The latest jobs report for our home state shows that Minnesota added the most jobs in a quarter since 1984. Of course, the journalist strangely felt obligated to follow that impressive fact with multiple paragraphs downplaying the incredible growth.
Our state unemployment is now down to 3.6% which has affected our local sourcing activities. 4 years ago we would post 1 ad on monster and receive 50-60 calls and/or emails within a week. Not so today.
We have adjusted accordingly by posting a position on 3 job boards simultaneously. The pattern that is working is to still use one of the major job boards (monster, careerbuilder or hotjobs), one niche board (specifically focused in an industry or on a position) and then one or two free job boards (these are hit-or-miss).
Exposure is everything. We have seen our response totals increase dramatically even in the tight local market. We have incorporated a similar pattern for our national searches with the same success.
Sourcing is going to continue to tighten with the boomer exit and new methods will be required. I read an interesting post regarding cell phone employment ads. They are written like a print ad (say in a newspaper) and pushed out to cell phone subscribers. We are destined to see more of those methods as the younger, wired generations enter the workforce.