Everyone's Blog Posts - Job Boarders

Testimony Of A Repentant Job Seeker

2009-11-12T21:30:00.000Z

I once was the darling of the recruitment agencies – then I found instead of the wanted one I became the discarded one – why?

Changes can sneak up on us and it’s a hard wake up call when you realise that what used to work so well no longer does.

What had changed was that instead of a human being I had become a commodity. Prospective employers were not interested in my potential as a member of their team they wanted hard evidence that I was a direct replacement for the guy who just left and that I came all packaged up with their industry knowledge in my head.

Recruitment agencies know how to make themselves look good by parading candidates who are over qualified and then switching over to some migrant who can barely speak intelligible English but will undercut the current rates.

It became obvious that my employment scene became a crowded space as I went for interview after interview without landing a job.

At least I was getting interviews – I thought that was a positive. In sport you get to see your opponents. In the job market you don’t.! You can delude yourself in thinking that what once worked will work again – it’s just a matter of applying to more jobs. Unfortunately trying to fit square pegs into round holes is a loosing proposition – no matter how persistent you are.

Candidates profiling is now an established practise in the employment scene and it is time jobseekers learn the new rules of the game. It’s all to do with keywords. Literally (excuse the pun) these words hold the key to your employment success. If you don’t have the XYZ industry buzz word in the last assignment of your résumé – you won’t make it to the shortlist – full stop.

Mostly for cost-cutting reasons employers have long given up on running a Human Resources Department. In fact it used to be called the Personnel Department. The message is clear for us job seekers: We have to be resourceful – not personal.

Things started to change for me when I realised I could no longer afford to blast the same old résumé of mine at every job advert that came in sight. Instead I had to find out the specific requirements of each job. Then I would issue a revamped copy of my CV. Slightly more work that just hitting the Send button on my email program with the same attachment each time. Those days were over. It’s amazing how ingenuous you become when you are hungry. It could take up to four hours to twist things around so that the ad’s pet must-have features were now in front of their nose.

Being the enterprising sort that I am I resolved to get the computer to do some of that work. That is another story in itself but that’s how the website Resume Digest came about.

Job search 2010 -- small is in

2009-11-12T17:42:53.000Z

We've just been through a brutal economic storm. If you were sheltered, great - good for you. But pay attention anyway, because this storm wreaked havoc on many of the people you'll meet in the next stages of your career. You are going to meet and work with a lot of people who've been burned. So many that the American business landscape is never going to look the same again.

At the height of the crisis, large companies fired thousands of employees to preserve profits. In many cases, they terminated good people to protect their stock prices (not to ensure survival). In so doing, they sent a powerful message - profits are sacred, people are disposable. It's not the first time this has happened for sure, but this time, the firings were connected to a crisis technical in nature, unrelated to business fundamentals, and connected with greed and corruption. Average Americans can see more clearly than ever how protected the rich and powerful are at the expense of everyone else. We feel helpless, unappreciated and disrespected.

First the bankers and other business elite got rich during the real estate boom years, then they were bailed out by very taxpayers who were left twisting in the wind by all the financial monkey business of the last five years. At the same time that the taxpayers were doing the bailing, massive layoffs were happening around the country -- at profitable companies. I call that a lack of character and I assure you that talented people notice it.

They are going to notice the US national debt too, now over $110,000 per taxpayer. That bill will come due but we know it's not going to hurt our captains of industry much. As Ted Turner says, losing 80% of your wealth overnight is hard, but a guy can still get by when there are a few billion leftover. The images of the Goldman Sachs 20 billion dollar bonuses coming in December just a few short quarters after the bailouts will be seared into the minds of those who've suffered in this recession.

So what will change? keep reading...

Critique of CleanTechrecruits

2009-11-12T14:02:57.000Z

Check out my review of this renewable energy job board. Want more videos like this? Join my premium podcast site.

Running The Gauntlet With Recruitment Agencies

2009-11-11T21:00:00.000Z

Let’s face it recruitment agencies are here to stay. How can we manage the love/hate relationship between agencies and candidates? As a candidate you need to wise up to some conflicts of interest that are doomed to arise between you and your agent.

But first let’s understand the job market. We’ve all become lazy and fallen down the path of least resistance.

Frustrated jobseekers assume that all it takes to land that perfect job is to blast as many résumés as possible over the internet. Dishing out the same résumé to every job advert you’re replying to is like trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

Unscrupulous recruiters would be quite content to steal their competitors’ employees without any need for training or induction. They seek ways to move people out of employment altogether and hire them back as contractors who have to cater for their own insurance and superannuation.

