smith fam

Job boards, job boards, everywhere a job board!

Is it just me or are all job boards starting to run together these days? Most seem to contain the same promises and it's difficult to see much difference between the function and flow for the average user. Is there a place for job boards? Sure. Since we're all searching for the competitive edge, they are difficult to live without. I've found one lately that I'm in the process of trialing ~ careermetasearch.com. Jason Gorham is the CEO ~ good guy with bookoo experience and he'll gladly stir up a tour for you. Here's what I like about it so far - at least in concept...it's an online job board (just like the others - you can search resumes and place ad's), but they also create custom marketing/advertising solutions for their clients, attempting to target the ads on sites where candidates spend a majority of their time. Like I said, I'm still in the wait-n-see mode, but it makes perfect sense. You might want to check it out ~ Motorola and eBay have already taken the hook. My employer (Samsung Telecommunications America) is willing to bet that it will soon turn in to something akin to the other big boards - like I said, aren't we all looking for the competitive edge?

Just me thinkin'

Expensive recruiting tools at the expense of our brains?

Here's what I'm "thinking" today. Recruiting is hard work and not an occupation for the lazy. One aspect of recruiting today that makes it hard is that it’s gotten a bit easier over the last few years. In times past, our tool-kit wasn’t bursting at the seams; there was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears – a lot of phone calls – a lot of emails – a lot of “no’s.” Much of that still applies today, but there is one big difference: we have never had so many tools at our disposal as we have today. The average recruiter has access to more information before lunch-time of any given day than ever before in the history of “recruiting/headhunting/staffing,” etc. A result is that we often run through our toolkit like kids in a candy store, failing to spend adequate time becoming experts of any one tool. Having quickly run the gamut of tools, we thoughtlessly restart the process without taking the time to “think” about where we’ve been and what we’ve done (recruiting déjà vu). Steve Levy, Principal & Chief Thinking Officer at “outside-the-box” consulting recently blogged about our “gray matter,” encouraging recruiters to embrace a different perspective http://www.ereexchange.com (see "you have enough gray matter"). Steve said, “What if you didn't have use of the Internet or job boards? How would you go about sourcing talent? It's all about changing your perspective and viewing situations "laterally." Awwright, Recruiters/Headhunters/Staffing Pro’s, it’s time to start thinking – to start using our gray matter. Thinking is hard work, but it will distinguish us from our lazier competitors. So let’s get busy with the gray matter. In the words of Jimmy V., “I believe in you. I believe you can do this.”

Let's be honest...recruiting can be G, B & U!

Recruiting is good - we love it because we're bull-headed, competition-driven warriors that love a challenge and the thrill of the hunt/fight/close. Recruiting is bad - too many requisitions - candidates - bad managers. Recruiting is ugly - (ditto everything from "Bad"), plus - comp issues that lose the great candidates - bad relo plans - managers that ask illegal questions - resumes written by 3rd graders - ever-changing job descriptions - ever-changing job market......and candidates who use our pictures as a dart-board.

But hey, when you are hooked on recruiting you find a way to overlook the bad and the ugly and you keep plowing...hunting...closing. The good comes along unexpectedly...the greatest hire of the year - the positive ROI - the improved hiring metrics - "exceeds expectations" on my customer's satisfaction survey. Is that still enough?

C'mon recruiters - here's your dumping ground. What's working for you? What's not working? Share some ideas - some frustrations - some victories - some defeats. Let's learn from each other.