EMPLOYER RESOURCES

THREE SECRETS TO EFFECTIVE INTERNET RECRUITING

Preface

Okay, you’ve got a hospital website, you’ve got your jobs posted on the site and you’re probably getting some responses, but what about the nurses from across the country who want to relocate to your city. How do you get them to your site? How do you get them to apply for those key vacancies? The answer is the same in cyberspace as it is in the real world: you need to promote your open positions by advertising in a variety of media. In addition to other media, you need to advertise on the job boards that attract nurses and healthcare professionals. Over the course of many years as a nurse recruiter and then as the owner of a job board, I can tell you there are certain tips and tricks that will make your online advertising more effective.

1. Use automated posting routines!

   The biggest mistake made by companies that buy advertising space on Internet job boards is simple; they don’t post ads for their current openings. The most common cause of this is that they don’t have enough time and / or human resources to keep them up-to-date. With today’s technology, they need not be posted manually. Make sure you’re dealing with a company that can update your job postings automatically. There are a number of ways this can be accomplished, even if your technical department is headstrong about not allowing third-parties access to the organization’s databases (and who can blame them).

   Not only do automated postings enable you to keep your ads fresh, current, and accurate, they typically do a better job at helping the organization:

   · Maintain Corporate Image
   · Present More Uniform Ads
   · Track Responses to Various Advertising Messages

   For example, most people who post jobs to a job board have no knowledge of HTML. However, if you’re using an automated posting routine, certain HTML properties can be built-in to every ad you post. Examples could include your company logo, a bulleted list of benefits and much more.

2. Demand a service that is going to help increase your efficiency, not tie you down to searching through an endless pile of “passive job seekers” and Spam resumes.

   In today’s ever increasing “do more with less” management techniques, you need to work with companies that are going to help you achieve your financial goals. Spam resumes are one of the largest concerns facing recruiters when they think about advertising on the Internet. Rightfully so! If you’re working with most of the job boards, they think its a great service to send you X number of resumes. You and I both know that is not the case. Better to get one great resume than ten that you can’t use. Ask your job board provider this; can you filter resumes to meet my criteria? If the answer is no, you may want to consider posting elsewhere.

   Filtering online resume responses is quite simple with today’s technological advancements in Internet capable programming languages. Filtering responses to your online advertising will enhance your productivity and will help you to lower your conversion cost.

3. Find the right job boards!

   Yes, it’s plural. Chances are you’re not just using one advertising medium in the real world, and it’s likely you’re going to need more than one job board to help you accomplish your goals for using cyberspace in your recruiting efforts. So how do you know which job boards are going to work for you?

   First of all, spend a little time pretending to be a nurse who is looking for a job. Go to a major search engine and type in a key-word phrase that you think a nurse might type in when looking for a job. Examples might include:

   · Hospital nursing jobs
   · Nursing jobs
   · Nursing jobs (fill in your state)

   Now that you’ve done your search, look at the top five or six job boards that appear as early matches. Be careful as you’re looking, not everything is as it appears. Some so-called job boards are actually just “fronts” for staffing or placement firms. Others are simply buying placement in order to assure prominent display under the “sponsored” section at the top of the page. These typically aren’t job boards either.

   How do you know what a nurse looks for in a job board? My personal research and experience indicates that nurses want a job board that:

   · Protects their privacy
   · Makes it easy to find jobs
   · Provides them with content and tools that make applying for online positions easy

   Given these factors, job boards that require a user to register will not be as successful as those that do not. Does the job board allow users to search for and apply for positions without having to add their resume to the database? Does the job board make it easy to find the type and location of a job? Does the job board leave the applicant in charge of his/her privacy?

Understanding and adhering to the principles outlined in these three steps will have an immediate impact on the effectiveness of your Internet recruiting strategy. You will increase your exposure, decrease the amount of time that you spend on the process, and with the prices of Internet advertising, lower your overall conversion rate.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 877-562-7555