Recruitment consultancy websites will come under the spotlight in a new annual survey being launched by Enhance Media and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.
The joint Recruitment Industry Online (RIO) research will provide consultancies with an overview of the online market and its impact, as well as allowing them to see how they measure up against the competition.
Tim Elkington, Enhance Media managing director, said: “The websites of recruitment consultancies have become central in terms of how they attract candidates and how they run their business. But they have developed in an ad hoc way, rather than strategically. There is very little information about who is using their site and when, and what they think of the jobs available.”
He said the RIO project will bring much-needed, credible data to the online industry and for the first time consultancies will be able to benchmark the effectiveness of their site against relevant competitors.
The survey results will enable recruitment consultancies to address four key questions about their website:
-Who is using it?
-What do visitors think of the content/jobs available?
-At what stage in the recruitment process are they using the site?
-How does it compare with others in the same sector?
“The data will enable participants to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their website and help them to maximize its effectiveness. It will also give them a detailed understanding of the attitudes and expectations of their users,” Elkington said.
The project will also have significant benefits for the wider recruitment industry. It will provide information on the impact on recruiters of new online technologies, and will highlight how traditional consultancy brands can be successfully extended online. It will also identify best practice in the development of online services.