No publishing deadlines
• Job seekers can view client’s vacancies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Low cost – only £60 for a single job posting

Disadvantages: More time consuming than using Agencies with no guarantees.

Typical price: £75

The decision of whether to use a Job Site or an Employment Agency depends on what the employer wants. There is plenty of room in the recruitment market for agency services and job site services to co-exist.

This has been the case for years as local newspapers and employment agencies have flourished side by side selling their respective services.

Answer:

To operate a successful Job Site, you need the following skills:

Administration skills

• You need to be able to process invoices (sales invoices for your advertising sales and invoices for products and services you have purchased for the Job Site business).
• You need to be able to keep simple accounts of sales and purchases on Excel or a basic accounts package like Sage.
• You need to be able to set up accounts for new employers on the Job Site and give them usernames and passwords.

Computer skills

• You need to be able to use email to communicate with your customers and receive their logos, orders etc.
• You need to be able to use Excel to keep records of your basic transactions.
• You need to be able to use Word to produce mail-shots and other written correspondence.
• You need to able to use a windows based database such as ACT as a contact management system.

Sales skills

• You need to be able to persuade people through mail-shots, on the telephone and in person that your Job Site service will benefit their organization.

Knowledge of the local area

• You need to know the geography of your local area to make sure your service reaches the target market.

Search Engine Optimization

It will be very helpful to have a basic grasp of the principles of search engine optimisation. Information about SEO is abundantly available on the internet. All our sites are built in a search engine friendly way but you can help your site’s rankings in the search engines with SEO techniques such as link building, effective copywriting and directory submissions. Information about how to do this is provided in our operating manual.

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Running Costs

The costs of running a Job Site are low compared to most businesses. There is no requirement for stock or storage space. Utility bills are kept to a minimum as there is no machinery. Staff requirements are low as the Job Site does a lot of the work itself, attracting users through SEO and providing interfaces for uses to add their details to the Job Site so you don’t have to. Payment is taken online for many orders, minimizing credit control and administration costs. There is no need for expensive, glamorous offices - job sites can be run from home initially if budgets are tight.

The main running costs are as follows:

• Phone line and call costs £50 - £300 per month
• Google Adwords or similar services (paid online advertising to boost traffic) £300 - £1500 per month
• Rent if you choose to run the business from an office - £300 - £1000 per month
• Salary you choose to take from the business

There are other costs involved but these will vary depending on your individual circumstances and the kind of resources you already have access to.

Set up Costs

If you approach an experienced job board design company to have your own job site built from scratch, the initial design cost of a site capable of meeting customer expectations and sustaining profitability is likely to be at least £10,000. Quotes can be as high as £28,000 but £10,000 is sufficient to pay for the construction of a high quality Job Site. This cost is quickly recovered by Job Sites which are launched successfully.

Answer:

• More people than ever are using the internet and Jobs are the 5th most searched for commodity.
• Recruiters are increasingly turning to online job advertising as a means of attracting suitable candidates due to the benefits it offers over press advertising.
• Local/Regional job sites are more effective at attracting and targeting local candidates than National Job Sites.
• Job Seekers prefer local job sites because there is no sifting through irrelevant jobs.
• Job Sites are simple to run, only requiring the owners to have good administration & sales skills and leaving the technical work to the experts.
• Job sites are lucrative with low overheads and no stock, minimising risk and maximising profit.

Answer:

The Job Site Company has 68 local Job Sites spanning the breadth and depth of the UK, all based on the highly successful model of our very first Job Site, www.yorkshirejobs.net.

Many of these sites are for sale and available sites can be activated within 1 week, meaning you can start your own local Job Site very quickly, knowing that the technology and functionality is successfully tried and tested.

To find out more call us on 01302 822 111.