Hire Strategies Blog

Corporate Recruiters help Agencies thrive and survive

An interesting post on Stephen O'Donnell's blog Aye Right called The end of the CV database started me thinking about how the whole issue of "who owns the candidate". The person who really "owns" the candidate is of course the candidate but they go where they choose to get a job; be it direct or indirect. But don't for one second think that direct is always the best route. Retailers continually fight off the manufacturers in the same way that Agencies will continually fight off corporate recruiters.

The Corporate Recruiters Handbook - Your Recruitment 1st Aid Kit

If you haven't got a copy yet you can order one at www.hirestrategies.co.uk/handbook.

P.S. Look out for the stalker in the video!

2010 New Year predictions for social recruiting et al

I know it is a bit early but I thought I'd get this one done before I retire for the rest of this year.  My last post of 2009 and hopefully my last day of work for 2009.

So what are my predictions for 2010?

There's gold in them thar CV's

Linkedin are constantly adding more and more features to make search ever easier and Monster are launching the teeth gnashing Power Resume Search.  Then of course we have the CV parsing technologies being added to the ATS's and before we know it, the recruiter has as many places to search as they do post.  And what about the poor job seeker?  What about giving them a Power Job Search?

But are we missing the point.  Surely half the reason for search is that recruiters have way too many CV's that are irrelevant but they can't get to the good ones that easily.  Maybe if something was created for the job seeker it would help them find the right job and stop them just blasting out as many CV's as possible?  Maybe not...

So is the next step for Linkedin to add more and more CRM type functionality?  Do we end up with the ATS being all about "post screen" and being more about shortlist to hire?  Or is the ATS going to become less complex and focus purely on processing and reports?  Lots of mashing and crossover of functionality in the recruitment process.  Imagine trying to track all of this - makes that ROI dream even more dream like.

Either way, and I can't think it will become that much clearer that soon and expect 2010 to be grey skies tinged with some pockets of blue.  Whoever can make the best CV mining tool may just be a winner!

Jobrapido - radical dudes they tell me

I contacted Jobrapido today to enquire about their XML job feed or API.  I loved the response so much I had to share it!

Why job boards will pay you

Following on from my post Who will do the doing? Recruitment 20?? here's the first part.

I predict that job boards will pay large brands to advertise.

How job boards killed job ad creativity and how Twitter brings it back (maybe)

When I was a young recruiter we used the local press to attract staff using semi-display ads.  For those that have never heard of these, or have just forget, we paid by the line.  The more lines, the more cost and the less our bonus would be that month. 

The Corporate Recruiting System

When I was a young mechanic we followed a system for anything from making a cup of tea to rebuilding an engine.  All the big marketing Guru's tell you about "the system" they use and why it works.  To be honest, recruitment is just a system that if followed works.  Yes, if you are good you can develop your own but as most corporate recruiters are short on time, money and sometimes experience they do not need to reinvent the wheel.

Continue reading "The Corporate Recruiting System" >

Will the job advert ever get Twittered?

I did a quick search on a big job board for a few jobs and still find that the job advert content is as dull as ever.  I'm not sure if the job boards should limit the amount of characters similar to the way Twitter does so that content would need to be VERY focused on the key message.  Or are job adverts never going to change?

Problem is, I'm not really sure of the answer on this one!

Zero Cost recruitment strategy

I know the cost of recruitment systems have dropped through the floor compared to the heady days of 1999 when most people didn't even know how to spell e-recruitment (or was it Erecruitment) and i-GRasp was still an infant (and no one ever gets the spelling right, even today) but it is getting worse or better?