New survey to examine recruitment consultancy websites

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. Consultation is underway with the industry but REC and Enhance are still interested in hearing from any firms that wish to take part.

Alastair Cartwright, Enhance Media commercial director, said: ìThe 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.î

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?

ìThe 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,î Cartwright said.

Around 20,000 people will be interviewed in the survey from participating sites and the results will be published in June.

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.

Commenting on the new initiative, Roger Tweedy REC Director of Research added ìRecruitment Industry Online is aimed at gaining a greater understanding of the business impact of recruitment consultancy websites. Despite a wealth of data relating to commercial job boards and commercial careers sites, there is a lack of credible data regarding the activities of recruitment consultancies online. RIO will start to fill this knowledge gap in the market.