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« Retesting Policies | Main | Job Posting Customization and Person-Organization Fit »
How do people really use job boards?
On December 15, 2008 by Jamie Madigan
There's an old adage along the lines of "The more you know, the more you know what you don't know." I think it might have originally come from a Peanuts strip where Charlie Brown was going through his Nietzsche phase and staring into the abyss. Be that as it may, this concept came to mind recently when I was helping my employer go through a changeover to a new version of our recruiting website. I-O Psychologists and our professional neighbors know an awful lot about recruitment, but as I tried to help define how our jobs website would work, it occurred to me that we may not know the answer to one of the most important questions, like how the heck people use job boards.
I'm thinking about basic stuff here. How do people search for jobs? By keyword, by location, by job title, by salary range, by educational requirements? What kinds of factors make people more likely to come back to a website and look for newly posted jobs, or to sign up for e-mail or text alerts? Do they search or browse? How many clicks in the application process before someone decides it's not worth it? What are the effects of different kinds of information in job postings and the presentation thereof? What are the effects of noting (or not noting) selection systems like drug screens, physicals, pre-employment test, or background checks on applicant reactions or perceptions of the company?
Companies who roll out new internet job boards have a LOT of questions about these basics, and the answers dictate how things are going to be configured and the quality of experience job-seekers will have when they come looking for new opportunities. If you do it better than your competition, you're probably going to have a real advantage in the marketplace, just like any other superior recruiting activity. On the other hand, if you do things haphazardly, only the really determined (or desperate) will make it through the gauntlet.
As I said, some of these questions could probably be answered by synthesizing information from the recruiting literature and company culture literature. We know, for example, something about how people react to drug screens or to diversity statements in job postings. That's research that can be put to use. But I think there's big chunks of the solution missing in that what we don't know about are the nuts and bolts about how people use websites like these. What do people like, dislike, want, never use, et cetera? There are no shortage of experts on web design and web usability --indeed, it's grown into an entire industry. And while I'm sure someone could offer to tell you what color palate to use, what size to make your font, and where on the page to put your logo, I'm not sure anyone has sat down to tell you the best way to get people to search for jobs that match their qualifications or how long an online application can be before casual job seekers wander off.
Some colaboration is needed here. Of course, maybe despite the considerable time I spent with Google looking into this issue, there is a body of research out there and I just don't know about it. If you know that to be the case, please let me know!
Existing comments:
Posted by BryanB at December 16, 2008 9:38 AM:
The only thing that immediately comes to mind is Jobster, which lists (albeit not as thoroughly as they used to) frequently searched jobs at the bottom of their webpage. I'm sure all the job boards keep data as you're describing, but not aware of them being big in the sharing department...
Posted by David Morris at December 19, 2008 3:57 PM:
There is some research out there, but it is pretty light and is mostly simulated experiments using college students. Check out Recruiting Employees by Alison Barber. My friend Ben and I are getting ready to run a DOE on job postings. We will test 4 factors (company description, job description, ksa's, and salary info). Our two criterion measures will be response and candidate quality. We're running the experiment in a real setting on actual job seekers. Like you, we felt there is a lot of 'best practices' out there, but no empirical data to back it up. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Posted by David Morris at December 19, 2008 3:57 PM:
There is some research out there, but it is pretty light and is mostly simulated experiments using college students. Check out Recruiting Employees by Alison Barber. My friend Ben and I are getting ready to run a DOE on job postings. We will test 4 factors (company description, job description, ksa's, and salary info). Our two criterion measures will be response and candidate quality. We're running the experiment in a real setting on actual job seekers. Like you, we felt there is a lot of 'best practices' out there, but no empirical data to back it up. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Posted by Maria at July 8, 2009 8:26 AM:
David,
curious if you completed your test with real job seekers? Are you able to share the results?
Maria
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