The recent massive sale to Fairfax of the online machine Trade Me shows just how dominant Internet advertising can be.

Trade Me has declared that before the years end they will be branching into the lucrative job listing market with the same force they have attacked the other classifieds. Their example shows just how effective use of the worldwide web for advertising and searching can be. Newspapers now seem to be busy buying up websites to recover revenue they are losing to the internet.

The ability to work online is becoming more and more valuable particularly for recruiters and job seekers. The speed and efficiency of the internet means that posting a job can take minutes and a candidate’s positive reaction to that job delivers an immediate result.
Advertising on sites like Seek, Netcheck, Jobstuff and others tends to be quite cost effective. They offer packages for us as recruiters to be able to post a number of jobs monthly and also the ability to update and adapt the ads as many times as we change our minds at no extra cost.
Not only is Internet recruitment budget friendly but it also reaches an international audience, one that for us in the fashion industry is very important. The wider we can spread our brand the more global our candidate selection will be.

Even though we may be happy in our work most of us are always interested in ways to better our career and Internet sites tend to be the easiest way to satisfy our curiosity.

According to Seek.co.nz, 200,000 New Zealanders visit job sites like Seek on a monthly basis. Even though we may be happy in our work most of us are always interested in ways to better our career and Internet sites tend to be the easiest way to satisfy our curiosity. Then hopefully that curiosity can lead from viewing to having something that will prompt them to apply.

The candidate reply to an online ad can be varied but usually comes down to the approach. Writing an online ad is quite different to a print one and it does take skill to write that elusive perfect ad that draws not only a large response but also the right response. Because of the amount of competition on the web it takes a fair bit to grab a job seekers attention, there are a lot of distractions that can lead you away with just the click of a button so you need to motivate the candidate to stop and take the time to apply.  It is easy to get carried away with the limitless options and end up describing a role that would be more suited to a Saint than a person. Avoid simply writing a long list of ‘must haves’, paint a picture for the searcher and tell them how they would benefit, what will the role do for their career.  

A company’s own website when used proficiently is also an important online marketing tool. A website that is interactive and easy to navigate will make sure that candidates will come back and visit again and again. A good site will follow a users natural thought pattern and hopefully make them become a loyal customer to your site.

Although the internet is a powerful tool to capture a wide audience and deliver a quick response, from our perspective it is by no means making print media redundant. We still get a very strong response to newspaper and magazine ads and it is still an effective way of promoting the brand. There are of course still those people that aren’t really Internet users and in order to catch these people a print presence is very important.

Communication between recruiters, candidates and in turn the client has never been faster or more efficient. Internet recruitment usage will continue to grow rapidly and Rag Trade Recruitment intends to use it to our full advantage.