importance of corporate web sites in online recruitment
April 29th, 2005
Some great new stats came out recently regarding online behavior:
- 93.4% of respondents use the internet to research a B to B purchase decision.
- 63.9% of respondents go to the search engine as the first step in the buying process.
- 54.6% of the people are 1-3 months away from making a buying decision. 89.7% of the people are 2 weeks to 6 months away from making a buying decision.
- 36.8% researched and bought online; 27.3% researched online and bought offline; only 7.9% didn’t find what they were looking for.
- 76.7% of Google users used the natural search links.
- The top 3 organic listings accounted for 59.6% of the click-thrus.
(Source: Enquiro Search Solutions Inc.)
When it comes to corporate Web sites, I consider "buying" to include job hunting as well. Just like 93 percent of users go to a corporate Web site for buying decisions, so I bet that same percentage visit a corporate site to make a career decision.
Just as 54 percent of people are 1-3 months away from making a buying decision, I think a similar percentage are kicking the tires looking for employment opportunities? This is the coveted passive job seeker all recruiters are looking for.
In addition to products and services, all companies must sell themselves if they’re going to recruit and retain the best talent.
Considering the fact these "buyers" are visiting your corporate Web site to make "buying" decisions, what kind of search engine placement do you have for the candidates you seek, and what kind of shape is your corporation’s career section in?
April 30th, 2005 at 4:00 pm
Joel,
I published a follow-up to this on my blog (http://resourcingstrategies.blogspot.com/2005/04/online-candidate-behaviour.html).
May 4th, 2005 at 3:23 pm
I agree that the corporate website has to be up to snuff. This is the first impression a potential employee will get of the company. One common mistake companies make is that they don’t put the careers/jobs link on their home page or if they do they bury it. It should be displayed for easy accessibility.