We've been thinking heavily about one of those old questions: "What is an employment website and what makes it successful?"

In the beginning it was easy. In 1993, a website was a collection of text and images contained on a web server. It's purpose was, more or less, to keep up with the Joneses new website. It may have listed the jobs available at a company. It might have just included an email address for resume submittals.

Over time, we began to understand the utility of the employment website. Meanwhile, it was becoming the place that everyone went before they contacted the HR Department about a job.

Today, an employment website serves multiple functions:

1. Lobby: It is the first place that a potential employee actually encounters the company. It is the source of lasting first impressions.
2. Gateway: It is a filter that encourages some candidates while frustrating and discouraging others. Usually, it works backwards.
3. Data Source: It is the place from which most data enters the applicant tracking system. It is the source of the quality problems in the "Talent Pool Database."
4. Opportunity: It is the best place to catch the people you want. Unfortunately, simple practices that could make this happen rarely materialize.

We've said, over the years, that the most important site on the web is yours.