Recruitment SEO: A game changer or just the latest bandwagon?
- Author: Eric Peterson
- Posted: March 11, 2010
- Category: SEO
- Tags: recruitment seo, search engine optimization, seo
- Comments: 0
I’ve seen this all before.
Was it when the Internet first took off and e-commerce websites inspired the rise of the job board? Or was it about six years ago, when the term “brand” leapt from marketing to HR, spawning a demand for “employer brand” consultations? Or was it just a few years ago, when the popularity of Business Process Outsourcing provided a handy road map for the creation of Recruitment Process Outsourcing?
I suppose it’s all of the above that makes the current move toward Recruitment SEO ring so familiar.
While it’s true that recruitment trends often follow the emergence of general marketing or business trends, what’s not always clear is what value they bring. Admittedly, we recruitment solutions vendors don’t help matters with our disparate terminologies, conflicting benefit claims, and opposing best practices. And to make it worse, whenever there’s a new trend on the horizon, there’s always a horde of opportunists looking to capitalize on over-eagerness, fear, and naivete.
Recruitment SEO is no exception: we’ve seen wide-ranging opinions on whether Search Engine Optimization is right for every recruitment strategy; huge discrepancies in vendor expertise; inconsistent implementation models; and over-promised benefits and outcomes.
So it seems the Recruitment SEO market could benefit from some dialogue. If SEO is going to continue to blip louder on all our radars, we should come to common understanding of the challenges and benefits of Recruitment SEO.
First, the basics. Search Engine Optimization is a marketing discipline that businesses use to drive organic search traffic to their online properties. It’s a discipline they’ve used for years. Recruitment SEO uses the same techniques to drive traffic to your career sites and job postings.
Even before the economy turned sour, forecasts of a talent shortage—coupled with growing disappointment in job boards—motivated early adopters in the recruitment industry to investigate alternative sourcing methods. Those who understood Recruitment SEO saw it as a way to rise above the competitive noise and make it easy for search-savvy job seekers to find their career sites and job postings. Recruitment SEO is only catching on now in the rest of the recruitment world because budgets have tightened and HR needs to find a more cost-effective way to attract talent.
But maybe even more than any of those reasons, Recruitment SEO is catching on because the way people search for jobs has changed. In growing numbers, they value Google search results more than the search results on job boards, and the data supports it. There are over 300 million job-related searches on Google alone each month. Compare that to the 10 million searches per month on Monster.
While that last statistic should end the argument as to whether Recruitment SEO is valuable, it is important to underscore that Recruitment SEO is not a magic elixir. And it’s not necessarily right for every employer. Understanding the unique preferences and tendencies of the candidates you want to reach, and deploying the right marketing mix to reach them will ensure that you fish where the fish are, and that you have the right bait on your hook.
With that being said, there are 300 million fish on Google. You might want to hop on the Recruitment SEO bandwagon and head on over.
Progress on the Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice
- Author: Kyle Callahan
- Posted: March 10, 2010
- Category: Tools and Resources, Sourcing Strategies
- Tags: BestJobsUSA, Diversity and Inclusion
- Comments: 0
BestJobsUSA.com, published by RCI Recruitment Solutions, has been working to promote a steadfast commitment to diversity and inclusion, and last month, we unveiled the 10th annual Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice.
The Diversity Employer of Choice program drives minority and diversity candidates to employers that focus on improving their hiring strategies by recruiting qualified and talented diversity candidates.
Immediately following BestJobsUSA.com’s selection of these fifty Diversity Employers of Choice, we reached out to over a million of the nation’s top diversity candidates to notify them of the program. As of March 1st, we’ve sent these candidates a range of emails linking them to company profiles and open positions of the Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice.
We’ve also begun engaging with the members of Facebook and LinkedIn on behalf of the Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice. Our advertising banners on the social network sites have received hundreds of thousands of impressions, and our CEO, Michael C. Moore, started a Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice 2010 LinkedIn group to continue the discussion around diversity recruiting.
In addition to our own LinkedIn group, we contacted the leaders of a range of diversity-focused LinkedIn groups, introducing them to the Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice program and asking them to direct their members to the site.
In short, the 2010 Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice program continues to be a success for its members.
Candidates now prefer the search engines.
- Author: Kyle Callahan
- Posted: March 5, 2010
- Category: Tools and Resources, Sourcing Strategies, Employment Branding
- Tags: recruitment seo, search engine optimization, seo
- Comments: 0
Every month, candidates conduct over 300 million job searches on Google alone. Compare that to Monster, which only receives about 10 million searches a month [PDF]. If you’re spending money on the job boards, you may be investing your (limited) resources in the wrong place.
Consider looking into Search Engine Optimization for Recruitment. Recruitment SEO is a long-term, comprehensive solution for improving the presence of your recruitment site and job postings within the major search engines (Google, Yahoo!, and Bing), as well as within the major job boards and job aggregators (Indeed, SimplyHired, etc.).
At RCI Recruitment Solutions, we’ve been perfecting SEO since 2003, helping thousands of companies improve their rankings on the search engines, build positive online reputations, and increase the conversion rates of their online properties.
