Stap isi

29 January 2009

Breaking out

I’d say the jobs section would rank in the top 10 for traffic on most local government websites. Yet councils find it difficult to attract quality applicants for many positions.

The London Borough of Barnet have taken an innovative approach, breaking out the jobs section – and in their case, recruitment for children’s services – into a standalone site. They’ve called it Barnet Possibilities.

I think it’s a great idea.

• Fresh look (i.e. not ‘council’); clearly branded; simple URL to promote.
• Job seekers – even if they’re residents – make up a visitor segment with a well defined mission. No need to distract them with all the information you’re targeting at residents. Here the supporting information is prominent.
• They’re capturing email addresses of potential recruits.
• Just having a standalone site suggests that the Borough considers children’s services important.

Dominic Campbell (who allegedly does some work in the borough) says “biggest innovation not the site per se, but the fact that they’ve managed to pull recruitment for all children’s services jobs into one place, with partner organisations such as the NHS up next.”

He promises to report back on the effectiveness of the site over time.

As an aside, local government could use domain names more creatively. They’re cheap. And useful not just for larger projects but as a marketing tool or just to make a point.

— b3rn   tools   Jan 29, 09:12 PM   #

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