Job boards play an important part in the recruitment process and act as a tool for recruitment agencies to find suitable candidates, and candidates to search and apply for suitable jobs. This online advertising has replaced traditional press advertising and the sheer number of them show that they have their place in the process. But what they don't do is help build the working relationship between candidate and agencies and between employers and agencies, they're in effect faceless.

Let's face it, there's a sea of recruitment agencies out there and browsing through job board after job board, where one agency looks like the next, means that agencies don't really stand out from the crowd and that candidates can't learn about them to judge if they would be able to help them. So, us folk here at Rated Recruitment, set up this unbiased site to even the playing field. We wanted to help all sides of the recruitment process because ultimately a good working relationship enables candidates to find jobs and agencies to continue to place more candidates in positions that employers need to fill.

We felt that there were two key principles being underestimated in the many job boards out there:

1. the value of the relationship between those involved in the recruitment process
2. the importance of choosing the right recruitment agency for your needs

Hiring organisations for example, pay agencies to recruit candidates or temporary staff for them, almost as an extension of their HR department. Many want their agency to be responsible for sourcing, screening, interviewing and selecting the appropriate candidate(s) for them. Similarly, candidates searching for their first or next job/contract want to be able to move into the job that is right for them, easily and quickly. It's a big responsibility that agencies are trusted with and so both employers and job-seeking candidates need to feel confident that they have made the right choice of agency that will have the capability to help them and share a good working relationship with them.

So, what makes Rated Recruitment different to the other job boards out there and how do we address these two key principles?

Here, good customer service speaks for itself regardless of the size of the agency or marketing budget. We use a simple, effective concept; if a recruitment agency has offered a job search candidate outstanding service, that candidate can review the agency on our site and share their experience so that other potential candidates can make a more informed decision on whether that agency could also help them. This also naturally means that good agencies stand out here merely on the work they do - this is vital information that candidates can't get from other job boards.

The review system not only lets good service be rewarded, it also helps build a strong, working relationship between candidates and agencies. Agencies have the opportunity to respond to each of their reviews, showing they're listening and addressing any concerns candidates may have or thanking them for praise! It's a chance to use the ratings to show they're proactive and show candidates they're always improving their customer service and working procedures. Not only will that candidate and agency have made a personal relationship, it will be shared with other candidates and so they'll want to have that relationship with the agency too.

But we're not just leaving it to candidates and agencies to strike up the relationship, we're more hands-on when we're needed. We know not all the reviews people leave on sites are glowing, so our system has a built-in safeguard. If an agency receives a rating lower than three stars, it's a clear indication that a candidate isn't happy so we hold off publishing it for 72 hours to give them time to respond. Their response will go to the candidate, giving them the opportunity to amend their review and if they feel their concerns have been addressed. In many of these instances, after they receive a response, candidates reconsider their reviews, showing that responding helps to build good working relationships. Furthermore, after the 72 hours has lapsed, if the agency has been unable to respond, our resolution centre will automatically send them an email notifying them that the time has lapsed and offering them the chance to contact us if they would still like to try to come to a resolution. We will help get to the reasoning behind the rating and if any negative reviews are found to be unfair, we'll state on them that they have been investigated and are unfounded and they will be displayed in a hidden (click to reveal), section of their profile. We're here to help make an unhappy candidate happy with their agency again and an agency that may have received an unfair review, be able to protect their good ratings.

So, to put it another way, you could also think of us as a recruitment match-making site (bear with me here!) helping candidates find the right agency for them and agencies find the candidates they need. Bringing agencies altogether right here posting their jobs, was the first step to increase the chances of candidate meeting agency. The ratings and the review system was the second step in ensuring that the candidate strikes up a relationship with the right match in agency for them. And the third? Well here each agency gets their own profile page where they can shout about who they are and what they do. It can be filled with clients they've helped, awards they've won, videos, resources, events they're running, their latest blog post and much more! Their reviews will also show on their profile along with any jobs they've posted. Then when they've created their profile, they can share it with candidates on Twitter, Facebook email etc and let them learn more about them and see the jobs they have available. Again here, the personal connection is ignited; candidates can explore the profiles of any agencies they are considering working with and learn more about them and agencies can really shout about themselves, making them stand out from the crowd.

It's all about creating and maintaining good working relationships here, because the recruitment process will run a lot smoother for everyone involved that way. We understand that to help you do that, we can't just be another faceless job board. The job board has just evolved.