Employers have axed their human resources departments and scores of recruitment agencies are clamouring to fill the gap. They in turn keep databases of candidates and are in the process of profiling people – treating them not as human beings but as a commodity they can on-sell to someone else. They like to pull up names that match a certain set of keywords and they use scanning software to skim through résumés hoping to find that 5 legged sheep that their client is after.

They sometimes advertise positions that do not exist for the sake of conducting their own job market research and finding out who might apply for that. Worse they sometimes ring you up to find out in not so subtle ways what interviews you’ve had so that they can field candidates in opposition to the other agent who got you there.

So how can we bridge the gap between recruiters and jobseekers? The moment you consider the situation from the other party’s point of view you will start to break the deadlock.

The question a savvy candidate should ask is “What about if I identify the employer’s needs and go about to meet those needs?”

In fact they make it easier for you as most job adverts feature a bulleted list of requirements to fulfil. The message is clear: “If you don’t have those skills don’t bother to apply.”

You might well have those skills but by replying with the same boring boilerplate résumé you make it hard for the employer to search for them like a pin in a haystack. The truth is: if they don’t find what they want in the upper third of the first page of your CV they will not bother to investigate further.

Within reason there are ways to make you look like the perfect fit. Unfortunately it may take you several hours to rewrite a tailor-made version of your résumé which addresses specifically the requirements of the ad. That why most people don’t bother but that’s where lies the prize.

Check out Resume Digest for details.

Ready to make money in recruitment again?

2009-11-11T06:30:00.000Z

Are you starting to make money in recruitment again? I don’t mean the nickels and dimes, I mean are you starting to make some serious money that you made earlier in this decade? If not then, maybe you should see how to reposition yourself. The first thing you should do when repositioning yourself is understand where the economy is heading and what the economy will demand in the coming quarters. One of the best resources for recruiters who want to follow recruitment trends is the Monster Employment Index. This is a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities gathered from career sites and job boards, and presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity nationwide. It is interesting to note that in October the Employment Index rose to 120 from 119 in September, however to keep things in perspective, it is important to note that the Employment Index stood at 152 a year ago.

Our research desk reports that the economy is demanding new recruits in the healthcare, education, and the public sector. Our research desk continues to urge recruiters to focus on building pools of applicants for the healthcare and social assistance industries as we predict that these areas will continue to show recruitment demand in Q1 and Q2 of 2010. We are also predicting a very strong need for technology recruits because Web 3.0 has gained a lot of momentum during the recession, and a lot of the companies that miscalculated their competitors move towards Web 3.0 will be rushing to maintain a competitive edge and hire project managers, business analysts, programmers and QA positions.

As the economy inches toward recovery, our research desk is not expecting to see any movement in the hospitality, retail, construction and manufacturing sector just yet. This is because consumer spending power is at a 25 year low and is discouraging the sale of large ticket items.

Smart recruiting companies use this type data to position themselves to be profitable even in a down market. Our research desk noted the Q4 profits of Hewitt soar amid the recession. Hewitt, a human resource consulting firm saw its Q4 EPS at $0.68 vs $0.32 a year ago. Hewitt was able to accomplish this by lowering their operating expenses, and repositioning its hiring strategy.

Another smart company, Kenexa, is rapidly expanding by studying the market needs and is opening up offices in Argentina. Both Hewitt and Kenexa might be large companies but they are only succeeding because of their continuous research and understanding of the market’s future needs.

If you are looking to become a serious player in recruitment, you should take a step back and evaluate your understanding of the next few quarters and then start positioning yourself accordingly to cash in during this slow recovery period.

Jobamatic adds customized widgets

2009-11-11T03:00:00.000Z

Nice move here by SH to add more functionality and customization to the Jobamatic widgets which let you display jobs from your Jobamatic site. Up til now you could only choose from a few colors.

I have some pretty good experience with Jobamatic site setup/design should you need any advice.

Who Needs A Functional Resume?

2009-11-10T21:30:00.000Z

As soon as gaps or changes of direction appear in your employment history you may benefit from a functional resume. The time worn chronological format is a bit like a trail of where you’ve been as well as how long you stayed in one place on the employment scene. It gives out spurious information that can be used against you.

The first move towards a functional format is when people list their work experience in reverse chronological order. Obviously no employer is too concerned about how you started off in your work life since many students take part-time jobs unrelated to their studies.

So from an employer’s point of view your last assignment is the most relevant because what you are doing right now gives many clues as to how employable you are to them.

But why stop there? If your purpose is to match the requirements laid out in the job specifications and you have to compete with scores of unseen other candidates for the same position why not give it your best shot? You’ve got it – your last role may not be the most relevant for the position you’re applying for. Who said you have to list your experience in reverse chronological order?

