Christmas dinner marks start of On-line bonanza

If Christmas 2003 is anything to go by, JobMate, the multi-posting service, is predicting a huge sack full of on-line job applications for job board advertisers this Christmas. Last year the holiday season saw a huge drop in the amount of on-line advertising placed through JobMate from Christmas to New Year. However, the number of applications soared.

David Morgan Business Development Manager at JobMate says,

ìLast Christmas the number of job postings fell to only 10% of the normal volume for the rest of December. That is not surprising as most recruitment consultants took a well earned rest between Christmas and New Year. At the same time, the number of unique job applicants that we handled rose by 335% compared with the previous weeks. This was the highest level of response for the whole year. Not only were huge numbers of job surfers looking for a new job, but they were applying for an average of four jobs each. That represents a huge amount of on-line activity.î

The challenge for advertisers will be to respond to the windfall of applications in a timely manner. With surfers applying to multiple jobs, the agency that responds first may well scoop up the best candidates. That poses a problem though, because the number of consultants working at this time is traditionally low as people enjoy the mid-winter break.

JobMateís advice? ìLog in from home and check your responses for likely placements as you eat the left-over turkey!î