Moving from Job Board to Job Ad Exchange
Let’s be clear – when we talk about “modern job advertising,” we’re not talking about moving away from job boards. Job boards aren’t going anywhere! We’re talking about how to achieve better results from this important recruitment marketing channel and from your job ads.
First, what’s better than a job board, or a few job boards? All the job boards!
Let's talk about the concept of a job ad exchange – in other words, a whole network of job boards:
What are the key differences between job boards and a job ad exchange?
Job boards view their responsibilities quite simply – take the job, make sure it gets onto their site with other jobs, and try to show it to candidates who might click on it. From the employer perspective, you are somewhat stuck with what you get – too many, not enough, all wrong, or just right.
Job boards can’t see what is happening on other job boards or on your ATS. If one of your jobs is driving a lot of clicks or candidates, it might also be driving a lot on another site or even organically. What looks to them like a good job in their ecosystem could actually be causing overwhelm and inefficiency for you. For example, it’s day one of a job being posted and you already have 600 candidates, but you only needed 30.
A job ad exchange takes a cross-job-board perspective and focuses on down-funnel outcomes. By having access to hundreds or thousands of job boards, a job ad exchange can reach far more candidates than any one job board, while also understanding what those job ads and clicks are returning in value.
How managing multiple job boards is different from a job ad exchange?
A job ad exchange allows companies to connect to hundreds or even thousands of candidate sources – some large general job boards to some very niche sites. At times, it might seem like the current strategy your company is using, which probably involves working with a handful of job boards, is basically doing the same thing. It makes sense – place “multiple bets” by using multiple job boards with the thinking that you have a better chance of winning on some when you might have lost on others.
The challenge in managing this complexity isn’t linear, it’s exponential. For every added job board, managing the jobs, bids, and budgets becomes much more difficult. For most companies, at five candidate sources you are seeking help or it becomes a full-time job.
Here are a few things to consider about how managing job boards directly are different than leveraging an existing job ad exchange:
