It’s so exciting! Your organization just finished the selection process and chose the best new job board software for your association.
Now that you’ve made your job board software choice, what comes next? It’s time to optimize the launch of your association’s new job board software.
With this new software, you now have the power to provide one of the most valued membership benefits, as an online career center provides job opportunities, career resources, and help with professional growth. But before you move ahead, it’s important to think about how you will implement, launch, and promote your new online career center.
Now’s the time to aim high. Make it a goal for your job board and online career center to become a true career destination for your members. Not only will it help your members grow in their industry, but it will also help provide more value to your association with opportunities for membership retention and growth.
Let’s explore 5 steps to take when implementing new job board software and launching a new online career center for your association:
1. Set up a plan of action.
It’s important to have a plan in place to help ensure a smooth experience for your staff as you implement the software and a great experience for your members once the new online career center launches. Here are some key items to include in your plan of action:
- Timeline – When will you start the process, and how long will it take?
- Duties – Who is in charge, and what tasks will each person do during the process?
- Communication – Provide project updates to association staff and ask for updates from your software provider.
- Experience – Think about what your members will want, and make sure to check that the member experience is reflected. Members should really understand how the career center can become a career development destination for them.
2. Prepare your association’s staff.
Make sure your staff gets the tools and information they need during the software implementation. This helps to ensure everyone understands how the software works, how to troubleshoot any issues, and how to walk through the system with any members who might call with questions when the online career center launches.
Making sure your association staff can help your members quickly and efficiently is key to facilitating a positive experience through this process.
3. Build a marketing plan.
Generate buzz about your association’s new online career center to get your members excited and ready to jump into the new resource. Decide on a timeline for your organization to:
- Help your members to understand the value of the coming career center.
- Send countdown emails and then eventually an email with more details right before and after the launch.
- Make sure you update your membership marketing materials to reflect the new career center.
- Determine where you want to promote things on your website, like job widgets or a link to your job board, as well as other channels you’ll use to announce and continue to market your career center.
4. Test.
Testing your career center is essential to ensure it’s working properly. Be sure to factor in time for testing into your implementation plan.
It’s also important to have multiple staff members at your association participate in testing before you launch. The more eyes on it the better to find any errors or user issues. Some tips:
- Test as job seekers, employers, and your staff.
- Pretend you have never seen the software before; follow the total user experience to see if there are any glitches.
- Do a soft launch to only a small group of members.
- Get feedback, make any changes needed, and test again before launch.
5. Go for launch and beyond!
When it’s launch week, make sure everyone involved with your association – staff and members – is aware of all of the new benefits in the online career center. Advertise the launch on your website, social media channels, and print advertisements, such as your association’s magazine or newsletter.
Once your new career center is launched, keep the momentum going using some of these tips for growing your association’s career center:
- Showcase your career center in member publications.
- Set up a career center booth at your onsite and virtual events.
- Showcase career center banner ads throughout your association website.
SHRM Career Center Launch Promotion
Take the next step
Whether you’re moving from one job board software to another, or you’re implementing a job board for the first time, a well-developed plan will help you build an online career center that improves your members’ experience and deepens their connection with your organization.
The right job board software provider can help your association create a true career destination for your industry that attracts members to your organization and helps members achieve their professional goals.
