Are You On Board?

 

Members, Employers find value in BGS CareerCentral Job Board

In the last year, Beta Gamma Sigma inducted more than 20,000 new members into the Society, and most of them used at least one on-line source in their searches for quality career opportunities.

Of the other 500,000+ members of Beta Gamma Sigma, a large percentage also utilized on-line tools to make their job searches more focused, efficient and ultimately successful. Recent studies have shown that the Internet has become the most popular tool for job candidates to find opportunities and research the companies where they are most interested in working.

The Society’s on-line job board, BGS CareerCentral, has grown greatly over the last several months and is beginning to pay large dividends for those members who are making it part of their career search strategy. In May and June of this year, for example, at least seven Beta Gamma Sigma members were hired by Accenture, the global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, as a result of their registration and participation in the job board.

Anhad Singh, a member of Beta Gamma Sigma who was inducted in 2002 during his MBA studies at Loyola University Chicago, discovered the Accenture opportunities on BGS CareerCentral. Although he had not had any contact with Accenture, he decided to look into the positions.

“The CareerCentral is a good source for looking up job opportunities,” Singh said. “I came across my current position through a BGS email.”

Because Singh had his email on file with the Society, he received the notice about Accenture’s career opportunities. As a direct result of this, Singh was recently hired as an Analyst by the firm.

Some of the other companies that have advertised key career opportunities on BGS CareerCentral over the last few months include Ford Motor Company, US Bank, Edward Jones and Motorola, Inc. At press time, Beta Gamma Sigma was working with KPMG to develop a program advertising that company’s job openings, and many other large employers have responded positively to the service’s potential.

For employers, BGS CareerCentral offers a “filter” – all those registered on the site and searching job openings are members of Beta Gamma Sigma. That means that, unlike Monster, CareerBuilder or other on-line job boards, employers are assured of connecting with individuals who were honored for academic excellence while completing their collegiate business studies.

Whether you work at a large, multi-national corporation with 50,000 employees or a small firm with three, BGS CareerCentral may be a good place for your company to find its next great employee.

On the other hand, the number of members who have utilized the site continues to grow slowly. From May-December 2003, 4,039 members registered for the site, with 2,620 (65%) filling out a profile (or resume).

From January-June 2004, 3,517 members registered as site users, with 2,221 (63%) filling out a profile. Because there have been more than 100,000 job views – defined as jobs that members click on to get more information – from May 2003 to June 2004, it is apparent that those visiting the site are finding jobs that may fit their interest and experience. The problem is that with fewer than 5,000 members registered on the site, the vast majority of members have not even given it a test run to see if it might work for them.

“When we first began discussing a career center for Beta Gamma Sigma more than three years ago, we envisioned that members would automatically register for the service with little prompting,” said Vicki Klutts, associate executive director of the Society.

“Instead, we’ve got a relatively small number of members that are using the service quite a bit, and they’re the ones getting the most value from it. We have been successful attracting some very good employers to test CareerCentral, and so far they like what they find. But many companies have indicated that they prefer a larger pool of candidates to which they can advertise their openings. That’s really what we need now, for more members to get involved.

“At the present time, Beta Gamma Sigma has approximately 75,000 email addresses on file. Compared to the number of mailing addresses – 365,000 – the number of emails is very low.”

When Beta Gamma Sigma has sent email blasts about job postings from major employers, the response has been significant, with more than 10 times the number of members visiting the site within the next day as compared to the normal number of visitors.

“It’s not cost-effective for the Society to send traditional mailings out to members telling them about job postings, but it is very cost effective to send an email blast. If we could double the number of email addresses on file over the next 12 months, we could help many more members by letting them know when an employer is looking to hire “the best in business” – Beta Gamma Sigma members.”

Klutts suggests that all members should visit the site and register, even if they are not currently looking for a new position. She said the site is completely anonymous, allowing companies to view the qualifications on a member’s profile without knowing who the member is. This anonymous feature was custom built for Beta Gamma Sigma members – including those working in their current jobs – so they could find out about other positions that fit their qualifications.

Klutts stressed that the Society does not sell its email list to any commercial entity, but utilizes it internally to notify members of benefits and programs that are available throughout their lives. She said the Society believes that notifying its members about significant job postings could be one of the most valuable services Beta Gamma Sigma has ever offered.

Among the many valuable Internet tools, Beta Gamma Sigma encourages its members to make BGS CareerCentral part of their on-line job search strategy.