I find it fascinating that the market and the industry as a whole is moving towards MORE results and MORE data in the form of search, particularly in a time when companies are being inundated with hundreds of resumes in this time of higher unemployment.

I am working with a start-up focused on executive jobs, http://www.StrictlyExecs.com, that takes the opposite approach — through matching technology, it reduces the flow of executive positions and candidates, only informing each side when a match exists. Additionally, it allows anonymous candidate profiling and messaging, something that is hard to accomplish with the typical search-and-apply job boards that currently dominate the space.

It’s having a website search engine friendly is also different to having a website optimised for your jobs and services.

It stands to reason that the same approach that applies for marketing high end media like Hollywood movies or Console Games through print and online methods - can be a successful way forward for many other sectors and industries.

Whilst I think that there will always be a place for newspapers and magazines in recruitment, I think that for students/graduate employers these mediums will continue to fall down their list of places to recruit. Research has shown that students and graduates now spend more hours online than watching TV or reading newspapers/magazines, and this is a fact that no employer can ignore.

For recruiters to attract the best talent, I’d say they have to be fully committed to investment online as the simple fact is that this is where the target audience will be. It’s a no brainer in my opinion - recruiters can reach a wider target audience and interact with them, often at significantly lower cost than print. I’m sure that those that have no yet bought into online recruitment will suffer the consequences.