Article
Two: Recruitment Consultancy Website Review - WorkHaven by John
Harrup
Company Name – WorkHaven
Website Address – www.workhaven.com
Site description
WorkHaven is an internet only based employee search and selection facility. Unlike usual online recruitment agencies WorkHaven is built around a free to use intelligent search capability, which employers can use to quickly identify candidates with the required skills and attributes.
Creative design
The design of the site does not jump out at you and say read more. Instead it comes across as a corporate looking website with chunks of text which will be overlooked. The use of animation does brighten the site up and make it more interesting, especially the animated explanation of how the site works. However, this is too sparse and should be used more frequently. Finally the horizontal menu system is extremely difficult to read. The drop-down part of the menu is the same colour as the background and the text is far too light to easily read.
Ease of use
The templated style of the site makes navigation fairly easy. You can skip to pages easily and find what you are looking for quickly. Once registered and all details uploaded there is little for candidates to do on the site. Registered employers can use the search facility and search for possible employees.
Relevant content
Although there is a lot of content explaining how WorkHaven operates and what it can do for you there is not a lot of accompanying information. There are links to the latest world and business news but not a lot else. Most recruitment sites offer helpful advice on interview technique, etc. However WorkHaven do not and I feel this is an opportunity missed.
Candidate and client functionality
Due to the way WorkHaven is set up candidates have very little contact with the site. Once they have registered their details, rather than searching for jobs they just have to wait for prospective employers to contact them. Clients simply register and then search for prospective candidates. They use a search facility to find the candidates that best match their criteria and then pay WorkHaven a fee to contact them directly.
Candidate and client marketing and retention
After the initial registration candidates have no reason to return to the site. They are alerted by email if an employer is interested in contacting them and then they can choose their preferred method of communication. This negates the need for any WorkHaven intervention. Clients, on the other hand, need to return to the WorkHaven site to check the latest batch of potential employees and to see if any match their requirements.
Online marketing
WorkHaven does not perform well if searching for generic terms such as ‘recruitment agencies’. Moreover when searching for ‘WorkHaven’ the site itself does not come up. For improved site visitors WorkHaven could invest in search engine optimisation or maybe a Pay Per Click campaign if they have not already.
Summary
Overall I feel the concept of WorkHaven is a good one. The reversed nature of the site makes for a very good platform. Usually candidates need to do all the work and proactively search for companies they want to work for. WorkHaven place the emphasis on the employer and make them find people they want to work for them. This enables the employer to only speak with people that meet their criteria, saving both time and money. However, unfortunately, WorkHaven is let down by a poorly designed site. I believe addressing this area would be of tremendous benefit and would see the company grow.
John Harrup is a Marketing Executive for Red Ant Design, a professional web design company, offering high-quality accessible websites and development services to clients throughout the UK. You can contact him directly at
john@redantdesign.com
or 01622 664333, alternatively see their products and services at www.redantdesign.com
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