So what are the complications? For a start you can no longer list your start and end dates. What about posting the duration of each role you had instead? Does the employer read some horoscope to screen those who started their last job in May or April? Who cares!

What then will determine the order of your work experience in a functional resume? It will be the order of relevance for that one position you’re applying for. Here lies the major trump card of the functional resume: it is custom written for one job posting in order to maximize your chance of being called for an interview.

This is in stark contrast to the reverse chronological resume that people would aimlessly blast on blogs or resume farms in the hope that the prince charming employer in shining armour will find you. Wake up and be real! It’s not going to happen. What you have to do in a competitive employment scene is identify the jobs that will both give you the most satisfaction and give you the chance to unleash your skills. Then target each one of those job posts with a tailor-made functional resume.

Sound like a lot of work? Don’t worry others are already using a tool to do just that. Check it out at Resume Digest

Job boards and applicant tracking systems

2009-11-10T14:05:12.000Z

The appeal of applicant tracking systems (ATS) for employers is obvious: they promise to bring order to the often disordered process of managing job applicants. An ATS can theoretically drive all job applicants into a single pipeline, massage their unruly information into neatly ordered database fields set up exactly as the employer desires, and allow HR to actually manage the interactions with applicants.

Sometimes the ATS works well – and sometimes (like all software) it doesn’t. When it works, the HR and recruitment team are very happy and often are able to do more with less. (Although poor ATS implementations can cause problems for job seekers, as I noted here).

Job boards, however, face several challenges when dealing with employers using an ATS

Keep reading....

Experts or Performers? Make a choice

2009-11-10T07:59:08.000Z

Just last week, a friend asked a question about the way I classify employees with respect to what they deliver to their organizations. So I decided to write a post about it. When thinking about the candidates organizations may be interested in hiring, I like to keep things simple and classify them into two categories. Experts or Performers. Yes I know what your immediate reaction will be Hassan, don’t make things so simple because they aren’t. Yes, I agree often they aren’t but trust me guys – at times they are that simple. I like to look at a potential hire with these two lenses because it makes my job easier and simplifies my hiring decision. Believe it or not, I have been pretty darn good with this. Let’s see why I believe so.
Experts are perfectionists. These are the folks with years and years (at times decades) of experience under their belt in the field of their specialty. They are mature in their thinking – too mature maybe for a customer-responsive, innovative and growth-

savvy organization. Experts weigh in their knowledge and advice on important decisions. Theirs is the carefully chosen path. Risks mitigated – all corners covered. They take pride in their expertise and profession. Often like to work in organizations with established hierarchy and a set career path. Intuition is the element that’s long been suppressed – rationale is what they relish. Organizations with mature work processes find them to be a perfect fit. In my eyes, they are process-improving machines where problems are pushed in and a rational solution will come out the other end.

Performers are the ones who are never short on ideas. You often hear them ask the WHY question in the cafeteria. You might often find them jumping the gun on tough decisions but if encouraged, their idea train would take you places you h

adn’t dreamed of. They are usually the fresh perspective guys – irrespective of the longevity of their careers. They just have the attitude of ‘why not’ and ‘what else’. Often Performers are young blood – the fresh graduate, the newly transitioned into an industry or new to management. They may be short on sound and calculated advice at times, but never short on commitment or energy. Think of the pizza delivery guy who wants to work extra hours just before the Spring break – yes that’s them. If you lead them, you don’t need to bring a sense of urgency to every task – because they do it for you. They thrive when systems, processes and structures are still taking shape and evolving.

So who should you hire!

Market trends show that a particular type of organizations is hiring Performers and it has no co-relation to the size of the company or the state of its business growth. So what sets these organizations apart? Their attitude! Yes, I call it the Responsive Attitude. It is not the one with the reactive attitude, one that waits for the competition to beat them to the next product or market before they call in the emergency board meeting. It’s not even the one with the proactive attitude, one that would be trying out too many new things in search of the Killer App or next iPhone. These organizations are structured enough to have a strategic focus and flexible enough to revisit it from time to time – just the right balance. Having the Responsive Attitude means you are following up on your plans but you are constantly in touch with your customers in various markets to see what they are saying about you, your products, your delivery process and your customer service. These organizations are seeking Performers because they are ready to put out a product that is 80% ready TODAY then release the fully tested one NEXT WEEK. Performers help them make that decision. Experts would still be covering corners, mitigating risks while the competition would be working on their second Beta release. So review your clients and see which ones have the Responsive Attitude and then you would know what to do.

I don’t mean to claim that this is the Holy Grail of talent acquisition but this has been the result of our team’s research. I would be interested in your take on the subject.

