BenefitsLinks.com is a website that provides users with up-to-date Benefits news, information, and has it´s own benefits recruitment site that was named, for the second year in a row by CareerXRoads.com, one of the top 50 recruiting sites on the Internet.
This site is devoted to specifically providing compliance information regarding employee benefits plans that are sponsored by private or governmental employers in the United States.
You can also get information on immediate software downloads. Products listed here are paid advertisements with links to benefits related information resources and products that users can purchase.
BenefitsLink is affiliated with attorney, Carol V. Calhoun and through their partnership, they have links to key government documents. Excellent, excellent resource for quick, general, and detailed information. In fact, the information is so comprehensive that you will easily get side-tracked with your search if you are not careful.
They also have a Benefits Yellow Pages listing of approximately 100 categories of independent companies, consultants, and services! However, when you click on the categories´ links, they are not as densely populated as perhaps one would like. Many of the links have an average of less than 10 links per category.
Is BenefitsLink information for you?
BenefitsLink´s information is not specifically targeted to a certain group of employees, private or public, or for a certain size of organization. Instead, BenefitsLink states that their information is for employers of all sizes, for all employees who participate in benefits plans, and to any other benefits subsidiaries.
You don´t have to worry, BenefitsLink makes an effort to point out that they are not selling or promoting services and products, other than advertising.
How do you use BenefitsLink.com?
When I first started using BenefitsLink.com, I found navigating the site a little disorganized and had some trouble understanding exactly how to use the site. After about 5 minutes, it became quite clear how they had organized their site. The home page outlines how their material is organized and lists the main categories of their content. For example, some of their sections are titled:
On the left hand nav bar, these same (and many, many more) links are listed under the following categories, Benefits Buzz, Features, Source Documents and About this Site. BenefitsLinks has compiled an extremely comprehensive listing of links (over 40, in fact).
Presently (Sept. 2000), there are 315 benefits jobs listed in their recruitment center. When the page opens up, there are some large green and red buttons that indicate various ways that you can sort the job ads.
BenefitsLink has built a lot of functionality into their recruitment center as you can sort 7 different ways, 4 sorts for jobs, and 3 sorts for employers to view candidates´ information such as:
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Jobs by date |
Candidates by date |
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Jobs by Title |
Candidates by title |
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Jobs by location |
Candidates by state |
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Jobs by Employer |
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The listings are posted in chronological order where the most recently posted or renewed ads appear on the top of the listing.
How do I post a job ad?
There are three ways that you can post your job ad:
1) You can fill out an online form on BenefitsLink´s website. After completing this step, your job ad will automatically be posted, but BenefitsLink will send you an invoice in the regular mail.
2) Alternatively, you can fax BenefitsLink your job ad by first downloading a printing an order form and submitting it that way.
3) Finally, you can email BenefitsLink the text of your job ad. For an additional $25, they will post your ad for you.
Pricing for posting a job ad
There is a one-time charge of $200 for posting a job ad. This fee includes some of the following services:
- 60 days of 24-hour exposure on EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com, a division of BenefitsLink -- the national employee benefits Web site
- You will be able to renew at a discount -- a renewal of this particular ad to run an additional 60 days is $100.00; BenefitsLink will remind you via email when your ad nears its initial 60-day term.
- A real-time hits counter to show you exactly how many times your ad has been viewed to date.
- No limit to the amount of text you can place in your ad about the particular position for which you''re seeking applicants ... describe the job opening, your company, etc.
- The only restriction is that you must purchase a separate ad for each job title for which you''re advertising.
- A link to your web site is available at no charge, or even to a particular page on your web site describing your personnel policies in more detail or the particular job opportunity.
- The ability to edit or delete your ad at any time using any Web browser and a password you''ll assign yourself when you post the ad.
Overall Evaluation
Their message boards are used relatively often and contain up-to-date questions and responses. The level of detail of their Q and A´s section is really quite impressive. For example, they have one question posted that asks about the pro´s and con´s of changing from an SAR-SEP to a 401(k) plan especially dealing with taxes. The response was a full page in length, defined the general terms involved as well as clearly outlined the advantages and disadvantages (in their perspective) to the switch.
Also, there was a question about COBRA compliance and some of the particular qualifying event timelines, coverage, and an employee´s probationary period. The answer was straightforward, and provides and unambiguous response to a potentially complex question. They also provide links to more information in case you still want to do research.
The highly recommended job board has its advantages and disadvantages. One being that you must pay to have your job posted; some larger boards will post jobs for free. Another disadvantage is that BenefitsLink´s job board only targets a small number of individuals. However, of the individuals it targets, employers know that these job seekers are specifically interested in the jobs that they are posting.
My recommendation is to use BenefitsLink´s job board a supplementary recruiting system and to use other recruitment methods to find the perfect employee for your position.
As for their resource center, I would give it a top-notch rating. BenefitsLink´s services as well as their links and additional online information are really quite comprehensive and detailed.
In agreement with the many sites that have listed BenefitsLinks as a recommended site, I definitely encourage you to check out their site, especially if you have a particularly detailed benefits question that needs answering. Take advantage of their great free services.
About the company
Dave Baker, BenefitsLink´s publisher, originally launched BenefitsLink in 1995. In June 1999, Mary Hall joined as the site´s business manager.
Dave worked as an employee benefits lawyer and considers himself a "computer geek". These two interests combined led to the development of BenefitsLink. The site has been highly rated by numerous independent sites including Britannica.com, CareerXRoads.com, Quicken.com, and Excite.com.
BenefitsLink
1014 East Robinson Street
Orlando FL 32801
Fax: (407) 841-3054
Voice mail: (407) 841-3717