Employers rate business media as quality recruitment tool

Recruitment through business media brands is more likely to bring employers a higher quality of job candidate than methods such as horizontal job boards and social media, new research has shown.

The PPA Recruitment Advertising Survey asked employers to rate the calibre of potential employees sourced using a variety of recruitment methods.

Of those who advertised through business media brands, 60 per cent rated the resulting candidates as either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. The proportion rated higher than horizontal job boards (46 per cent) and social media (44 per cent).

The research, conducted by Zzing Marketing, questioned 375 direct advertising clients from across a variety of industries on how they use recruitment tools such as press advertising, online job boards, and social media. A further 12 telephone interviews were used to corroborate the survey findings.

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Business media brands were strongly associated with the ability to connect recruiters with a defined audience group, with almost two-thirds (63 per cent) describing them as ‘targeted’. In comparison, online job boards (both horizontal and vertical) were described as ‘targeted’ by 43 per cent of respondents. They were most likely to be described as ‘quick to generate response’ (67 per cent).

Social media channels such as LinkedIn and Twitter were described as ‘cutting edge’ by 44 per cent and ‘up to date’ by 40 per cent but ‘targeted’ by only 30 per cent.
Overall, companies cited the top three frustrations of the recruitment process as: a lack of quality candidates (24 per cent); being pestered by recruitment agencies (22 per cent); and attracting the right candidates (19 per cent).

Jerry Gosney, Director of the PPA’s Business Media Group, said: “It’s good to hear straight from recruiters how highly they value B2B brands for efficiently and cost-effectively delivering quality candidates both in print and online.”