And we can do the same for you.
Find out more at www.rcirs.com/seo.
Hard-to-Fill Doesn’t Have to Mean Hard-to-Find
- Author: Kyle Callahan
- Posted: February 24, 2010
- Category: Tools and Resources, Sourcing Strategies
- Tags: Recruiting 2.0, Sourcing Strategy, Tools and Resources
- Comments: 0
Even in today’s economy, with millions and millions of Americans currently out of work, employers like you are still having a difficult time trying to find just the right individual to fill some of the more specialized positions.
But with RCI Talent Locator and Reverse Posting, you’ll locate even the most difficult to find candidates.
RCI Talent Locator scours the entire Internet—from the main resume databases to the darkest corners of the web—for candidates who match exactly what you need. We can search by geographic location, years of experience, level of education, technical skills, or anything else you desire. Once found, your candidates will receive a customized Reverse Posting that matches your employer brand and drives them to the start of your chosen application process. With Reverse Posting, you’re guaranteed to only receive applications from qualified candidates who are interested in a position with your company.
We’ve found needles in the haystack for hundreds and hundreds of employers, and we can do it for you.
For more information, visit ReversePosting.com today!
10th Annual Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice
- Author: Gisele Matarese
- Posted: February 19, 2010
- Category: Recruiting, Sourcing Strategies, Employment Branding
- Tags: BestJobsUSA, diversity, Diversity and Inclusion, Diversity Recruitment, Employment Branding, hiring, Internet Media, Press Releases
- Comments: 0
BestJobsUSA.com has unveiled its 10th Annual Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice with great success and interest from employers and candidates across America.
To become a member of the Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice, companies must declare their committment to hiring candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds. They make this declaration, not because they want to comply with some law, but because they understand the power of varied perspectives.
In return, members of the Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice receive a year-long, ready-made, multi-prong strategy to market their recruitment messages to tens of thousands of minority candidates, all of whom are driven back to the members’ corporate profiles and career sites.
We couldn’t be happier to announce this year’s list. For more information, and to read all the profiles, visit the 10th Annual Select 50 Diversity Employers of Choice.
Reverse Posting by the Numbers
- Author: Kyle Callahan
- Posted: October 27, 2009
- Category: Recruitment Communications, Tools and Resources, Sourcing Strategies
- Tags: No Tags
- Comments: 0
A few weeks ago, we launched ReversePosting.com to promote a sourcing method that flips the traditional concept of recruitment advertising on its head.
If you want to know more about what Reverse Posting is and how it works, head over to the web site. But right now, I’d like to share some numbers from a recent project that gives insight into why we say that Reverse Posting works.
First, some background.
The customer for this particular project makes things like soft-drink mixes, frozen juice bars, gelatins and puddings…you know, “fun foods.” They had an opening for a bilingual Quality Assurance Specialist working the third shift at a plant about 50 miles west of Chicago. And they wanted us to help them find their candidates.
Now, as you may or may not know (if you don’t, go to the web site), Reverse Posting is a three-step process. First, we use our proprietary search technology (RCI Talent Locator) to scour the Internet (not just job boards) for resumes that match the customer’s exact requirements, including geographic location, which in this case, meant western Chicago.
Once Talent Locator finds them, we send the candidates a custom-designed email that matches the customer’s employment brand and promotes the specific career opportunity. The call-to-action sends the candidate directly to the customer’s web site, recruiter, or hiring manager to start the application process.
So, back to the fun-food company. For this particular project, Talent Locator found close to 1,150 QA Specialists who both lived in the area of western Chicago and were bilingual.
Of course, not all of those QA Specialists wanted a new job, so when they saw a subject line notifying them that our customer was hiring, not all of them bothered to open it. This is a good thing. The potential candidates have begun to screen themselves from the process.
Now, the subject line did intrigue about 25% of them, which means the number of QA Specialists at least nominally interested in a job with our customer still hovered in the range of 270 people. Now came the tough part. How many of these bilingual candidates wanted to work a third shift?
The answer: about 80 of them. And that’s exactly how many applicants our customer received. Earlier this week, our customer sent us an email, telling us they’ve scheduled interviews with four candidates, and that they have a few others they’re considering, if the interviews don’t work out.
So, in just about two weeks time, our customer received a significant number of qualified candidates for a bilingual, third-shift position in a food-production plant 50 miles outside of Chicago.
That’s what Reverse Posting does. It works.
A Letter from a Client
- Author: Kyle Callahan
- Posted: March 17, 2009
- Category: Recruiting, Talent Management, Business Matters
- Tags: No Tags
- Comments: 0
We just received this wonderful reference letter from one of our clients, and we thought we’d share it with you. For more information on how RCI can help you with all your talent management and RPO needs, contact us today!
To Whom It May Concern:
I do not know where to begin, as so many positive things come to mind when I think of RCI and the success of our partnership.
I began my search for an RPO by examining five different organizations. I narrowed it quickly down to two. After more diligence it was abundantly obvious that RCI was the way to go. From Mike’s enthusiasm and experience to Sam’s meticulous nature and technological expertise to Teresa’s tenacity and energy, RCI doesn’t miss a beat.
