The idea behind niche recruitment was essentially built with the small business community in mind. Many local job sites, such as PhillyJobs.com, were founded to help small businesses target local candidates with the skills and industry experience required for their open position. Because niche sites are tailored to a specific industry or location, small businesses can significantly reduce their time and cost per hire by posting their open positions to niche job boards which also allow them to target passive candidates who visit these sites to do their job, not necessarily look for a new one.
Niche job boards offer many of the same recruitment products and services as general job boards (and at a lower price), and also include a few other offerings that are especially helpful to small businesses, such as:
- Live Chat: Niche sites cater to the CEOs of small businesses, which many times can act as the Sales Director, Marketing Professional and the HR Manager all at the same time. With so many things going on at once, it is important for small businesses to receive personalized attention through multiple channels of communication. Sites such as Beyond.com, care about each client equally and provide a fully staffed customer service/client support department that is available Monday thru Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST to take all incoming calls, as well as engage in Live Chat support, which is available through the Beyond.com website.
- Targeted Email Campaigns: Small businesses can also consider tapping into targeted email marketing campaigns available through niche career communities to help strengthen their corporate brand and achieve targeted results for their recruitment program. Although many large general job boards may offer a similar service, niche job sites are able to pull a targeted list of job seekers based on industry or location, allowing small business to tailor their campaign based upon a variety of criteria to receive more effective results.
- Free Resume Search: Small businesses can take advantage of “test driving” a resume search database to view real blinded resumes on niche career communities such as Beyond.com. Because many small businesses are working with a limited recruitment budget, it is helpful to gain insight on the of resume searching before committing to buy. Resume searching allows small businesses to reach passive and active candidates and obtain fresh, qualified talent in a few easy clicks. Employers can choose from a variety of resume searching packages, as well as purchase a single resume view based on their blinded resume search. It’s all about being flexible, which is typically a huge selling point to small businesses.
These are just a few of the reasons why small businesses should consider incorporating niche job sites into their recruitment program. Has your small business had success with niche recruitment? Tell us about it!
