Has your main source of recruitment been Indeed over the last couple of years? If so, chances are you’re seeing a cost increase of around 3435%* (that’s not a typo). At the same time, you’ll have noticed application rates are going down from this channel.
This month, I joined the Recruitment and Retention panel at the Homecare Association Conference. One of the hot topics was the rising cost of recruitment and the expanding variety of digital channels that care providers now have to be across in order to maintain a high level of applicants. In fact, care providers now need digital marketing capability working alongside their recruiting expertise.
Recruitment is always evolving, and fast. You used to be able to put an ad in the job centre or the local newspaper and be pretty sure it would be seen back in the day. With the internet came job boards. Reed was the first, then CV Library, Total Jobs and Monster followed. Then Indeed came to dominate with its aggregated search engine for any and all jobs.
Over the last 18 to 24 months, there’s been a further significant shift. Our own investment in recruiting ads used to be split 70% Indeed and 30% other digital channels. Now, depending on the location, we’re finding a ratio of 40% Indeed and 60% other digital platforms yield a better return on investment.
Now Google is prioritising Google Jobs ahead of other job boards. Facebook and Instagram (even Snapchat) are now fertile recruiting grounds due to the quantities of data they’re collecting from users.
The need for speed is a recurring theme in recruitment now. Video enquiries (from both recruiter and applicant) also help propel decision making on both sides. We’ve used LiveChat for example, to handle any immediate questions that occur to applicants in the moment. This keeps applicants interested in the role, and the role top of mind.
At Purpletribe, to keep our clients’ recruiting costs down, we use a combination of job boards, Google Jobs and social media. As part of our monthly client reviews, we make adjustments to the mix depending on each channel’s performance.
I’d be happy to share our learning with you if you’re finding your job ad costs spiralling.
Book a call with me and I’ll help – no strings attached.
*cost per applicant in Sep 2020 64p, cost per applicant in Feb 2022 £22.64. (Purpletribe cumulated client data).
