Editor’s Note: BostInno has officially launched its careers platform. To introduce the platform we are running a week long series about hiring in Boston authored by some of Boston’s finest. Hiring in the Hub will shine a light on what it’s like to actually grow your career here in Boston.
This post is co-authored by Nikki Raffenetti, SVP of Talent, Amp Agency, and Emily Dyson, Talent and Resources Manager, Amp Agency.
Hiring the “right person” is a tough business. It takes patience, proper screening and careful analysis. Although sifting through the piles of resumes and conducting countless interviews appears to be a tedious process, we believe it is well-worth the investment. After all, the people make the place and our place is continuing to grow. Since February 2012, we have increased our staff by 25% and are still on the recruiting frenzy with 10 open positions.
Who have we hired? We selected qualified talent who are a right fit with the agency’s culture. And, how did we find these advertising extraordinaire you may ask? We used a mix of free and paid channels.
Indeed.com
Pro: Indeed.com is a metasearch engine for job listings. Indeed.com is the #1 job site worldwide with over 60 million unique visitors and 1 billion job searches per month. In 2010, Indeed.com surpassed Monster.com to become the most visited job site in the United States. As these numbers showcase, the biggest benefit on Indeed.com is its reach. We can attest to the power of Indeed as it was AMP’s number one referral source for the past three months.
Since the site functions as a search engine, aggregating job listings from thousands of websites, including job boards, newspapers, associations and company career pages, we recommend you optimize your job description with relevant keywords to ensure the post is SEO friendly.
Con: While the sheer reach of this search engine is a huge benefit, it is also a downfall as the “attract the masses” approach does not necessarily result in the most qualified candidates applying.
Company Website
Pro: A quick disclaimer: We are biased and think our website is pretty awesome, so we have a tendency to prefer this channel. In all seriousness though, we like to interview people who applied through the site since it shows the candidate’s proactive nature and interest in AMP Agency.
Additionally, the careers page on our site allows us to give an overview of what it’s like to work at AMP Agency, so the applicant can get an initial sense of the culture. While on the site, potential applicants can peruse our work, client roster, case studies and service offerings. This information enables prospects to determine if AMP’s capabilities are aligned with their professional interest (at a high level).
Con: While we optimize our job listings, our site does not have the reach of metasearch engines like Indeed.com or Simply Hired.
Simply Hired
Pro: Like Indeed.com, Simply Hired is a vertical search engine for job listings and an online recruitment advertising network. The company aggregates job listings from across the web. Simply Hired then distributes those jobs on its website as well as social network, blog and other website partners. Advertisers can gain premium placement across its network through advertising in a pay-per-click (PPC) model. While we do not leverage the PPC model, we still reach a large number of prospects through this site. From a recruiter perspective, the site’s breadth of Simply Hired’s reach is the site’s main appeal.
Con: Although Simply Hired allows job seekers to sort job listings by location and keyword to find jobs of interest, the site does not allow recruiters to weed out unqualified applicants as it simply directs prospects to the company’s career page to apply.
Pro: LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional social networking site with 161 million members in over 200 countries and territories. As of March 31, 2012, hundreds of thousands of job applicants have been submitted using “Apply with LinkedIn” button, a feature that allows prospects to apply for positions using their LinkedIn profile resumes. LinkedIn’s user base is the biggest asset to recruiters. Just visualize 161 million business cards with impressive backgrounds:
- 69% of all users make at least $60,000
- 39% make over $100,000
- 74% of all users have a college degree or better
- 26% of all users have a graduate degree
For us, LinkedIn attracts the digitally savvy, accomplished and driven candidates.
Con: Aside for the recent security scare, LinkedIn does charge a fee to post job listings. However, LinkedIn does offer different plans. To research which plans are appropriate to meet your recruiting objectives, visit the Corporate Recruiting Center.
Recruiters
Pro: Recruiters provide the human element necessary to fully assessing a candidate. After developing a rapport with recruiters, we feel confident in their ability to identify skilled candidates who would be a match with the office culture.
Con: There is a fee associated with recruiters even for temp-to-hire positions. There is an agreement and sliding scale fee if the candidate comes in as a temp first. Also, there is still a degree of screening that needs to be done once the recruiters have submitted their candidates.
For our recruiting needs, we use a mix of all these tools. There is not one easy solution as each position requires a different approach. Ultimately, these tools help find qualified candidates but nothing can replace the face-to-face interview.
