The Niche Job Site Where Employers & High Salary Earners Can Go Direct Hits the Spot!

Six Figures (www.sixfigures.com.au) has recently launched; the countryís first niche job site for high salary earners to connect with employers directly. With 25,000 visits in March, and traffic set to double in April, Six Figures shows that the global trend and success of niche sites is following in Australia.

Catering for about 10% of Australiaís working population, covering all industries and professions, Six Figures is causing a stir amongst the recruitment industry. Employers and Job Seekers are thrilled with the site that enables them to go direct, bypassing recruitment agencies. In an age when everything is moving online, the slow and outdated hiring processes of the past are no longer working for time poor professionals. Nor for businesses that cannot afford the high cost and slow turnaround times to hire that often come with agencies. Most importantly with 81% of job seekers preferring to go direct to employers, recruitment agencies are struggling to remain relevant; only those niche and specialist recruitment agencies who continue to deliver value will have a future.

Six Figures already has thousands of job seekers who have registered and become members of the site. Over a hundred members are registering each day, predominantly from consulting, management level and above positions, with a large proportion from IT&T, Banking, Finance, Sales, Accounting, Marketing and Engineering. The high quality of the members and their work backgrounds has impressed the employers advertising on the site. The quality of applicants is exceeding the expectations of Six Figures who say that for those businesses complaining about the lack of talent, they obviously have not been on www.sixfigures.com.au

A hundred or so progressive organisations, such as Ernst & Young, Avanade, Primus, URS, DWS, Monash, and Cadbury Schweppes have already been advertising on the site. Six Figures has a focus on delivering quality members rather than irrelevant, voluminous applications, and clients are adjusting to the new job site model of providing more information up front. Also, by using the latest Web 2.0 to brand and sell themselves to attract the higher calibre job seeker, businesses are beginning to see the benefits in attracting just a couple of good applications, particularly at the higher end.

With a focus on adding value to job seekers, Six Figures provides members career resources and tools, job industry news and updates, and access to career coaching services. Bi-monthly the site offers members the opportunity to win a lunch with a successful individual from different backgrounds. This month a member from a finance background was delighted with the opportunity to share lunch at Melbourneís Bistro Vue with Finance Expert, Tom Elliot. Next month members have the opportunity to lunch with James Tuckerman, creator of Anthill Magazine, and in the coming months, an Olympic Gold Medallist and the CEO of one of the countryís best IT success stories.

Organisations who are struggling to find talent cannot continue to follow the same processes and expect a different result. At the Australasian Talent Conference (ATC) held in March in Sydney, the common theme was the need for businesses to stop talking about the talent shortage and to take action. Using recruitment agencies, print media and generalist job sites will only get you so far. Engaging in new sourcing strategies, such as maximising your business website and using niche sites are some of the ways to increase success.

The future however looks promising. According to Kevin Wheeler, ATC, by 2012, 80% of the entire recruitment process will be done online. Six Figures has created a new niche online marketplace, aggregating and connecting the best businesses and their job opportunities with six figure talent.