career board

Executive Job Board Survey How can you develop your career and personal brand on the web? June 2008 Background In 2007 Harvey Nash conducted a survey on the effectiveness of the internet in searching for executive positions – it was one of the most extensive surveys of its kind in Europe. Exactly one year on, this follow up survey looks at how this ever changing industry has evolved in the last 12 months. With the recent surge in online social networking, the secondary aim of the survey was to evaluate attitudes towards social networking sites and their effectiveness in the job searching process. The survey was conducted in April 2008 and was completed by over 500 senior executives known to Harvey Nash. The response came from a broad mix of individuals representing all levels and responsibilities, from manager through to CEO predominantly from the UK market. The term 'job board' describes a website that allows you to search for jobs/register your CV e.g. monster. com; the term social networking refers to the use of a website to connect with people who share similar personal or professional interests. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY One-quarter of CEOs have successfully secured a new role via an executive job board; confirming that these tools are an effective method of executive job searching. There was little difference in the levels of seniority of those who had successfully secured new roles via executive job boards. In other words CEOs are just as likely to find a new position online as a Manager. Have executive job boards reached their ceiling? The overall percentage of respondents prepared to register their CV on an executive job board has not changed since last year (at just over half) and neither has the percentage of people securing new roles. So although executive job boards may be an effective way of job searching for a (good) proportion of respondents, there is a suggestion that this number is not growing. Have executive job boards reached a ceiling? Only time will tell. Is social networking the next big thing? Whilst almost half of respondents are not prepared to register their CV on job boards, a huge 90% of people have registered on LinkedIn. Clearly then people approach social networking with a different mind set. When asked which tools would be most important in job searching in two years time compared to now, social networking showed the biggest increase (at the expense of traditional methods such as reading offline publications and directly contacting headhunters). Social networking for career searching is still in its infancy. Whilst many may consider social networking to be the next big thing in executive career management, it still has a long way to go. For instance only 2% of people have secured a new role via a social networking site compared to over one-quarter through an executive job board. LinkedIn clearly leads the way in social networking as a tool currently used in job searching and of those people using this site, 38% report success (they have been approached for a new role or secured a new role). Surprisingly although only 8% of respondents reported using Xing, 24% of those people had found the site successful. Perhaps an up and coming competitor for LinkedIn, the small number of people using Xing are reporting significant success rates. Building a strong personal brand can be powerful. 93% of participants who completed the survey believe that building a personal brand is important. Interestingly social networking came second in priority to building an offline peer network, demonstrating that traditional methods of directly connecting with people are still most popular.  Executive Job Board Survey - June 2008 1. Job Boards Other methods used for developing personal brand were writing articles and attending networking events. One respondent offers advice about online relationships: “Social networking does not replace human interface. It allows you an additional set of resources that complement those you should already be developing. Remember social networking is public and open to abuse without protection.” Part 1: Job Boards How effective do you consider the following job boards for finding executive opportunities? Job Board www.exec-appointments.com www.timesonline.com www.jobs.telegraph.co.uk www.linkedin.com www.ft.com www.executivesontheweb.com www.executive-i.com www.jobserve.com www.jobsite.com www.monster.co.uk www.efinancialcareers.co.uk www.goldjobs.com www.silverjobs.com % choosing “very effective” 30% 23% 18% 15% 12% 10% 10% 10% 5% 5% 5% 4.5% 2.5% The top three job boards considered most effective in 2008 have remained the same as in 2007. Interestingly there has been an overall increase in the percentage of people who consider job boards in general to be effective. Fourth and fifth place however have shifted. By far the most effective job board was Exec Appointments with 30% of people who used this site rating it very effective. This was followed by Times Online with 23% and Jobs Telegraph with 18%. Last year, fourth and fifth place were taken by Monster and Executives on the Web respectively. This year, Monster was rated seventh and Executives on the Web