Online job boards take the lead over agencies

A new survey has revealed the surprising trend in tools candidates are using when looking for jobs, and the profound impact that this is having on recruiters.

The research, carried out by industry analyst Opinionography on behalf of Bond International Software, surveyed 1,000 UK-based office workers to discover the current state of the recruitment market. It found that the online job site is still the number one preferred starting point for candidates, with 68% of respondents saying that they found it the most helpful, in comparison to just 38% who found recruitment agencies of most help. In fact, given past experience, if searching for a job today, 94% stated that they would be likely to use an online job site.

Of the two-thirds of respondents who had used a recruitment agency in the past to help with job search, a huge 58% found the agency via online search.

Toby Conibear, European Business Development Director, Bond International Software, commented: “With 46% of respondents believing that online job sites offer the most up-to-date jobs, in comparison to 31% believing recruitment agencies will be up-to-date, there is clearly a perception issue between candidate and recruiter. Furthermore, with 63% believing that recruiters put the needs of the employer first, recruiters demonstrating more consideration for the candidate would provide a more positive outcome for all parties.”

While just a few years ago social media was expected to prompt change in recruitment strategy, the research reveals that just 25% have used social media to find a job and of these, only 14% found it helpful. Meanwhile, those higher up the ranks are most likely to use LinkedIn for job-hunting purposes; in fact, 46% of C-level executives and 50% of executive directors would be very likely to use LinkedIn to search for vacancies, compared to just 15% of those earning less than £25k.

Conibear concluded: “A clear message from the research is that the online job site is still the preferred starting point for candidates, with 68% of respondents saying that they found it the most helpful. In contrast, 38% found recruitment agencies of most help. This identifies a misconception by the candidate in terms of recruitment agency versus job board, since the majority of roles on job boards actually come from recruitment agencies directly. It also demonstrates a clear need for recruiters to be actively following up on candidates when they receive an application from a job board.”