Getting a Job Board up and running

2009-11-09T23:56:44.000Z

Hello,

I've found that having a niche board and name that sells itself is critical. Can anyone explain the first few steps however to move from a beta site to a full board, such as what kind of developers and typical cost one should spend? I've seen quotes off market place boards such as Elance for about $4K. The name of my job site is simple and geared
specifically at MBAs that want to live and work in major citys. I'm not going to put the name up here, as this blog is for
more informational and original content. But my big question are this:

1) I've seen boards that charge the users or job seekers, and allow employers to post for free
2) Just charge on both ends, for job posting and job seekers to subscribe
3) Revenue based on ads

What is the way to go? I was looking to charging the jobseekers a monthly rate, and is there really any money in these
niche boards.. by that I mean can anyone tell me of a smaller job board they have or know of and what kind of revenue
they bring in? I really have no idea.

The name of my site and current branding just attracts MBA level resumes very easily and little advertising, simple fliers
in an MBA school for example will get a hand full of resumes in a day or two, and this is just in one school. So just by test marketing this, I know the site's current branding speaks to a real felt need in at least part of the target market.

If someone would like to critique the idea and train of thought that'd be appreciated.

Ben

Job Hunting 80/20 Rule

2009-11-09T21:22:52.000Z

80% of people blast the same piece of self-marketing to every job they apply for while only 20% of applicants bother to customize their resume to address the employer’s requirements. As a result they fill 80% of the jobs on offer.

If you think you are employable material it pays dividends to display some aptitude in seeing things the employer’s way.

Managers are busy. Hiring somebody can be a daunting task especially when you are faced with a flood of applicants. The selection process is to thin down the pile to a shortlist of people who will be called for an interview. The advertisement did spell out some specific requirements as must have in order to be considered.

“It means if you don’t have the goods don’t waste your time or mine – don’t bother to apply. We need someone with those skills full stop”. The issue is that you may well indeed have those skills but unless they show up in the top third of your resume people won’t bother to continue reading. So what’s the problem?

Is it self-esteem? “If they don’t like me the way I am – tough luck!”

Is it laziness? “I only have half an hour to answer jobs tonight.”

Is it stubbornness? “I spent good money with a resume service and now you’re telling me to change it every time?”

Is is a habit? “I’ve always done it like this in the past and it worked (until now…)”

Experts are advocating that you should cut to the chase and make your resume fit onto just one page. If so, how will you decide what will make it to your front page and what will not?

The answer is: anything that is not relevant to the job you’re applying for should be left out. That’s going to be different from one job advert to the next. Therefore it implies that you never send exactly the same resume each time.

“My last job wasn’t exactly in that field. Does that mean I am stuck with a career that’s going nowhere?” No, it means you have to show off transferable skills which are useful in many fields. Besides who said you have to list your experience in chronological order?

“But that’s a lot of work!” I hear someone say. Not if you are using the right tool. Check out Resume Digest for details.

What is Professionalism and how to Judge it?

2009-11-06T12:00:00.000Z

Professionalism, a term commonly used for managers and has difficult meanings in the dictionary (Don’t even want to go through them). I derived a completely new definition of professionalism based on my experience. Ok, I know, many of you may not agree but this is the best definition to me and helps to keep my selection criteria clear and focused to my organizational goals. Initially I thought of it as “The ACT that makes the body or mind used to an activity and the experience leads to professionalism” But the new definition to me is “The ATTITUDE which consistently guides your activities and your conduct with the colleagues in the organization.” Those who doubt or want to add something more to this definition are welcomed.

Let’s stay focused to organizations while discussing professionalism. The trend has evolved completely. Formerly, the companies used to pick the candidates on the basis of their experience. The problem with the approach was that their results on those experiences were never evaluated. Today, it’s an entirely different story. Due to the presence of assessment tools, the process has become a bit irrational (what many of you might call) but holds objectivity. So now, a talent is preferred over experience.

Experience does not lead to professionalism; it is a prerequisite that only ENHANCES professionalism. Professionalism is an approach that is in the mind. The companies prefer hiring managers with inbuilt abilities and professional attitude towards work and work environment. Managers are least interested to waste time grooming the talent and making professionals. They prefer fine-tuning the talents already having a professional attitude and developing them to manage huge tasks in a short time span resulting in achieving the organizational goals faster.

Another point of concern is that the organizations want every department to have an ROI. So organizations now evaluate the hiring expenditure made by HR. Every HR department wants to be a profit center in this period of recession. Companies have shortened their training periods by picking the right talent and by assessing their abilities. As per HireLabs’ research, a company can develop a professional within 4 to 5 months. This is far easier as compared to hiring an experienced manager who is then resistant to changes and learning i.e. lacking professionalism.

