Seeking the ultimate job board

Seeking the ultimate job board BY NICK REDDIN
It's mind-boggling how many job boards are available online. With just a cursory Google search, I find 25.8 million listings. Though I am sure not all of those are unique listings, it does show there's no shortage of places to look online for work. Over the past few years, the job boards overall have become somewhat stagnant. Outside of posting your resume and waiting to hear back or sending your resume and waiting to hear back, there is still one constant - no one is calling back.

So are job boards useful? Yes. Many people find employment, and numerous employers fill positions. But for the majority of job seekers, their overall experience isn't positive. Luckily, the world of job boards is beginning to change. Customizations are on the horizon that should refresh the online job-seeking world.

In this next realm of job boards, I've seen one company (notchup.com) that pays you to be interviewed by them. There's also jobfox.com and quietagent.com. These are job boards aimed at passive job seekers, giving those people greater control over what's seen and how they're contacted. These are just a few examples of the job board evolution. I think there's still more that can be improved.

The world has recognized that people love customization and knowledge, especially job seekers. Using those two principles, theworkreview.com and jobvent.com were created. On these sites, employees dish the inside scoop on what it's like to work for their company. Now, I can't verify how reliable the information is. In my experience, it's usually the disgruntled employee who's doing the dishing. Nevertheless, information is information, and today's society wants to know every tidbit we can unearth.

With the talent crunch/talent war for skilled workers, even more customization and knowledge would be advantageous. Maybe combining both types of sites and job boards into one wouldn't be a bad idea. If pay attracts and benefits keep and the purpose of hiring is to retain, then adding a tool to compare benefits is a no-brainer.

As Noel Calvi, a research analyst at Staffing Industry Analysts Inc., says, "Who wouldn't prefer a job of the same salary, in the same location, with more vacation, better 401(k) matching, or whatever is most important?" Calvi also says, "Offer the candidates the tool to filter for and find out about these policies earlier rather than later, and you might just hire a candidate who would see the position and the company as a long-term career choice rather than a temporary solution to help pay the bills."

Being able to see flex-time policies, telecommuting opportunities, dental, vacation, vision, day care, dry cleaning, and then compare these benefits against those of other companies is truly useful. It's one thing to have information; it's quite another to have useful relevant information.

I know this idea forces companies to open up the windows more than they typically like to, but if they have a solid benefits package, they shouldn't mind anyone peeking in. If they don't, then they can shut the blinds and redesign their plans to be appealing to more people. In the end I believe everyone would win.

Nick Reddin is the business development manager at Manpower Inc.'s Des Moines office.

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