The rapid proliferation of general and
niche job boards has created a bit of
consternation among staffing firm owners and managers. Their concerns,
although justifiable to some extent, have
proven to be somewhat premature. There is
no doubt that job boards represent competition for staffing agencies, and they provide
a valuable service to job seekers and hiring
companies alike. Both offer valuable services to their clients, and each has unique competitive edges that facilitate the hiring
process for business owners.
Smart Business spoke with Don
Crawford, president and CEO of Delta
Dallas, about the advantages that staffing
firms offer companies in their quests to hire
key employees and what steps owners can
take to attract and retain the “best and
brightest” by partnering with them.
What advantages do staffing agencies have
over job boards?
Principally, staffing services provide
screening processes that are not available
through job boards. A position posted on a
job board can generate hundreds, and
sometimes thousands, of responses.
Business owners, particularly of small
companies, generally do not have the time
to sift through resumes or the expertise to
unearth the best-qualified candidates to
meet their specific needs. Staffing firms do.
In essence, staffing firm recruiters are
matchmakers. They have personnel who
are adept at weeding out unqualified applicants and matching candidates to cultures,
and they can do both expeditiously.
How can staffing agencies reduce the numbers of interested applicants for positions?
One method is to ask candidates specified
prequalification questions. This eliminates
some of the people who are simply applying
for jobs randomly and don’t have the requisite skill sets required by the employer. This
could include three to five qualifying questions about applicants’ skills that help the
employer whittle down the candidate list
and prioritize their call backs.
Are there times when business owners are
justified in posting positions on job boards?
Of course. It makes sense at times to post
a position with a job board for budgetary
reasons. For instance, a single posting on a
job board might cost anywhere from nothing to $350, depending on the board selected. That same search through a staffing
firm might cost thousands of dollars, and
may not be prudent when considering the
position being filled. Decisions regarding
which approach to use must be made by
companies on a case-by-case basis and
should be congruent with the responsibilities of the position.
Are job boards more suitable for filling specific categories of positions?
Not at all. They are well suited for jobs at
a variety of levels, ranging from salespeople, engineers and accountants to A-level
executives. But, there is a certain percentage of people that job boards do not attract
at any level. That is roughly the top 5 to 10
percent of people in their profession. If
business owners want to hire that segment
of a profession, they are going to have to
network or retain executive recruiters to
attract them. That is another choice business owners have to make when hiring: Do
they want to hire the top-notch people in a
given profession or recruit the 60 to 80 percent of their counterparts who are hard
workers but not in the elite 5 to10 percent?
This preference will drive their decision
when choosing a search method.
What criteria should business owners apply
when choosing among a job board, a search
firm or a self-hiring process to fill a position?
The three most significant criteria are
time, the importance of the position, and
the economics of the search. For instance,
if a company is hiring an executive assistant for a CEO, a search is likely to be time
consuming and somewhat more narrow
than filling positions of a more general
nature. In many cases, due to the time
investment and expertise needed to fill a
position, a search firm is the most economical choice. Each open position should
be analyzed using all three criteria when
choosing a search method. An initial time
investment examining the parameters of
the search, can improve the overall investment required to fill a position.
DON CRAWFORD is president and CEO of Delta Dallas. Reach
him at (972) 788-2300 or [email protected].