Job Web Sites that Work (or don't)

When a job seeker submits a Web application he or she initiates a business relationship. From that point on the seeker and the agency each have a role to play. Played well the result is more value than either party could have realized individually. As an agency, you know the process and have the employer contacts. I have the services that you can sell at a price that gives each of us the revenue we need to declare the relationship a success.

A job Web site that works creates a business relationship based on mutual respect for each party's time, interest and the nature and amount of information that needs to be exchanged.

The Web site is your electronic receptionist for new suppliers who are coming to offer services you can sell to employers. If a receptionist treated new suppliers rudely you would take steps to change the receptionist's behavior or get a new receptionist. You judge a receptionist by their behavior. You should judge your Web site by the way it behaves toward your new suppliers. If your site doesn't treat new suppliers well, get it changed or get a new site.

You pay your Web design and development team for results. You do not pay them to show off their skills using the latest and coolest things that can be done on the Web. Your site is a place of business and should reflect your way of doing business.

I have work to do. I want to let you know I am available and what I can do for your clients. I do not come to your Web site to be entertained.

A job Web site that works is a place-of-business that represents your company. It can be cool and interesting but don't let technology get in the way of doing business.

Both parties to a business relationship should have a clear understanding about the value of the relationship for them. Why pursue this relationship rather than some other? Your Web site is a form of advertising about the services you will provide. If you say you serve various types of job seekers be sure your site addresses their needs.

If you offer both full-time and contact opportunities then carry that through the entire site. One of the cool things about the Web is your can collect common information using one set of Web modules and then your can branch to deal with specific needs.

As a common example, most job Web sites offer full time jobs. Some say they offer contract positions. Almost all of them then deal with compensation in terms of annual salary. My billing rate for contract work assumes I will have down time and unpaid marketing time and that I will pay my own "benefits." My annual salary is not my hourly or daily rate times 2,000 hours or 250 days - nobody would pay me that. If you say that you offer contract work, you need to get compensation in terms of hourly or daily rates. That is what the employer will be interested in.

When I return to search available openings, I don't want to search a haystack of full time jobs to find a contract needle. I want to search for contracts. Include that as an option in your search menu.

A job Web site that works is structured to collect relevant information for the types of job assignments that are being offered and to support subsequent searches.

Registration is more than just the first date. It should be the starting point for a business relationship. I expect you to call if you have something that is probably of interest to me but I also expect to review available jobs fairly frequently to see if there is something for which I am qualified or that may be of special interest. Make it easy for me to search your site for jobs. Let me set up several search routines and just click on one or more of them when I return.

I have a multi-site search routine I do several times a week that starts with the sites that (a) are most likely to have jobs and (b) I can check the quickest. The quicker I can check your list of available jobs, the higher you will be on my list.

It is nice to be able to go directly to my information on your site, but don't limit our relationship. There is one site where I registered that now only allows me to go to my information. I cannot even go to their home page or get the address and phone number of my local office. In a business relationship, both parties should be able refer the other party to friends and associates. Take me to my information - that's probably where I want to go - but give me a link back to the rest of your site.

A job Web site that works is structured to support an ongoing business relationship which includes access to the agency's full site and easy access to search tools.

A common news story today is the bank or other well known, trusted corporation that has somehow had employee or customer information lost, strayed or stolen and put people at risk of identity theft.

At this stage in our relationship, you do not need to know my social security or driver's license number. I have terminated at least two applications mid-stream because this was required data. I will consider giving you the last four digits of my social to link the information I give you on your Web site to information I give you in person at our first interview if you really feel you need that.

A job Web site that works does not collect information online that raises risks of identity theft.

I have been self employed since 1987. It sort of makes sense to know which month and year I started and ended jobs but is it really important which day of the month I started or ended? I don't remember and I certainly don't want to take the time to search my records. Don't ask for that level of detail.

I have an Excel spreadsheet that has two pages with the names of Web sites and the user ID's and passwords I have used. Set some reasonable parameters for passwords, but do you really need to have numbers, upper and lower case plus a limited set of special characters such as *@+or >? If you make it difficult, I won't check back very often or search your list of openings very often. I appreciate your concern for the safety of my data but how about 6 to 10 characters that must include numeric and alphabetic characters.

A job Web site that work asks for information that is clearly useful and relevant but doesn't impose unreasonable demands at registration or later.

I have several areas of expertise and interest. To name just two: business process improvement and litigation support. There is no way I can address them both in a single resume. Give me the option of submitting more than one resume at the time of registration or later - this is a nice feature of my favorite site. Alternatively let me post a note or comment that at least alerts you to the fact that I have other resumes. Let me at least alert you to the possibility that there are additional services I offer that you can sell.

I am president of my own company, have an MBA from a school almost anyone would recognize and sometimes I do office temporary work between much higher paid assignments. I have resumes for management consulting and an incomplete resume for office temporary. When I downplay my background to fit the office temp model, give me a free form area to explain that to you. You don't have to tell the employer. But you ought to know so you can properly represent me.

I have reached that point in life where we take long vacations and do things other than management consulting. Don't require that I account for every period of time for the last 20 years. I haven't been in jail or drug rehab; if you are concerned, ask about that in the first interview.

If I told you when I graduated you could easily conclude that I am "too old" for this job. Earlier this year I biked 280 miles in hilly terrain and just a few years ago I did a bungy jump. I am in good physical shape and for some types of work experience is valuable. I am looking for contract work, not a career. Given the changing demographics of the American workforce -- and the law -- don't force me to give clues to my age in required data fields.

We all know that your computer gets first shot at our information and computers insist on reasonable data. But some of us don't fit computerized definitions of reasonable and sometimes we are more valuable for it. Give us a change to let you know about that.

A job Web site that works allows for non-traditional career paths and provides means for me to alert you about that.

A job Web site that works creates a business relationship based on mutual respect for each party's time, interest and the nature and amount of information that needs to be exchanged.

A job Web site that works is a place of business that represents your company. It can be cool and interesting but don't let technology get in the way of doing business.

A job Web site that works is structured to collect relevant information for the types of job assignments that are being offered and to support subsequent searches.

A job Web site that works is structured to support an ongoing business relationship which includes access to the agency's full site and easy access to search tools.

A job Web site that works does not collect information online that raises risks of identity theft.

A job Web site that work asks for information that is clearly useful and relevant but doesn't impose unreasonable demands at registration or later.

A job Web site that works allows for non-traditional career paths and provides means for me to alert you about that.

Look at the things your job Web site promises then have several of your staff members pretend they fit those promises. Maybe somebody just our of school and someone else who only wants part time work if that's among the types of jobs you offer.

Pick people with average office computer stills plus a few geeks. Ask them to read this article and then pretend who they have been assigned to be and apply for work on your site. Ask for their feedback. Just remember they probably will sugar coat their answers a bit, hey, you are their boss.

It is kind of like calling your main telephone number once in a while when you are out of the office just to see how well customer calls are handled. You do do that, don't you?