The PLN Gamble

When Sean and I first thought of the idea for Postlearn.com, we knew that pushing job opportunities through Personal Learning Networks (PLN) was a two part gamble.

1. The first half of the gamble is “will people click through to view jobs, or read jobs showcased on their favorite jobs”?
2. The other is “will employers see the value in posting jobs on someone’s PLN” (on blogs are social networking sites, the place where users are already actively engaging content, but not necessarily expecting to find job opportunities)?

Well the first half was answered pretty clearly last week.  As we grow traffic, impressions and affiliates we’ve been scouring the web for the best job opportunities that we thought would resonate with our affiliates and their audiences.  One such job was found on the popular 37signals job site, http://jobs.37signals.com.  Here’s a link to the job posting on Postlearn.com.

The position is appealing for several reasons including the flexibility in location (they’re just searching for someone based in the US, though travel is extensive) and it’s high tech nature (it’s online/computer-based International Baccalaureate software).  That being said, we liked it and posted it and immediately it was spread throughout the web to our affiliate network and onto their blogs and social networking pages.  The next day, Faria Systems (the employer) called me.  This is about how the conversation went down (more or less; I have to admit that I was a little nervous since this was the first call from anyone about our job board):

Me: Hello, this is Joe.

Faria Systems: Hi, I’m looking for Postlearn.com?

Me: you’ve found it, what can I do for you?

FS: well, I’m getting calls about a job that’s posted to Postlearn.com, but I don’t ever remember posting it there.  Did we pay to have it posted?

Me: Oh….well no.  We found the job on 37signals job site, but thought that it was a good fit for our job board.  You see, we have about a dozen affiliates that contribute over 20,000 page impressions a month, so your job is getting a lot of traffic.  I apologize if this is an inconvenience, and I’m happy to take down the posting.  It didn’t even occur to me to ask before posting.

FS: wow, well I was confused a bit because I didn’t remember posting it there.  But do leave it up.

Me: No problem!  In fact, keep in mind that we just started but we contributed views to your job, so in the future consider posting at Postlearn.com.

FS: will do! bye…

So, in an answer to that first question, “will people click through to view jobs, or read jobs showcased on their favorite jobs?”  YES.

Not only that, they’ll apply for the jobs.

So to our affiliates out there: keep it up, we’re on the right track.  And to the employers with jobs I’ll only add: submit your jobs at Postlearn.com, the PREMIER job board for education and the best way to attract tech-savvy candidates and teachers to your organization.  Did I mention that Postlearn.com is 1/5 the cost of a job posting at 37signals?