SCMP launches job portal to target middle-level job seekers

Capitalising on the trend toward online job searching, the new site, smartjob.com, targets 25- to 35-year-old, mid-career professionals. It has been differentiated from SCMP's other recruitment vehicles, Classified Post and Jiu Jik, which target senior-level executives and entry-level or administrative applicants, respectively. 

Avoiding the market practice of populating a portal with old or duplicated jobs, the site aims to focus on maintaining a portfolio of up-to-date listings. Job resources in the form of related content, including videos and articles, are meant to help in job searches and personal development skills. 

A US$902,700 (HK$7 million) multimedia marketing push, co-developed by local independent agency WE Marketing and SCMP's in-house creative department, has online, television and outdoor executions with the tagline "Bosses are fighting to hire you."

Creative director Wayne Knowle and his team at SCMP designed the smartjobs.com logo and were also involved in the storyboarding and copywriting of the TVC. It shows a smart-looking office worker being hotly pursued by an army of prospective employers in an action-movie fashion, just after he registers his resume on smartjob.com. 

This portrayal flips the traditional recruitment marketing model on its head and positions the job-seeker in the ultimate driving seat, being able to pick and choose who he wants to work for, according to the company.

SCMP's director of recruitment services, Stanley Suen, said the new portal gives job seekers a "highly efficient and effective job search environment, making them smarter all-round". 

"Our campaign hopes to connect our target audience with a brand that's cool and relevant, and shows them that even a job portal can be engaging," Suen continued.

According to the latest Robert Walters Asia Job Index for the third quarter of 2011, recruitment advertising activity in the territory tailed off following a strong second quarter.