Hang around progressive HR Pros long enough, and you'll get one thing for sure - OPINIONS. Just like the force-fed opinions you get from the HR Capitalist, HR pros like Jessica Lee and Tim Sackett are so engaged in their craft that they'll tell you what they're thinking - which makes them different than most HR pros (most HR folk won't give you a hard opinion) and ultimately - valuable.
Most of the time they're right, occasionally they're w...w....w... wait, I can say it... wr...wr...wrong..
Wrong about what you ask? Well, just like me, when Jessica and Tim rage against the HR machine, they're usually after the "lazy" HR pro. The administrator. The walking dead. The one who does nothing to raise the profession.
On our last episode of FOTv (video appears below, email subscribers click through for the clip), JLee, Tim and I talked about the Monster.com acquisition of HotJobs, and the conversation naturally turned to whether HR pros even need job boards any more. JLee and Tm are pretty adamant that HR pros who need job boards are bordering on lazy.
Now I agree with part of what JLee and Tim are saying - if the old "post and pray" model is your only sourcing strategy, you're a dinosaur. However, to say that no one has a need for the job boards is a little strong. I think back to big call centers I supported and think about the recruiters who worked for me having the target of producing 25 new hires every 2-3 weeks in a metro with a million people. They clearly needed the volume flow that big aggregator job boards provide, and other environments need that volume play as well.
It's no replacement for sourcing candidates on your own, but job boards have a place. Check out the rest of the dialog with Jessica Lee, Tim Sackett and me below (email subscribers click through for video).
FOTv 7.0 - Monster Eats HotJobs from fistful of talent on Vimeo.
I agree that Job Boards are not dead, they should be one part of a HR's sourcing plan. But I believe the way they work should be changed. In their current state they are very time consuming and inefficient for both the employer and the job seeker. An employer can spend hours upon hours sifting through resumes resulting in maybe a few that are potentially a fit. At the same time a job seeker will spend just as much time searching through jobs and submitting resumes with getting little to no responses.
There is a new website, www.1stGig.com, that is changing the way companies recruit college graduates online. Instead of working as a traditional job site it uses a precision matching system to link interests, qualifications and career requirements between college graduates and employers. It is a new, revolutionary tool that saves time, reduces costs and results in more long-term, successful employees. To learn more go to www.1stGig.com.
Posted by: Angela Lazaridis | February 16, 2010 at 01:56 PM
Read the Sources of Hire survey here http://www.careerxroads.com/news/SourcesOfHire09.pdf for some insights into the effectiveness of job boards. The big 3, er I mean big 2, are hardly worth using because of all the junk they contain. Millions of resumes have been stolen from monster providing ammunition for phishing attacks and identity theft.
The latest craze seems to be taking the same jobs database and applying different front pages that appeal to different demographics so advertiseng can be sold that appeals to each group. It's like coming out with a 'new' magazine but the only change is the cover.
Employers, you already have a web site. Put you jobs on it. linkup.com, indeed.com, simplyhired.com will find them. Eliminate the middle man.
Posted by: Chris Walker | February 17, 2010 at 01:27 PM