Today’s online job boards are being designed more for recruiters than for candidates, says an executive with job board Jobsite.co.uk.
Keeping the consumer experience uppermost in mind means moving away from a publishing model for online recruitment, and learning from successful e-businesses. Job boards currently look more like newspaper classified advertising sections, but should provide instead the retail store experience provided by eBay and Amazon, marketing director Felix Wetzel told an audience of online recruitment professionals.

 “Our challenge is to make job seeking a pleasurable experience,” Wetzel said.  
Wetzel was among the panellists debating the development of the UK online recruitment market at the Onrec.com conference last week in London. Joining Wetzel on the panel were Richard Alberg, chief executive officer, PSL; Bernard Howard, managing director, Totallylegal and Totallyfinancial, Paul Stephens, website director, Totaljobs.com; and Alan Townsend, chief operating officer, Monster UK and Ireland.

Their 45-minute discussion touched on issues such as search engine Google’s threat to job boards and how the UK compares to the US in terms of market development.

On the latter topic, speakers agreed generally that the US is about 12 to 15 months ahead of the UK in terms of technology and customer uptake, but that the UK may have the edge on creativity, innovation and branding. PSL’s Alberg also noted that the US has a “far greater focus” on return on investment. “Cost really is a driver there,” Albert said.

Job boards are viewed in the US as “making a quick buck”, Townsend said. “But at the end of the day, those that are surviving offer something different”.
In the UK, Townsend said, online recruitment is becoming more  popular because “employers believe, for the first time, that the required quality and quantity of candidates are actually online”.

The discussion closed with a call for members of the online recruitment industry to join forces and establish a set of key metrics and standards to abide by.
Monster’s Townsend suggested a timeline of 10 to 18 months to develop the standards “collectively as an industry – it’s a responsibility we all share”.