PLYMOUTH, Mich. — Nearly 18 months ago, a Web site was rolled out to the entire credit union system designed to introduce Internet recruiting available through an online portal.

The site was a joint project of the Michigan Credit Union League and online recruitment powerhouse CareerBuilder and resulted in a resource that attracts 21 million unique credit union job seekers and 12 million r?sum?s. The first installment offered credit unions pricing discounts and was such a success that version 2.0 has been released.

“We've had almost 1,000 credit unions use the CUCareerBuilder program,” said Jim Fournier, vice president of MCUL/CUcorp. “It's just so simple because there's no contract to sign. If they go to CUCareerBuilder.com first, it puts them through a special portal page where they identify themselves as a credit union, CUSO or league and then it sends them off to CareerBuilder where they've got every imaginable piece of the CareerBuilder program available. It's just that it's at a reduced price for the credit union system.”

For $299, credit unions can place a single 30-day ad. That price drops to $252 per ad when a four-pack is purchased and $246 per ad when a bundle of 10 is selected. Opting for one 30-day job posting on the main CareerBuilder site costs $389.

Fournier said that MCUL was using CareerBuilder for one year prior to developing a partnership with the company and wanted to introduce other credit unions to online recruiting since it had been successful at his organization. Today, approximately 95% of MCUL's employment ads run online including all positions including clerical to management, Fournier said, with a small amount placed in local newspapers when the credit union is targeting a particular type of employee.

There are many benefits to being associated with CareerBuilder, said Fournier. CareerBuilder has a presence in the top 200 local markets and boasts over 26 million unique visitors to its newspaper Web sites each month. CareerBuilder has the largest database of r?sum?s on file, Fournier added, so you can search for a r?sum? as opposed to posting an ad and waiting for people to respond to it. Those that submit r?sum?s hold the option of having a background check done and when completed, it is marked as such on the site.

Then there's the power of name recognition and the credit union discount. “I've been going to all of the national trade shows and as I've been talking to people, 90% of them recognize CareerBuilder and by putting the 'CU' in front of it and sending them there first, they qualify for the special program pricing,” Fournier explained.

“Let's say you purchase a 4-pack of ads–you'll get a CareerBuilder discount (for volume) and your credit union discount on top of that. Plus, there's no short-term or long-term contract. If someone's bought a 4-pack, when they use those up and need more they just go through the portal to get the discount again. There's nothing to sign–just remember those two extra keystrokes–'CU' before CareerBuilder and you're all set.” –[email protected]