When speaking to clients and candidates, staffing and recruiting firms often highlight their differentiators:  what it is that makes their agency unique from their competitors. This often comes down to their unique solutions provided or industries served. There is a good reason this strategy is applied. It works. Firms lacking any sort of specialty are often going to fall short with each client because they will, by some measure, be outperformed by another firm whose niche focus or solutions meet that client’s needs more acutely. Every day at Recruiters Websites we work with clients who uniquely and expertly meet the specific demands of their industry and markets, so it is always a bit surprising when they approach the process in terms of how they can be more like other firms rather than further stand apart.

One thing we stress to clients is the need to not only represent how their firm is different in terms of the content but in also the decisions they make regarding what information they share with their audience. One of the pointed questions we ask when prepping the project is whether or not they want share job postings, and often we get the same response:  What does everyone else do? 

There’s Only One You

Is that a little cheesy? Yes, but it’s true. There is nothing inherently wrong with following the strategies incorporated by others within your space; however, your reason for any business decision shouldn’t solely rest on the logic of what others are doing. The custom solutions you provide your clients aren’t carbon copies of your competitors, and the custom-built websites we create for our clients don’t adhere to a preconfigured template. If you are not certain on the question of posting jobs to your site, there are a number of questions that must be considered before making a decision. Who is your primary audience? At what level are you placing candidates? Are you working on a retained or contingent basis? This only scratches the surface of questions that should be considered when deciding whether job postings are right for you web presence.

If Yes, What’s Best?

If you’ve decided that it makes sense for your firm to post jobs on their website, make sure you take steps to make the postings work for you. There is a tendency for clients to want to hand off their job postings to a third party, be it a job board curated by a larger network or some other mediator. The more you hand to others, the less you control. Managing your own postings and putting them on your own site not only keeps site visitors where you want them (on your page), but it also creates SEO value that can increase your site’s visibility on search engines like Google and Bing.

If Not, Then What?

Perhaps you’ve decided job postings aren’t right for your agency but you still want to convey to both clients and candidates the types of positions in which you are experienced. Displaying recent placements is a great alternative that provides value to both clients and candidates. It still portrays your expertise while allowing you to maintain a tighter rein on your current projects.

Regardless of what you decide, what is important is that your firm make decisions that are in its best interest. Your website is more than an extension of your business. In the world of recruiting where your audience is often stretched across the nation, if not the globe, your website can serve as the single source of information for potential clients and candidates. A great façade is important, but what can be even more valuable is a level of functionality that matches the site’s aesthetic. Remember that your value is often in what separates you from your competitors and leveraging that value can be the difference in making more placements and attracting better talent.