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Jobseekers turn to local media first for private and public sector ads

Jobseekers turn to local media first for private and public sector ads

8th February 2010

Email: richard.maynard@newburynews.co.uk

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Local newspapers and their websites are the most popular source for job seekers looking for public or private sector employment, according to a Continental Research study commissioned by the NS

Local newspapers and their websites are the most popular source for job seekers looking for public or private sector employment, according to a Continental Research study commissioned by the NS (Newspaper Society).
Local media websites (39 per cent) are four times more popular as the first port of call for online job seekers than Monster (eight per cent) which was the most popular pure play recruitment site in the wanted ads Jobs study.
Nearly twice as many respondents turn first to local media (33 per cent) than Jobcentre Plus (18 per cent), the second most popular source, when they are looking for a job.
Local media performs even more strongly when looking just at public sector recruitment advertising. Thirty-three per cent of job seekers said they would turn first to local media compared to just 16 per cent who cited the employer’s own website, the second highest, as their preferred source.
NS marketing director Robert Ray said: “The wanted ads Jobs shows that local media is by far the most influential and widely-used source for reaching public and private sector job seekers in the UK.
“These findings provide compelling evidence that, particularly in the public sector, local media’s unique connection with audiences cannot be replicated by online portals or pure play websites.”
The study, which looked at active or browsing job seekers, is part of a series of NS media research projects branded the wanted ads which look at core local media advertising categories.    
Headline findings from the project, which also looks at general trends in the recruitment market, include:
  • Job security is valued just as highly as salary. Eighty-two per cent of respondents cited both factors as important in their job.

  • Seventy-nine per cent of employed respondents would consider working in another sector and 65 per cent said they were considering a wider range of roles than they had done previously. 

  • Seventy-two per cent of respondents would look for a new job in local media compared to 51 per cent who would use pure play recruitment websites such as Monster; the second most popular source equally with Jobcentre Plus.   

  • Local media (28 per cent) was second only to word of mouth (31 per cent) for helping employed respondents find their current job, followed by pure play recruitment websites (13 per cent).

  • Thirty-four per cent of employed respondents said they had done some training since the start of the economic downturn.

 

  • Use of print and online creates a more powerful combination. Seventy-three per cent of respondents said they were more likely to apply if they saw an ad in print and online and 81 per cent of respondents agreed that seeing an ad, for either private or public sector jobs, in print would prompt them to look for more information online.  

The NS has briefed all London-based sales houses on the wanted ads Jobs and NS marketing activity will include a direct mail and email campaign, filler ads for local media titles, PR and face-to-face meetings.

Meetings are schedueld to present the study to top London recruitment clients including MKH, TMP, Penna Barkers, MediaCom and COI. Sessions are also being scheduled for February and March to present to recruitment agencies and clients in UK cities including Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Belfast.