People will pay for the value THEY perceive NOT what you tell them it is
Sounds like a bit of an obvious statement doesn't it? But just think about it for a moment. As a consumer (customer) do you buy the product you are interested in because you believe 100% in what the salesperson said to you? Are you mesmerized by the sales patter, and just have to have the product at any cost?
Unless you are either a shopaholic, an impulse buyer or you have an urgent need for it then the answer is probably no.
Why? One good reason is that the product isn't of enough value TO YOU, to make you part with your money. This is key - THE VALUE TO YOU, not the value that the sales person has assigned to it.
Right, I now want you to put yourself in the mind of a job seeker just for a moment.You are looking for a new job and as part of the process, you will be applying for jobs - direct with companies, via job boards, social media channels and recruitment agencies.
All these channels are 'selling' their products - jobs - to you.
Question time: Which ones are of most value to you, in your goal of helping you find a job?
Answer: the ones that have invested in understanding what you actually want.Let me explain....
Many companies with career sites have little consideration of the candidate experience.The reason is that they have opted for 'listening' to the software vendors (of the online recruitment systems /ATS aka applicant tracking systems) candidate workflow and 'many years of experience' when implementing a new system.
The majority of these processes are way too long, complicated, have no candidate empathy, high drop-off rates and are, quite frankly, a horrible experience, which reflects badly on the employer brand.
Is it any wonder then, that some new players such as
HarbourATS have successfully entered the marketplace, with a real focus on the candidate experience, not the unnecessary software add-ons they can sell to the unsuspecting client.
Message to companies with career sites: Think what the candidates actually want NOT what you think they need. When was the last time you actually sought any opinion at all on your online recruitment process?Job Boards, have been around for a while now, and they provide an essential service to candidates (and clients alike) looking for a job. They will continue to do so even with the advent of social media job channels, but they also need to be thinking of the candidates and not their bottom line.
For a job board it is a fine line - they stay in business because they sell their service to clients wanting to advertise jobs. But they need candidates to keep arriving at the site to apply to the jobs - without this traffic, clients would stop advertising, and they would cease to exist.
So, with this in mind, do many actually give a sh*t about candidates? Some, like
Jobsite, have invested heavily in understanding what the candidates want and expect from them - resulting in real social media functionality be added to their site earlier this year. Many other job boards just worry about the numbers, they don't care about the candidate experience, they just want to be able to brag their latest traffic stats to the clients they are selling to!
Message to job boards: consider the job seeker a little more with your processes, and focus on making it a simple, useful and enjoyable experience for them. While you need traffic (I do understand that), better to have a referral network of happy job seekers to compliment all your Google Adwords spending isnt' it?Recruitment agencies are to be honest an enigma. For every good one that has a great candidate experience, and one that candidates come back to and happily refer their friends, there are three others that (unbelievably) don't give a crap about the candidates that make them their money!
The good ones take the time to build relationships, the bad ones have no time for any relationship - candidates are just like tins of beans on a shelf to them - use them when they want and discard them when they have finished with them.
Message to recruitment agencies: Just think for a second about the experience you give your candidates. is there any wonder why many of the candidates registered with you, have turned to social media websites to find a new job? Maybe it's because they don't value what you do?Social Media channels are so new to the recruiting space, that they are really just finding their recruitment feet. One thing is already clear, though. Candidates are using them by the bucket load, and will continually choose to do so. And all the time other options are not giving them the value they want, they will stay in the social media land.
So, if you are a company that works in the world of recruitment - and there are literally thousands out there - take a minute to consider your currency - the job seekers - and just ask yourself; what is the value that job seekers ACTUALLY see in your product or service? If you don't know the answer, maybe now is the time to ask..... before it is too late!!
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