To cut the long story short, since the definition to professionalism has changed, this has steered a call to change the entire selection and recruitment processes.

Here we grow...

2009-11-05T23:00:00.000Z

We just wanted to express our excitement over at Hirespin. We have recently developed relationships that have brought us new jobs with still many more to come. Our November numbers on job seekers and hits has really accelerated. 35,000 job seekers and 119,000 hits through the last 4 days. In addition our registrations have grown over 500%, and applications 1200% respectively. We have seen our health care and IT jobs climb at the highest rate while accounting positions have tapered off to a degree. As many of you here have indicated, job boards are still very viable resources.

Stubblebine (Philly) vs Russell (NY)

2009-11-05T05:11:09.000Z

So me and Joe Stubbline (CEO of JobCircle) set off last week on a bet between our 2 favorite baseball teams. The prize?

$100 and loser posts a video in shame.

Today we know the winner.

So Joe lets see your tribute to my Yankees.

Find more videos like this on Job Boarders
And by the way... my paypal address is chris {at} allcountyjobs dot com

Jobseeker Cartoon: Life Should be a "Hoot & a Holler"

2009-11-04T17:30:00.000Z

Feel free to republish this cartoon, courteously placing a live link back to http://www.resumetoreferral.com, of course. =]

Why job boards need branding

2009-11-03T14:07:42.000Z

Branding often gets a bad rap – as if there is something inherently bad in trying to create a unique, persuasive persona for your job board. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Think about it: most of the truly successful job boards out there have built successful brands. Monster. CareerBuilder. Dice. The Ladders. RegionalHelpWanted. Of course, a brand won’t replace solid technology, good marketing, and SEO. But in combination with these, branding will help push your job board past hundreds of other competitors.

Why? Branding gives your board a personality – something that can catch in a job seeker’s mind, a reason to remember you. A job seeker is overwhelmed with choices when it comes to job boards. A good brand helps to whittle down the choices – in your favor.

Don’t forget, too, that studies have repeatedly shown strongly branded products command higher prices and larger market shares than unbranded or poorly branded products. In short, a good brand is money in your pocket.

So what comprises a good job board brand?

* a clear, succinct value proposition (Exclusively $100K jobs. Exclusively $100K talent)
* a good, tight visual (I hate it….but Monster’s monster is good)
* a solid supporting ‘look and feel’ (check out Dice – a truly refined but ‘techy’ look and feel)
* consistency of messaging throughout every nook and cranny of the job board

Beware, however, of what gives branding a bad name:

* lying about your services
* images and design that are inconsistent with your audience (do you really want Flash and ‘gee whiz’ tech stuff for your truck driver site?)
* inconsistency in messaging

Branding doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does require thought and hard work. The end result is worth it, though: in a market that has been commoditized, branding helps your job board stand out – and thrive.

Excellent top level Recruitment domains for sale

2009-11-02T22:36:47.000Z

Great marketable domains for sale. Buy all or selected ones. $250/each or discount for bulk purchase.

blackvets4hire.com
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minorityvets4hire.com
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moms4hire.org
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monsterteens.com

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webmasters4hire.com
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womenvets4hire.com
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nicherecruiting.com
recruitingcampaigns.com
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50plus4hire.com
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babyboomers4hire.com
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olderworkers4hire.com
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Want traffic? start with article marketing

2009-11-02T17:00:00.000Z

I use article marketing to reach my customers where they hang out online. Here's a 5 min video with more details on how and where to use article marketing. When you're done watching, consider joining my membership site and let me help you take your job board to the next level.

Best Recruiters 2009 in the Security Cleared Marketplace

2009-11-02T13:58:16.000Z

Best Recruiters of 2009 - More than 5,000 Security Cleared Job Seekers Vote to Recognize Top Recruiting Talent at Cleared Job Fairs for 2009

At each of the Cleared Job Fairs held throughout 2009, participating security cleared job seekers have been given the opportunity to vote for the top recruiting experience. These “Best Recruiter” votes are made by job seekers with security clearances who take the time to assess their experience with recruiting teams of major defense and government contractors and other employers in the security cleared marketplace that exhibit at the Cleared Job Fairs.

Last year, more than 4,500 security cleared job seekers voted for Best Recruiter. In 2009, ClearedJobs.Net anticipates job seeker votes for Best Recruiter may reach or exceed 5,000. “The Best Recruiter program provides our community of security cleared job seekers the opportunity to vote on various factors including which recruiters take the most time to listen, ask the right questions and give the most practical, sound advice,” says Kathleen Smith, CMO ClearedJobs.Net. “It’s important for our job seekers to feel that their opinions, feedback and input with regard to their experiences with specific employers and individual recruiters alike can and does make a significant impact in the security cleared recruitment community.”

