The Norfolk job market is about to take off

At a time when the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has identified that 85 per cent of UK companies are facing recruitment difficulties, a new recruitment option is launching for employers looking for quality staff and for job seekers looking for quality employment in Norfolk. www.justjobsnorfolk.co.uk is a new website offering a local online recruitment solution when it launches to recruiters at the beginning of August and to job seekers on 1st September. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the site, all jobs placed in the month of August will be free for the month of September.

www.justjobsnorfolk.co.uk is the first and only recruitment website dedicated to meeting the needs of Norfolk employers and jobseekers, offering employers a cost-effective, highly targeted and easy-to-manage way to reach a range of different applicants, many of whom were previously not accessible to employers through print media. For job seekers it offers a huge choice of employment opportunities all across Norfolk at any time. For both, it is quick and convenient and only a click away.

Designed for Norfolk businesses by three Norfolk businessmen, who were frustrated by the high costs and lack of choice in the regional recruitment industry, Russell Evans, who has been working in the advertising and marketing industry for over 20 years; David Turnbull, who has 30 years of experience in hospitality; and Gary Steward who was a founding member of the Alan Boswell group, set about finding a different way to reach the wealth of regional talent Norfolk affords employers.

Russell Evans comments: ìWe want to drive value-for-money and customer services standards up in the Norfolk job searching market. Boosted by the fact that more people in Norfolk use E-bay than anywhere else in the country, indicating that the population of the region is online and PC-literate, we felt there was a real need for a website dedicated to the Norfolk recruitment market, so we commissioned some independent market research to confirm what the market wants.î

The key findings of the research showed that there is a lack of recruitment alternatives available to Norfolk employers. Employers are looking for three main things when recruiting ñ filling the position with a suitable candidate, having a suitable number of responses and generating a suitable quality of responses, while job seekers are looking for a one-stop shop for local job hunting. Job seekers use multiple sources for finding jobs and although dominated by regional and local press, the internet is becoming an increasingly important tool.

Based on the reserach findings, www.justjobsnorfolk.co.uk has been created to offer employers a convenient and cost-effective alternative to the regional press. Listings are instant, job seekers are given a direct link to the employerís website and positions can be updated and amended as the employerís position changes. Employers are able to self-manage their listings and applications, which arrive directly into the nominated in-box, or take the option of using the Just Jobs Norfolk integrated call centre for support. Costs to advertise start at 140, but all job placed in August are free for September!

For job seekers, it is free to register and use, new positions are listed daily and every job listed is in Norfolk (online, the second most popular site used to job hunt is Monster but being a national site the choice and range of regional jobs are limited). The site also offers a CV placement facility, e-mail alerts for jobs meeting the userís specification, an online help section and application tracking facility. The site offers a wide range of search criteria including location (even towns), sector, seniority, salary, qualifications, part/full-time positions and keywords.

Supported by a 250,000 launch campaign including TV, press, radio, outdoor, direct mail and online advertising and PR, the site will be seen everywhere throughout September and October especially at key times in the workerís day (drive-time and on buses for commuters).

Gary Steward, Managing Director of Just Jobs Norfolk, concludes: ìOur research found that employers feel there is an inevitable shift towards a greater use of the internet in the advertising process and that this method will be particularly well received for job seekers. We are not looking to replace paper-based media for recruitment purposes, the widespread view is that both the internet and press will have complimentary roles in job-seeking in the future, although the balance may tilt towards online. We are sure we are providing the Norfolk recruitment industry with exactly what it needs, which is a quicker and more convenient way for employers to find quality staff and job seekers to find quality employment.î