A study is currently being conducted by the Academy of Digital Communication at the School of Higher Education in the Netherlands into the search function of jobs boards. This five part research report for website 2useit.nl looks at the ideal search interface, the search engine results pages and the vacancy detail pages that jobs boards should have. It analyses nine different job boards and uses them as a starting point for considering best practice in these areas.
The results of the study into vacancy detail pages have recently been released and included reviews of the best layout, content and usability of vacancy pages on the nine jobs boards.
The main findings were that an ideal job vacancy page should be consistent with the other pages of the website, the vacancy title and description should start on 300 pixels or less from the top of the site, the job description should be easy to scan and there should be a link to other relevant jobs.
Out of the nine jobs boards reviewed in the survey the academic jobs board jobs.ac.uk came top, scoring 80%, with the other jobs boards scoring between 20% - 60%.
Alison Osborne, marketing manager at www.jobs.ac.uk says: ìIn the current economic climate changing jobs can been seen as risky, so employers need to make more effort to attract the best talent.
We are really pleased this research has found that jobs.ac.ukís vacancy pages are user friendly for jobseekers as we spend a lot of time reviewing our website with the jobseekers in mind. Jobs boards and recruiters need to ensure that candidates can find and apply for their vacancies easily. We are constantly asking our jobseekers for feedback and conducting testing on jobs.ac.uk and we will be seeing a few changes to the website in 2009 so watch this space.î
Jobs.ac.uk comes top in an independant survey of the perfect vacancy page
A study is currently being conducted by the Academy of Digital Communication at the School of Higher Education in the Netherlands into the search function of jobs boards
