If you’re in the early stages of setting up a direct sourcing strategy, it might be time to start thinking about the best place to advertise your jobs.

Chances are, you’ve probably visited the ‘careers’ section of a number of different websites. And if you have, you’ve also probably noticed that the way each section appears/works tends to differ from site to site.

Some companies have a comprehensive system in place on which to advertise vacancies and job openings, where candidates can actively search for roles, register their CV or sign up for alerts.

This is known as a careers site – a fully manageable integrated system that allows companies to take control of their direct sourcing whilst advertising and tracking their vacancies with ease.

Others, you might notice, have a careers page on their website where any job openings / vacancies are listed. On this page, there may be a link that re-directs candidates to a recruitment agency’s website where they can apply, or an email address that they can send their application to.

But how do you know which is best for your business? Webrecruit Ireland explores the main five differences to allow you to decide if a careers site is right for you.

1. Candidate Information

As careers sites usually require candidates to register their CV and log in when they apply for a vacancy, they’re a great way to store candidate information.
This is particularly handy when it comes to recruiting for a new role as you already have a ready-made pool of talent that you can search through before waiting for any new applicants.

2. Admin

A careers site allows you to manage your recruitment activities all in one place – with the details of each vacancy, as well as candidate information, loaded on to one system, it can hugely reduce the amount of admin and paperwork involved in recruiting.
A careers page simply lists the details of the vacancy and then refers the candidate to an external site or email address to send their application to. This can lead to applications clogging up your inbox which are easy to misplace.

3. Reporting

As a fully integrated system, careers sites can make your reporting process much less of a headache. With details of all your vacancies logged within a single system, you’ll be able to monitor the success of each recruitment campaign and produce reports with ease.
This is vital for keeping track of your progress when rolling out your direct sourcing strategy.

4. Candidate Experience

By not re-directing candidates to another website, careers sites can, arguably, deliver a much better user experience.
Allowing candidates to complete their application on one page, not having to send separate emails and allowing them to check the status of their application, careers sites can offer a smoother application process.
Additionally, they can create more of a destination for candidates, with many companies having separate tabs detailing their culture, the perks of working for them and employee benefits.

5. Audience

Whilst careers pages do serve as an effective advertising tool for your vacancies, a careers site allows you to send out job alerts to already registered candidates on your database. This means that you already have a targeted audience for your vacancies before it’s even advertised anywhere else.

Looking to build a careers site? Why not let Webrecruit Ireland help you. Find out more.