sixth. LinkedIn and ft.com jump into the top five for the first time. Other job boards which were frequently mentioned included The Ladders, Stepstone and TotalJobs. Excluding Harvey Nash, how effective do you consider the following executive search company websites for finding executive opportunities? Executive Search Website Korn/Ferry Heidrick & Struggles Russell Reynolds Egon Zehnder Effective 55% 51% 46% 43% Executive Job Board Survey - June 2008  1. Job Boards... What is interesting is when you turn this question on its head and look at % respondents who thought the sites ‘ineffective’. Putting Harvey Nash to one side (which we’ll touch on later), every recruitment company’s website has almost half (or more) of respondents thinking them ineffective. This is quite a statement and shows there is greater scope for the executive search industry to serve its clients and candidates online In Harvey Nash’s case 75% of respondents rated the site as ‘effective’ or ‘very effective’. We are very pleased with this score of course, but given many of the respondents were already users of HarveyNash.com there is a bias. As a result we haven’t detailed our own site in the table above. How likely would you be to register your CV on a job board? Very likely Maybe Unlikely 2008 56% 32% 12% 2007 53% 32% 15% The most surprising thing about these statistics is that year-on-year they are broadly similar. It suggests that there is a ceiling in the confidence of people in registering their CVs online. So although executive job boards may be an effective way of job searching, for a good proportion of respondents, there is a suggestion that this number is not growing. Have executive job boards reached their ceiling? Only time will tell. Very Likely 50% 54% 58% 62% 53% Maybe 33% 35% 30% 28% 35% Unlikely 17% 11% 12% 10% 12% CEO / Board Level Director Senior VP / Managing Director Director / VP Senior Manager Manager Split by job title, the more senior a person, the less likely they are to register their CV online. This could be due to the fact that the more senior executives are less likely to be searching for a new career opportunity or perhaps that the more senior you become, the less comfortable you are with disclosing this personal information. It could also mean that more senior people do not need to put their details in the public domain in order to attract opportunities.  Executive Job Board Survey - June 2008 1. Job Boards... Have you ever successfully secured a role that was advertised on a job board? Over one-quarter of respondents have successfully secured a new role via an executive job board; confirming that these tools are an effective method of executive job searching. Over the past year there has been a slight decrease in the number of people who have secured a job via a job board which is surprising given the growth of online in general. Yes 24% 23% 26% 24% 28% CEO / Board Level Director Senior VP / Managing Director Director / VP Senior Manager Manager There was little difference in the job level/seniority of those who had successfully secured new roles via executive job boards. In other words CEOs are just as likely to find a new position online as a Manager. This is an interesting contrast given that the more senior individuals are less likely to register their details online, whilst these statistics show that job boards are relevant to executives of all levels. How important are each of the following tools in your job search strategy now? Within the next two years, how important do you think each of the following tools will be in your job search strategy? Very Important In 2 years Now 51% 41% 38% 24% 27% 27% 63% 59% 81% 72% Using Executive Job Boards Using social networking sites Reading offline publications Contacting headhunters/recruitment consultants Developing personal network of contacts There is a consistent increase in the importance of all these tools over the next two years with the exception of reading offline publications which remains the same. The greatest increase in importance over the next two years is the use of social networking sites, indicating that executives continue to predict that this strategy will become more important in relation to job searching. There is also as significant increase in the importance of using online job boards. This suggests that whilst people will continue to value publications like the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph etc, they will continue to increase their use of online job searching and social networking in their strategy. The two most important tools are still considered to be direct contact with people – either personal contacts or headhunters. Executive Job Board Survey - June 2008  2. Social Networking Part 2: Social Networking If you have used social networking sites in the past, which ones have you used? LinkedIn Plaxo Facebook Xing Viadeo Myspace 90% 29% 22% 12% 7% 6% LinkedIn dominates the use of social networking sites. Given that LinkedIn specifically focuses on business and professional relationships, this is not surprising when compared against the likes of Facebook and Myspace which are predominantly associated with a purely social nature. Whilst almost half of