FAcareers: Smart solution to tapping into a specialised skills pool

The skills shortage in the financial services industry is an ongoing challenge, yet there is no doubt that there are many exceptional and experienced sales, marketing, underwriting and claims people in our country. Finding these people in a skills-starved industry may well seem like finding needles in a haystack - a time-consuming and costly exercise – unless the power of technology is harnessed efficiently and cost-effectively to bring prospective employers and employees together on a dedicated, industry-specific platform.

FAnews spoke to the Alex Cook and Robert Hannaford, who recently acquired FAcareers to discover just how this online recruitment tool fulfills this vision.

FAnews: What is the vision behind the new FAcareers online recruitment tool?

FAcareers: We share a vision of establishing an easy-to-use, inexpensive online solution for career seekers and employers. We realised the potential of FAcareers and decided to acquire the business in June this year and build the portal into something that we as business owners would want to use. The emphasis during the redesign of the site has been on creating ease of use and a cost effective means of touching the right candidates through job listings, mass targeted job mailers and banner advertising.

FAnews: What makes FAcareers unique among the recruitment solutions in the industry?

FAcareers: We have looked at what similar sites have done and, as employers, identified areas for improvement. A highly-specific target audience is a key success factor of FAcareers – it reduces the number of CVs that are delivered to employers, while simultaneously increasing the quality of the applications received. The result is significant savings in both time and cost. Our strategic relationship with FAnews ensures the right type of traffic is driven to the FAcareers site, so employers can expect to find better quality candidates.

FAnews: What has the market response been?

FAcareers: We currently have Google Analytics embedded on the site and the growth in traffic over the past four months has been very encouraging - literally growing on a daily basis. The targeted candidates who visit the site know immediately that the vacancies listed are specific to the financial sector and tend to stay on the site longer. There were 31 000 page views in the past month and visitors spent an average of just over six minutes on the site, which indicates that they have found what they are looking for. The pricing for such specific traffic makes the 12-month subscription option a ‘no-brainer’ for employers.

FAnews: How can employers track the success of their campaigns?

FAcareers: Employers have access to reports detailing the success of mass mailers to a database of more than 100 000 candidates. The standard reporting for a mass mailer includes the number of mails sent, the number successfully delivered, how many were opened, how many follow through clicks were made and how many mails were forwarded to other people. It empowers employers to accurately track the effectiveness of their recruitment spend in a way not possible through any other medium.

FAnews: How easy is it to use FAcareers?

FAcareers: The focus during the redesign of the site was on ease of use. The career seeker can browse all listings and apply for any of the positions free of charge.

Job listings are costed to present a sustainable, cost-effective solution for any employer with regular job openings – for example, unlimited job listings for 12 months is priced at R1 000 per month. The cost of the mass mailers is based on the number of mails sent, ranging from R0.75 for 10 000 mails sent per month to R0.50 for 60 000 mails sent per month. In addition, there are a number of banner advertising options for companies that want to position themselves as employers of choice. All of these options present a simple, but highly effective solution, given the highly-specific target audience.

FAnews: How do you communicate with career seekers and employers?

FAcareers: We are in constant contact with both our career seekers and employers via e-mail, with featured jobs sent to career seekers and marketing information distributed to employers. Career seekers also have the ability to subscribe to job alerts and RSS feeds for instant updates. We can also be followed via our Twitter account and Facebook page.

FAnews: How does FAcareers meet the unique needs of financial services companies?

FAcareers: FAcareers offers real solutions to corporate employers, recruitment companies, brokers and independent financial services companies looking for top quality candidates to fill positions in the financial services sector through:

• affordable, flexible rate packages offering employers an unlimited number of listings per subscription period
• a large active database of strictly accounting, administrative and financial careers seekers
• a strong allegiance with the leading magazine in the financial services industry.

A number of large, well-known financial institutions and recruitment companies have already approached us, which is very encouraging.

FAnews: What does the future hold for FAcareers?

FAcareers: There are many future enhancements in the pipeline, including innovative mobile technology that will ensure career seekers are constantly alerted to new career opportunities and receive specific information of their choice.

Building on a solid foundation established over three years, and with an exciting new vision going forward, there is no doubt that FAcareers is the online recruitment tool of choice for the financial services sector in Southern Africa.

About the FAcareers management team

Alex Cook is currently a director at GCI Investments with an impressive investment and financial services background.

Robert Hannaford runs a software development house, specialising in portal technology and mobile application development.