Smith adds, “Job fairs can be a trying experience on both the recruiters and the job seekers. By making this a pleasurable experience, everyone wins. The recruiters recognized as ‘best’ are those who miss lunch, don’t take breaks and talk with every job seeker who comes to their booth,” says Smith. “It is an honor to have these hard working recruiters at our Cleared Job Fairs.”

All the Best Recruiters of 2009 will be celebrated at a special invitation-only event December 10th in Crystal City. “We want to show these recruiters how much we appreciate and value their efforts,” says Smith. “It is important for us to take the time to appreciate our partners who work so hard and who make every effort to assist job seekers as they search for security cleared employment opportunities.”

Online recruiting news summary - October

2009-11-02T13:15:52.000Z

October was a slow month for sales but booming with news. With the help of some fellow job board operators, we put together a summary of October's online recruiting news for you.

Some of the highlights include:

• First of thousands .jobs sites launched by JobCentral
• Taleo job board launched in partnership with SimplyHired
• Dice.com and Monster.com quarterly results

Have news of your own? Feel free to post it.

thanks for reading,
Eric

The ‘Slow Movement’ for Conferences! Is technology taking over a ‘face to face’ people connection occasion?

2009-10-29T23:57:36.000Z

Recently I attended a few conferences, which have been terrific. One was a digital media conference, the other a recruitment and technology related conference, so there was a lot of strong technology flavor. Upon reflection however I have to wonder if I gained the maximum benefit from these conferences thanks to technology taking over my life!

While presenters were speaking, I observed that delegates (including me) were on their laptops working away, on twitter, texting and emailing the office and the like. It seems we are so time poor and have so many different people competing for our time and attention that we are maybe missing out on a lot of valuable opportunities, such as meeting real people. Have we lost focus and control of our working lives – and as a result forgotten the purpose of attending these conferences in the first place? Are we not there to learn from the presenters and delegates? Should our time not be spent interacting and communicating with delegates about the topics of the conference and to learn from one another in a face to face forum?

It is interesting to note that as soon as break time comes, everyone is off out the door on their phones and laptops hurriedly working away before the conference convenes, offering little personal interaction time, which is ultimately where a lot of the benefit comes from. (Granted conferences could also include more interaction and networking time as well as listening to presenters.) Think about it, this is why people choose to study their MBAs etc on campus rather than via correspondence. The greatest learnings often come from interacting with your peers and the networks that evolve from this are extremely beneficial from both a personal and career perspective. So while we try to cram as much into our time – and perhaps even feel guilty about being away from the office and educating ourselves – that we continue to work away before, during and after the conferences we attend to make up for ‘lost time’. Are we truly leveraging the opportunity or just going through the motions – ticking off another thing on the endless work list.

After one of the conferences I attended I spoke with a delegate on the phone, who like so many delegates there I did not have a chance to meet face to face. The delegate in a somewhat annoyed and justified manner made the comment that so many of those she was on a table with had their laptops or iphones and were engrossed in twittering and working away and were not interacting with each other.

While Twitter is great and you can communicate real time what is happening to those who are not able to attend the conference, at the same time you’re sacrificing the opportunity to really be learning from the speakers and engaging with others who are sitting beside you. Strangely, a growing number of us find it easier to be Twittering to the world and the online community than communicating with real life people beside us. Which then begs the question, if you are going to spend your time at these events doing everything but be present to what is going on and those around you, is there any point in really attending? Perhaps these types of events should simply be streamed so we can participate from our desks and multi-task away. They have the ‘slow movement’ for many areas, which began with food and the protest of McDonalds, and has moved to travel, shopping, art, parenting and design. Perhaps conferences are next!

I myself am guilty of this behavior and am working to ensure that my time is more focused and that I truly benefit from attending conferences and events, where I can interact face to face with passionate, educated and interesting people. After all that is a key component in business and also in personal development. It is nothing to feel guilty about. You should only be feeling guilty if you don’t leverage these opportunities due to technology and day to day office matters taking over your focus so that you are not reaping the rewards of being involved in such conferences and events.

Are we losing the ability and desire to make face to face connections, preferring the ease and convenience of online connections? Or have the rules changed and we just need to adapt to how it is done now?

