Job boards have become huge over the last few decades as a means for many to seek new employment.
Job boards, for the uninitiated, are websites that aggregate and advertise job vacancies from Recruitment firms and directly from recruiting companies themselves.
I don’t want to knock anybody or any of these resources – I think job boards have a place – we at CST use them ourselves and it’s also your prerogative to decide how you go about your job search.
That being said, I think it’s important to understand how your details can be used, and, critically who will have access to them!
Uploading your CV to a jobs board does not mean that it only goes to the best businesses in your industry, auto-applying you to jobs. Instead, it ends up in the hands of hundreds of recruiters, now shooting your CV out to whoever might take it.
For many, the first port of call for job hunting will be to look for suitable roles online.
Let’s say you see a job online – it has a well-written advert, and you decide to apply. Jobseekers reasonably assume that they’re applying to that one job with the agency that advertised it on one job board site.
WRONG.
Most job boards are linked to other job boards and, in turn, linked to literally hundreds of recruitment agencies who will then all have access to your details.
…but here’s why this isn’t necessarily a good thing.
So in actual fact, applying for one job with one agency may get you in the crosshairs of hundreds. You might think, “great, that’s exactly what I want”. “The more the merrier,” but this does have certain risks you should be aware of.
Let’s look at a scenario, I’ve seen play out numerous times:
John is a Project Manager working for a tier one civils contractor. He’s unhappy where he is because works away a lot and there are no prospects of any projects closer to home. John sees a job he likes the look of online and so applies via a job board. His CV is in turn instantly beamed to hundreds of Recruiters who have access to this job board and those connected to it. He’s then bombarded with calls, voicemails, text messages, and emails from over a dozen agencies – there’s also the small matter of the day job he has to get on with while dealing with all of these inquiries.
Most of these jobs probably won’t be relevant – but that won’t stop people calling him.
He may have been interested in one job but his CV is now ‘doing the rounds’. It has been sent to several contractors across the country – without speaking to him – and so he’s got no clue where his CV has ended up.
Worst-case scenario, John’s CV ends up on his current boss’ desk (having been sent there by a sloppy Recruiter) prompting a pretty uncomfortable conversation.
John receives an unexpected meeting request
Second worst-case scenario, John gets the interview for his dream job, but seems desperate as the hiring manager received John’s CV from three separate Recruiters. The hiring manager now ‘lowballs’ him an offer – the same or a little less than what he’s on, thinking that John is just itching to get out of his current position.
Let’s look at some of the issues with jobs boards more closely:
Losing Control
There’s a strong possibility you’ll lose control of your job search and CV. You probably won’t even know where your CV has been sent. Less than scrupulous agencies WILL send your CV out without speaking to you – they aren’t all as nice as us.
Discretion
Can you keep a secret? Well, over a hundred recruitment agencies can’t…
Most people, especially in the early stages, want to keep their job search secret. The more agencies that have your details, the less chance you have of this secret being kept. Civils and Groundworks are small industries. Do you really want someone you haven’t spoken to poking around for references from people you know? It happens.
The worst case scenario
What’s the absolute worst thing that could happen? You upload your CV to a job board in the morning and by the afternoon, you get called in by your boss for an unexpected meeting.
SOMEONE HAS SENT YOUR CV TO YOUR EMPLOYER.
This happens. All the time. Don’t let it be you.
Fending off enquiries
YOU WILL BE HOUNDED TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. This is a biggie for me, I’ve spoken to people who’ve uploaded their CV to job boards who’ve had more than 20 calls from Recruiters.
Executive search
If you’re at Director level, simply avoid uploading your CV to a jobs board. The risks of all of the above are multiplied tenfold if you’re known in the industry.
Good recruiter
I debated saying this publicly, but it’s true. Good Recruiters won’t want to do much for you if you’ve spoken to 10 other agencies as they know you may have lost control of your job search.
So what should you do instead? Well, if you feel you absolutely have to apply to that role via a jobs board, many have a function where you only upload your CV to the job you’re applying for and not site-wide. Use that to keep control and not get inundated with Recruiter calls.
Better still, contact a good Recruiter and let them conduct the job search on your behalf – here’s why:
A good recruiter is like your own personal, tailored spokesperson, researching the perfect opportunities just for you.
- It’ll be confidential – if you’ve chosen wisely.
- You’ll get a tailored service, hearing about only the opportunities that meet your criteria, saving you time.
- New opportunities may even be created on your behalf – imagine a confidential, selective and tailored marketing campaign to get you in front of the businesses you want to speak to. Good Recruiters use their relationships to bring forward a hiring need meaning the job opportunity is there when you want it – whether that company was actively recruiting or not.
- It might make you more money. If your CV lands on a hiring manager’s desk 3 times or more from multiple recruitment agencies it makes you look desperate. This weakens your bargaining position in salary negotiations. Or they’ll think what’s WRONG WITH YOU?
- You’ll get a much better service – they’ll work their backside off for you. If you give a good Recruiter commitment, you’ll work with them properly they’ll go to the ends of the earth for you – I know I will.
I know there will be circumstances where people will feel job boards are a must and ultimately, it’s your call how you choose to go about your job search. At least now you’ve got the full picture of what you may or may not be signing up for.
Ask around, don’t take my word for it, talk to some of your colleagues who WILL have had some of these experiences.
