Job Boards Are Not Obsolete – Here’s Why

Our friends over at eQuest Big Data Analytics division just released a fascinating infographic that reveals some really juicy details about from where employers are actually getting their hires. Contrary to the advice being dispensed left-and-right by some self-serving consultants, employers hire far, far more candidates from job boards than they do from social media sites.

eQuest describes itself as “the world’s dominant and most-utilized job posting distribution company.” As is the case with CollegeRecruiter.com, eQuest’s primary customer base consists of the majority of the Global Fortune 500. It also provides job deliveries on behalf of the world’s largest applicant tracking systems (ATS), ERPs, and job boards. One of the really interesting parts of eQuest’s business is its Big Data for HR division, which provides data and information to employers who want better corporate intelligence and predictive analysis services.

eQuest’s study shows that only 2.9 percent of external hires come from LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media activity. That’s less than one-sixth of the percentage of the 18 percent that employers are getting from job boards. To be clear, CollegeRecruiter.com and eQuest are both on the same page in that even though there is a huge disparity in these numbers, employers should not abandon their social media efforts nor should they throw all of their eggs into the job board basket. Instead, employers need to target the right channels for the job posting, whether that be a job board such as CollegeRecruiter.com, a social media site such as LinkedIn, or both.

“It’s important to not get lured into accepting anecdotes as fact or get blinded by bias when determining the marketing channels that work for you,” said David Bernstein, vice president of eQuest’s Big Data Analytics Division. “When one in six hires comes via a job board, it’s dangerous to let the herd mentality guide decision-making instead of the data. Talent acquisition pros need to get their recruitment marketing messages in front of their target job seeker audience, period. Any channel that provides this opportunity should be included in the marketing mix, and our infographic’s statistics show that job boards fill that bill.”

Source: 18% of External Hires From Job Boards. Only 2.9% From Social Media Sites by Steven Rothberg