Do you see an issue with the new conference practices? Or is this how the future is going whereby we are present to some degree at the conference, however also equally or more present to the online community and our workplaces?

nt3 Digital Resume Database - Finalist in 2 catagories in the www.smartcompany.com.au 2009 Web Awards

2009-10-29T23:01:56.000Z

www.nt3.com.au are proud to announce that we have been named runner up in 2 catagories for the 2009 www.smartcompany.com.au Web Awards 2009

Judges

The judging panel for the SmartCompany Web Awards 09 contains some of the most exciting online entrepreneurs and experts from all around Australia.

View the panel here - http://www.smartcompany.com.au/smartcompany-web-awards-09-judges

Please remember, the new nt3 site is only 2 months old. This is a huge win for us to even get mentioned and Job Seekers, Employers & Recruiters can be confident in our efforts to create one of the best websites in the country, focused on Job Search.

nt3 was a finalist in the catagory of Best e-commerce Website 2009.
nt3 was also a finalist in the Best overall website with under 20 staff.

SmartCompany Web Award winners announced

By Patrick Stafford

Shopping coupon site RetailMeNot has scooped the pool at the inaugural SmartCompany Web Awards, winning the awards for best search strategy, best social media strategy and best overall website (20 staff or less) and are 3 years old.

The awards, sponsored by Webfirm, attracted more than 200 entries from websites around the country, with particularly strong entries from the eCommerce and Best overall Website under 20 Staff, as well as internet services sectors.

SmartCompany editor and awards judge, James Thomson says SmartCompany decided to launch the awards after two years of judging the best website category of the Smart50.

"The entries were, to put it kindly, fairly unimpressive and we were determined to show our community just how good small business websites could be," he says.

"The Web Awards certainly do that."

Thomson says it was particularly impressive to see how smaller businesses are managing to compete with far bigger rivals despite relatively small budgets - almost 80% of the award entrants spent less than $10,000 on their site.
The awards were judged by a team of internet experts, including Webfirm's Andrew Dalton, ProBlogger Darren Rowse, Deloitte Digital's Peter Williams and Red Balloon's Naomi Simson.

The award winners:

Best overall site (under 20 staff)
Winner: RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com/)
Finalists: nt3 Online (www.nt3.com.au), Space Out (www.spaceout.com.au)

Best overall site (over 20 staff)
Winner: Lasoo (www.lasoo.com.au)
Finalists: Beerenberg Farm (www.beerenberg.com.au), Baker's Delight (www.bakersdelight.com.au)

Best Blog
Winner: Parenting Ideas (www.parentingideas.com.au/blog)
Finalists: Bluewire Media (www.bluewiremedia.com.au/blog/), PB Web Development (www.pbwebdev.com.au/blog)

Best Online Tool
Winner: Everyday Hero (www.everydayhero.com.au)
Finalists: Mozo (www.mozo.com.au), CushyCMS (www.cushycms.com)

Best Social Media Strategy
Winner: RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com/)
Finalists: Super Green Me (www.supergreenme.com), Rentoid (www.rentoid.com)

Best eCommerce site
Winner: Carbonite Australia (www.carbonite.com.au/)
Finalists: nt3 Online (www.nt3.com.au), OzHut (www.ozscopes.com.au/)

Best search strategy site
Winner: RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com/)
Finalists: City Software (www.citysoftware.com.au), Suburb View (www.suburbview.com)

Best site design
Winner: Melbourne Convention Exhi bition Centre (www.mcec.com.au/)
Finalists: Beerenberg Farm (www.beerenberg.com.au), Stateless Systems (www.retailmenot.com)

This is a fantastic result! That makes 3 Runner up awards within a week. Things are looking bright.
Congratulations to the whole nt3 team and a special mention to our Development Team, especially Jodie and Sophie for working so hard on helping us get the nt3 model right.

To see the winners of the Best Websites in the Country - Listen and watch the Webinar playback from todays announcements. http://bit.ly/2SDJNx

A big thank you to www.smartcompany.com.au and their Sponsor WEBFIRM for the fantastic Awards program they have put together this year.

Andrew Turnbull
CEO - www.nt3.com.au

Dot jobs: now we know

2009-10-29T19:00:00.000Z

Its the end of the mystery for the future of .jobs

Last year I talked with one of their execs about their plans of opening up the domain.

Now this article on ERE says they are entering into a partnership with Direct Employers/JobCentral to create thousands of keyword based job sites with these domains for their member companies.

Here's the gist:

"In a joint venture with the manager of the .jobs domain, DirectEmployers has launched the first of what might become tens of thousands of new geographically and occupationally focused job boards all sharing a .jobs extension.

The new sites, identical in design and structure, made their appearance earlier this month. Among them are Atlanta.jobs, Boston.jobs, Mexico.jobs, and India.jobs.

