Recruitment agencies still king in marketing job search
Recent poll indicates job-hunting is multi-channelled but recruiters still rule
A snapshot LinkedIn survey posing the question: “Which channel has proved most successful in helping you find a job?” has revealed that despite it’s undoubted surge, social networking still has work to do. Unsurprisingly, trade press fares worst.
Never let it be said recruitment agencies, job boards and social networking cannot live in jobseeker harmony. This chart clearly shows UK marketers undertake a multi-channel job search strategy, with the traditional services a nostril ahead of the new kid on the block. Job boards sit comfortably in the middle. Trade press, whether on or offline, appear to be fairing badly, adding further weight to the argument that, as a job-searching medium, physical publications are all but dead.
One respondent commented: “You cannot beat the power of networking and choosing a few agency sites to search on a regular basis”.
Once again this chart fuses the ‘big 3’, which combine to dwarf trade press job applying. It’s interesting that by generic job title ‘management’ appear to favour social media/networking, perhaps indicating that job posting social platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter attract more ‘senior’ marketing professionals – a point accentuated further by the C-level column.
This job function chart is particularly relevant, especially from a hirers perspective. Identifying jobseeker ‘hang outs’ will help determine where to spend recruitment advertising budgets. Half the ‘creative’ respondents favour recruitment agencies, which is a surprise because it has long been thought that personal recommendations or networking were the most common ways for agency-side marketers to find new employment. Interestingly, social networks are a distant third for ‘general’ marketers, which appears an odd outcome for so-called ‘early adopters’. Again, recruitment agencies score well in this demographic. Perhaps most eyebrow-raising of all in the job function chart is the dominance of job boards for PR professionals; perhaps it’s all about personal branding for them?
And what of ‘sales’ marketers? They appear to be perennially seeking jobs via social, which may highlight their desire for quick wins and instant responses?
More females than males responded to this poll – is this a reflection of the gender demographic within marketing? Whilst social networking plays a larger part in the male job seeking channel, all other channels were comparative, with marginal swings between job boards and recruitment agencies. More females view and/or apply for jobs via offline trade press than males, apparently.
Amongst 25-34 year-olds, job boards are the most used job seeking channel. They fare well in the 35-54 age group, too, with an equal 28% keen on the job opportunities social networking presents; this helps point to the obvious conclusion that Gen-Y is predominantly digitally-focussed. Given this impression it is perhaps surprising that the 18-24 year-old group significantly prefer to seek the services of recruitment agencies. Is this a sign of lazy youth? It will be interesting to see how this area develops over the next twelve months.
100% of respondents over the age of 55 prefer to visit social networking sites to find a marketing job. So you can teach an old dog new tricks!
Which channel has proved most successful in your job search? Will recruitment agencies ever be plonked off their plinth? Please leave your comments below.
Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs
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Hi Simon,
Excellent post and really telling info. Not a surprise to most I would imagine as far as the print channel is concerned, they truly will need to look to other revenue streams.
Certainly warming from an agency perspective to see that it is still a channel that is seen as relevant, though I say this without a hint of complacency. The traditional recruiter is already on the way out (not sure this is any bad thing) but those staying in the race will need to sharpen up and look for new ways of building strong and relevant relationships with candidates and clients alike.
I agree that multiple (or at least a few) routes to market can live in harmony as you go on to suggest, but woe betide any recruiter who thinks they have a built in meal ticket at this ever changing table. I think if we take a snapshot of a similar survey in 12 months time then the shift towards on line and social will have continued to have grown share.
I recently ran a recruitment campaign for a well know food company in the UK, which consisted of an integrated mix of on line, social and press. Most applications were via on line and all roles filled were as a result of applicants who came through this channel. Interestingly, the poorest applications came via print media.
Cracking response, Andy. Thoughtful and considered with valuable insight. Thanks for sharing the experiences.
Hi Simon,
I’m not surprised by what you are saying at all. Many grads don’t fully understand the world of online or offline recruitment (it seems to improve once they are at work with more experienced people looking to move on to their second job) and the careers services in general appear not to be that well up on it either. It isn’t a question of lazy youth. As the parent of a newly fledged grad and having set up the mygraduatecareer.com website (all the resources for grads online in one place), I can assure you that the transition from the Facebook world of social networking to the LinkedIn world of career networking is not an easy one for them. As confident and clever as they often are, I never cease to be amazed at how lacking in real confidence many under 21′s are when it comes to breaking into the world of work. Career development isn’t a compulsory part of the curriculum even though it’s a competency for life that they need to learn.
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