Cheezhead Recruiting News and Opinion

Vault.com, a resource for career management and job search information, has undergone a considerable overhaul and is publicizing a menu of expanded features. Here’s what insiders at Vault say that users can glean from the site:

• Improved navigation
• Increase in number of industries and professions covered
• Optimized functionality
• Up-to-the-minute news and video
• A customizable career management portal
• New blogs

The concept for Vault’s redesign began with a new leader and an injection of fresh capital. Erik Sorenson, Vault’s CEO and a media industry veteran of NBC, CBS and Fox, took the Vault helm in 2007 and was charged with unlocking the potential of the brand and business and taking it to the next level of growth.

At the same time, private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson purchased a majority stake in the company and has since further capitalized the company to underwrite the additional investment in technology. “We know the Internet and we know the recruitment space,” said Trent Hickman, VSS Managing Director. “Vault.com is ideally positioned for growth with three distinct, meaningful revenue streams – advertising from employers and content purchased separately by both consumers and institutions. That’s an enviable advantage for any media company these days.”

Sorenson was tasked with devising an entirely new approach to Vault’s web presence. So he set to work building upon the site to deepen its leadership in the career information and job search arena. The result, a company spokesperson said, is a uniquely contextual and personalized user experience.

At the core of the redesign is “My Vault,” a customizable career management portal. Vault is calling this new feature ‘a content organizational tool’ through which users can access the information about their personalized list of target companies, industries and professions.

“Our goal is to provide a 360 degree experience for users – so that with every click, Vault surrounds our audience with the most relevant information for their career objectives,” said Sorenson.

The new Vault has also increased the number of industries it covers from 40 to about 200 and the
number of professions from 60 to more than 400. New industries include what Vault has deemed “hot” content categories, such as government, energy, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

The site will stream news and video from Dow Jones, thestreet.com and the Associated Press.
To provide perspective on this industry news, the company is expanding its roster of blogs to more than a dozen. Written by Vault’s staff and guest editors, Vault will debut new blogs, including “In Good Company,” addressing corporate social responsibility, and “Admit One,” about higher education admissions and life.

In addition to expanded content, the new Vault has also improved upon their branding environment and added enhanced analytics for their recruitment advertising partners. According to a company spokesperson, Vault has added around 75 new recruitment advertising clients to its advertiser list since January 2009, thus making such an enhancement paramount.

“Vault is based on the premise that professionals need more and better information to navigate today’s complex career landscape. Success is dependent on understanding the playing field and knowing the players,” said Sorenson. “We call it career intelligence.”

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