RCI provides a comprehensive service by becoming a true partner and seamless extension of your organization.
I have years of recruitment experience ranging from 3rd party to contract services to in-house models. I was concerned that I wouldn’t find an RPO that truly “got it” and understood the intangibles of successful recruiting. My concern has been put to rest. RCI hits the mark everytime!
By the end of week one, we already conducted 15 successful interviews and converted that into five successful hires! Allow me to remind you that we recruit allied health professionals. This is NO easy task in this industry.
Clearly I can go on and on about RCI and its amazing team! Should you have any questions or would like to speak further, I am happy to oblige. You can reach me at 800.314.2640.
Treat yourself well and have a wonderful day,
Tracy Litt
Manager of Talent Acquisition
AllianceCare
2500 Quantum Lakes Drive #108,
Boynton Beach, FL 33426
Operation: Detroit
- Author: Kyle Callahan
- Posted: December 4, 2008
- Category: Recruiting
- Tags: No Tags
- Comments: 0
The workers in Michigan are some of the best trained, best educated, and most motivated workers in our nation. And though they’ve gone through trying times over the last decade, their eagerness to work hard and work well has never wavered. Despite their best efforts, Michigan workers in health care, engineering, logistics, retail, sales, service, and every other sector struggle to find a stable employer who knows how to take advantage of their skills and experience.
With so many of these talented professionals out of work or working below their capacities, there’s no better time to market your openings to this eager workforce than right now. And no better way to market to them than with RCI’s Operation: Detroit.
Qualified candidates in your industry are looking for the right employer, and the time to present your openings is now. Call (561) 277-1202 to get started, or see this webpage for more information.
Trying To Do Our Part
- Author: Kyle Callahan
- Posted: November 24, 2008
- Category: Recruitment Solutions
- Tags: economy, hiring, lay offs, RCI, Recruiting
- Comments: 0
TIME Magazine recently explained Why Unemployment Could Be Worse This Time:
Unlike other economists, [Thomas Lam, an economist who tracks the U.S. economy at the Singapore-based United Overseas Bank] looks beyond the total jobless number to something called employment flow, which tracks the numbers of people moving from the ranks of those receiving a regular paycheck to those who aren’t and vice versa. What Lam has found is disturbing. Currently, people out of work have just a 22% chance of landing a new job within the next month. That already makes this a worse market for job seekers than at any time during the downturns of the early 2000s or 1990s, which is as far back as Lam’s data goes. And remember, we haven’t got to [the projected 8% of unemployment] yet.
This is why, at RCI, we’re trying create opportunities for companies to directly target those workers who have been recently laid off. While it is true that more and more employers are in a hiring freeze, it is also true that hundreds and hundreds of companies are not. Regardless of the slow down in the economy, there is still work that needs to be done.
If you’re a healthcare employer who has openings in any area, take a look at our Virtual Job Fair: Healthcare. We’re working with regional newspapers and unemployment offices to present recruitment messages to the thousands of experienced and certified healthcare workers who’ve been effected by recent hospital closings in Birmingham, Galveston, Detroit, Oklahoma, and Southern California. These are workers who’ll most likely have to relocate to continue their careers. If you’re hiring, we can put your message in front of these candidates.
If you’re a retail employer, you might want to take advantage of the Retail Supplement we’re adding to the Employment Review outplacement magazine, which gets distribution at job fairs and unemployment agencies, and in the HR offices of the companies that are laying off.
If you’re hiring for C-level professionals, or financial professionals, or marketing, supply chain, engineering and ALL other top professionals, then take a look at our special bannered-section in the Wall Street Journal, which will promote your recruitment message to a pool of highly talented individuals who are exploring new career options for the first time in years.
There are multiple options for all of these packages, and they all include postings on our award-winning career site, BestJobsUSA.com, which we recently re-launched with a completely updated design.
And that’s not all we’ve got planned for this crisis. In the coming weeks, we’ll start promoting a special seminar to give job seekers the competitive edge they’ll need to find the right job in a down economy.
For information on any of these opportunities, call (561) 277-1202, or use this web-form to contact us today.
Operation Galveston
- Author: Kyle Callahan
- Posted: November 17, 2008
- Category: Recruiting, Sourcing Strategies
- Tags: No Tags
- Comments: 0
The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX has been forced to lay off 3,800 qualified healthcare employees in the wake of Hurricane Ike. Most of the jobs will come from John Sealy Hospital, which is the island’s only hospital. Several of the campuses’ buildings were flooded by up to 8 feet of water, with the hospital’s kitchen, blood bank and radiology department taking the worst damage.
Unfortunately, the Galveston job market cannot handle this influx of healthcare employees, which means that most, if not all, of the 3,800 people included in the layoff will be forced to relocate. To assist in this time of great crisis, we’ve teamed up with The Houston Chronicle to publish recruitment messages from healthcare employers across the nation. If you have any opportunities for this highly trained and highly experienced pool of candidates, now is the time to tell them.
Visit our “Operation: Galveston” web-page for more information.
Next Page »