“We just started pushing them out,” says Chad Sowash, VP of business development for DirectEmployers, a non-profit HR consortium, that has recruiting as its focus. Among its services is the Job Central job board, to which members can post jobs without additional fee.

“It’s a new playing field,” Sowash adds. “What this is going to do is allow thousands more, perhaps tens of thousands more” sites where job seekers can look for jobs."

They use the word 'experiment' for this new project.

If I had to guess they could not get buy-in from SHRM to open the domains.

Too bad, because without someone to market the domain...aka other job board owners, I dont think the domain will ever take off. Perhaps that was always true since we live in a very 'dot com' world when it comes to web site names.

So what do you think?

New niche jobs sites

2009-10-28T19:00:00.000Z

After the great success of SEO Jobs Finder, I built 2 more niche jobs sites:

1. London Jobs Finder - free jobs site for jobs in London UK. Free to post jobs and free to search jobs.
2. Environmental Jobs Finder -environmental jobs in USA, free to search jobs and payment to post jobs.

Hope for more in the future...

InternetRecruiting.us reborn as OnlineRecruitingNews.com

2009-10-27T16:36:42.000Z

A year ago, I launched InternetRecruiting.us as a job board directory and invited job boards to post news there. It was an interesting experiment but didn't really grab me. So, I'm remaking the website with a new purpose and a new domain. So online recruiting news.com will be a coop of 50 dues paying job boards who want to increase their visibility. Whether or not you want to become a coop member, you will still be welcome to maintain your profile and post news there. My goal is to have this officially launched on November 1 and we're making good progress with a couple members and a draft of our first monthly newsletter.

Job boards as economic indicators

2009-10-27T14:31:55.000Z

As I was sorting through the usual spate of ‘job boards are dead’ articles, I noticed other more interesting types of articles: pieces that point to job board postings as indicators of the state of the economy. (Monster has published their Employment Index since 2004.)

Makes sense, doesn’t it? If job boards are posting more jobs, then there must be more jobs available. Yet that’s where those doom-and-gloom job board articles clash – if job boards are no longer relevant and in fact are going down the tubes, then they can’t really be good indicators, eh? (Also, don’t forget that the increase in ‘free’ job post sites has driven up the volume of postings).

Well, as you probably know by now, I don’t subscribe to the ‘job boards are dead’ school. However, I do believe that job boards are evolving – in fact, they have no choice. The best are incorporating aspects of social media that make sense for their specific audiences. Some are attempting to become hubs for their audiences. Many allow their employers multiple ways to reach their job seekers – not just via job postings.

So getting back to the question at hand – yes, job boards can act as economic indicators, but simply using the number of job postings as that indicator is a bit simplistic. A better approach might be combining site traffic numbers, resume postings, job postings, and forum or network activity to produce an overall ‘economic health’ indicator.

Maybe your job board should take the lead – and get some free PR in the process!

Job wrapping product for job boards

2009-10-27T11:30:00.000Z

Job wrapping is a simple solution that job boards can offer to their clients without making any changes to their exisitng architecture or spending a single dollar . Job boards can simply market this product and earn additonal revenue by charging their customer a nominal fee .

for more information email me at richard@zycus.com or call 866-208-5594

Build a community board, not just jobs

2009-10-26T13:14:20.000Z

Check out my latest free video from Making Money with Job Boards. Join today.

JobGenie Social Recruiting and Employee Referral Platform for Sale!

2009-10-25T02:44:55.000Z

Hi Guys

Our company Peerlo is selling the JobGenie Social Job Posting site http://jobgenie.com.au - we have made a strategic decision to focus our resources on our recruitment and consulting business and want to sell other assets that do not fit with our strategy.

What can you do with the The JobGenie site?

o Post jobs on social networks like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.

o Send jobs and request referrals from your contacts on social networks like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter

o Track and Monitor all referrals via email and social networks.

What will the purchaser get?

o All trademarks for JobGenie and IP.

o Source code and all data in our project management tool

o Full access to our offshore software development team.

We have spent between $80-$90k AUD to build a fully functioning app. We are looking for about $70K AUD and a purchaser that has the sales & marketing capability to execute the business model. We are flexible with how we get paid too, installments etc

Let me know if you have someone in your networks that may be interested.

Regards,
Riges

riges (at) peerlo.com

Jobthread has backfill from Linkup

2009-10-23T17:26:15.000Z

I have a green jobs site on Jobthread that I have been experimenting with and just noticed that they have added listings from LinkUp as backfill. It just appeared there one day without my knowledge.

There doesnt appear to be any way for me to control the types of jobs via the admin. As you can see from the above screenshot it is listing irrelevant jobs.