I thought I’d do a quick update on Reed’s guaranteed response service. This was introduced in November 2007 and caused a fair bit of controversy on our discussion board
I recently spoke with Mark Rhodes (who is Head of Marketing at reed.co.uk) about how the service is working out…. (note his carefully constructed answers!)
What developments have you been making at reed.co.uk?
We've just upgraded our Guaranteed Response service by doubling the guarantee. Recruiters posting jobs now receive a guaranteed ten CVs for their vacancy, so it's an even more compelling proposition for recruiters of all sizes looking to remove the uncertainty from posting their vacancies online.
Why did you upgrade the service?
Guaranteed Response has been a real success since we launched last year. Jobs posted using the service receive more than seven times the number of applications as standard listings, so we're confident we can deliver quality candidates for our clients. Doubling the guarantee, whilst fixing the price at only £50 per job, is a logical development. What's more, Guaranteed Response continues to undercut the cost of other, less sophisticated job posting services on other big job boards.
The Guaranteed Response service typifies our aim to give recruiters the best possible return on their investment. Because of our recruitment agency heritage we understand what recruiters of all types and sizes need to be successful. All of our products have been designed by recruiters for recruiters and we pride ourselves on our ability to respond to the feedback we get from our clients.
What measures do you have in place to ensure the quality of applications?
We've long understood the importance of pre-screening for online job applications and offer a number of tools to assist in the process. All jobs posted on reed.co.uk can include up to five screening questions, any number of which can be assigned auto-reject status, to ensure that only those applicants giving the correct answers reach the recruiter. In addition, recruiters also have the facility to block applications from jobseekers who are not eligible to work in the UK.
Has Guaranteed Response increased the amount of business you are getting?
The Guaranteed Response service has opened up an important e-commerce channel for reed.co.uk, as it was the first product we made available to buy online with a credit or debit card (we’ve since added CV Search and mixed product bundles).
And because the service offers so much more than equivalent products, not least by including a guarantee, we’ve continued to see a significant rise in Guaranteed Response postings.
If you want to find out more about how the “Guaranteed Response” product compares to the other Reed offerings (including their free of charge job posting service) you should view their comparison table. For the sake of impartiality here is a link to all the other job boards in the UK we list on our site.
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