Job boards, headhunters, the personal touch: How did you win your gig?

Q: Nowadays, people use multiple methods to search for a job. Some methods are automated, some involve more of the personal touch, while others involve professional assistance. How did you win your current job?

Nick's reply: I like asking the question posed in this challenge because the outcome frequently surprises people. While the big online job boards blare that many millions of people go there to search for a job and that companies post millions of jobs online, the truth about these bulk-recruiting methods is disappointing.

CareerXroads.com, an online-recruitment watchdog firm, just released its annual "Sources of Hires" study. It suggests that the three biggest job boards (Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs) each deliver on average less than 4 percent of hires to employers. Companies' own Web sites perform far better: about 20 percent of hires come through that channel. (I don't consider a company's own Web site a "jobs site." It is more an extension of its business. Job hunters are actually interested in that company when they apply for a job there. They're not casting about blindly for a job.)

Personal referrals are far and away the leading source of all hires -- about 27 percent.

There is a trend here that is quite obvious. Recruiting (and job hunting) methods that are more personalized are clearly more productive. The reason is simple: We all look for credibility. The more credible the source of a potential job is, the more likely we are to follow through. People are more credible than a jobs database.

-- Personal contacts (27 percent) produce the best results because people put their reputations on the line when they recommend a job candidate (or a job). It's the source we all love to have.

-- Compared to the impersonal bazaar of the general online job board, a company's own Web site (20 percent) suggests credibility. If you have a poor experience with a job listing on a huge job board, you're not surprised. But on its own site, a company puts its reputation on the line. You expect a more satisfying experience. Job listings are more likely to be accurate and up to date and it's safe to assume the company turns first to applicants who actively seek it out.

-- Big online job boards (9 percent as a group, but no more than 4 percent individually) don't charge much for job ads, and resumes are posted free. It's fair to call this channel a free-for-all. It's easy to post jobs and resumes, and employers know it's altogether too easy for applicants to submit resumes with the press of a key. Employers are left to filter enormous numbers of inappropriate applications. It's no surprise that few hires are made this way.

-- What I find most interesting is the ineffectiveness of internal human resources (HR) recruiting. Only about 8 percent of hires are made this way, according to CareerXroads. Is this because companies rely on all the other sources described above, or because HR is really very impersonal? Consider your own experience with corporate HR departments. When is the last time an HR person called to recruit you?

The bottom line: The more personal the recruiting method is, the more likely a match is to be made. Your experiences may vary, as the results to this Challenge may show. What does this mean to you? Use the methods that work best: Keep it personal. Whether you're an employer or a job hunter, cultivate your contacts.

Copyright 2009. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job" and the host of www.asktheheadhunter.com. He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.