respondents are not prepared to register their CV on job boards, a huge 90% of people are registered on LinkedIn. Clearly then people approach social networking with a different mind set. This huge membership is not comparable to that of any of the other sites we looked at. When asked which tools would be most important in job searching in two years time compared to now, social networking showed the biggest increase (at the expense of traditional methods such as reading offline publications and directly contacting headhunters). Other social networking sites which were suggested included Ecademy and Naymz. How are you using or planning to use social networking sites in job searching? Social networking for career searching is still in its infancy. Whilst many may consider social networking to be the next big thing in executive career management, it still has a long way to go. For instance only 2% of people have secured a new role via a social networking site compared to over 25% through an executive job board. Social Networking Site LinkedIn Plaxo Xing Viadeo Facebook Myspace % use for job searching 57% 16% 8% 4% 6% 2% LinkedIn clearly leads the way in social networking as a tool currently used in job searching and of those people using this site, 38% report success (they have been approached for a new role or secured a new role). Surprisingly although only 8% of respondents reported using Xing, 24% of those people had found the site successful. Perhaps an up and coming competitor for LinkedIn, the small number of people using Xing are reporting significant success rates.  Executive Job Board Survey - June 2008 2.Social Networking... Social Networking Site LinkedIn Plaxo Xing Viadeo Facebook Myspace Have not used and would not consider using 10% 39% 44% 52% 73% 80% There is an interesting contrast between business and non-business oriented sites when it comes to searching for new career opportunities. Facebook and Myspace clearly aren’t seen as career tools, whilst LinkedIn definitely is. The other business oriented sites like Plaxo, Xing and Viadeo all have a relatively high proportion (39%+) of respondents who don’t consider them useful for careers. Part of their challenge is that they are simply not as well known as LinkedIn, but as the social networking market matures we would expect these sites to become more used for career searching. In relation to your career, how important is investing time and effort into building your personal brand? Very Important Quite Important Not Important Have not considered 57% 36% 4% 3% Which methods are you actively using to develop your personal brand? Actively building offline peer network Social Networking Acting as a spokesperson for organisation Public speaking engagements Personal Blog 74% 68% 51% 41% 6% 93% of participants who completed the survey believe that building a personal brand is either ‘quite important’ or ‘very important’. Interestingly social networking came second in priority to building an offline peer network, demonstrating that traditional methods of directly connecting with people is still most popular. Other methods used for developing personal brand were writing articles and attending networking events. Executive Job Board Survey - June 2008  3. Comments from respondents Brand yourself consistently across different services, and don't fake it. More and more positions go via networking, in Switzerland 60%. You need to represent your brand i.e. by having proper business cards, participating in relevant events, making sure the whole body language is not contradicting what you are saying. Use the professional person to help branding yourself, it's worth it! Social networking does not replace the 'Human' interface. It allows you an additional set of resources that complement those you should already be developing. Remember social networking is public and open to abuse without protection Be selective. Very selective Be aware of the divide between personal life and work. It is good to show a bit of your personal side for networking and making yourself approachable but too much personal information is detrimental and can prevent someone taking you seriously for a senior appointment Treat yourself like a business, if you don't invest in your business and have a good business plan, strategy, implementation plan, marketing plan etc, your business will fail There must be a clear reason for doing everything. Don't blog just for the sake of it. Private networks are much more powerful than public ones. Restrict 'banter' on social network sites to private non-public forums Consider quality, not quantity when building networks of contacts on sites such as LinkedIn. Also, take care when you are considering linking with competitors, lest you allow them access to your contacts Activity offline is more important than online Be very wary of the 'Everyone's a member here' social networks a la MySpace. The signal to noise ratio is very poor Few if any of the boards are involved with jobs at the most senior level Be selective. Too many people now just using as a "HOW MANY CONTACTS' competition and diluting the value Networking is THE most important way to get the next job  Executive Job Board Survey - June 2008