Economic downturn – an opportunity for job boards to stand out

Job boards in the US are witnessing high patronage. Behaviour in Australia is no different.

The recently unemployed will continue to flock to job boards. The rest who still have jobs will browse around to see what’s out there, just in case.

In times of economic upheavals, job boards are like sanctuaries. Perhaps, it’s because they offer a semblance of certainty in times of uncertainty.  Somehow, a jobseeker feels good to head to a destination where he is greeted by hundreds of new opportunities. Calming frayed nerves is a job board service which is yet to be given due credit.

From here, the dual combination of alarmists parroting stories of doom and an economy that had seen better days will drive record traffic to job boards around the country.

Which is why it is perplexing to see very little effort by job boards to go beyond the normal call of duty. Downturns present a great opportunity to be different.  To offer help beyound what’s required. To experiment. To reach out to new visitors. To be candidate centric. To cement a brand on visitors.

What can job boards do?  Strategy will be determined by market, audience, resources available and intent. The point is, any effort to help job seekers is unlikely to go down as ‘waste’, ever. Soon enough, potential advertisers will notice. They are more likely to trust job boards who looked after their future employees.

An opportunity to stand out should not be squandered.  Downturns don’t come around too often.