Third Party Thursday: Test Drive Anyone?

I have been preoccupied lately with the "business of search." In my tinkering I came across this tool. I cannot make up my mind whether I like it or not.

What say you?

As slick as this one is, I'm wondering if "smart" search engines will ever replace "smart" recruiters. And as for prospecting for new business...I'll leave that for you to decide.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dennis Smith on April 9, 2009 at 9:25am

Ami - thanks for pointing out this site. I'll admit to not having spent much time "touching" it, but was confused by the fact that it only searched from LinkedIn. I was led to believe it was searching all social networks. If it's only confined to LinkedIn, it might just be an additional window that would slow me down. Not sure how it would add much value to my linkedin searches as I'm already using decent strings in LIn to pull up the info I need.

More investigation needed - thank you sir!

Dennis

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gino Conti on April 9, 2009 at 9:52am

Without getting too deep into the debate I think smart recruiters will trump smart search engines, at least for the foreseeable future. I've used several different tools that automatically match common search strings, talent match candidates, or match job orders to resumes and none seem to work as well as properly constructed search strings. That said...

I haven't previously heard of this one so I'll have to take a peek at it. I'm just not so sure about the name - sounds like I'd be logging into the sex offender registry and not a professional search engine, but then again, they didn't ask me.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Amitai Givertz on April 9, 2009 at 11:22am

Dennis, are you using LinkedIn's operators for searching? Glen Cathey pointed them out in Tutorial Tuesday: LinkedIn's Advanced Operators. I can't imagine doing an in depth dive without them.

Peace.

Dennis Smith said:

Ami - thanks for pointing out this site. I'll admit to not having spent much time "touching" it, but was confused by the fact that it only searched from LinkedIn. I was led to believe it was searching all social networks. If it's only confined to LinkedIn, it might just be an additional window that would slow me down. Not sure how it would add much value to my linkedin searches as I'm already using decent strings in LIn to pull up the info I need.

More investigation needed - thank you sir!

Dennis

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Amitai Givertz on April 9, 2009 at 11:30am

The problem with artificial intelligence is that it's artificial.

I am certain the successful engines over time will be the ones that enable easy and depth user defined searches regardless of whether it is a search for candidates or soothing hemorrhoids.

Maybe less so with third-party recruiters than with corporate recruiters but I see a tendency to want to automate recruiting so that it can be something it never was, and never will be -- predictable, routine, and cheap.

Gino Conti said:

Without getting too deep into the debate I think smart recruiters will trump smart search engines, at least for the foreseeable future. I've used several different tools that automatically match common search strings, talent match candidates, or match job orders to resumes and none seem to work as well as properly constructed search strings. That said...
I haven't previously heard of this one so I'll have to take a peek at it. I'm just not so sure about the name - sounds like I'd be logging into the sex offender registry and not a professional search engine, but then again, they didn't ask me.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gino Conti on April 9, 2009 at 11:54am

"predictable, routine, and cheap." Boy, that would sure be a change of pace, especially the predictable and routine parts...

Having been on both sides of the fence I tend to agree that corporate culture in general is more apt to want automated recruitment systems. I'm not sure if this is because many corporate recruiters aren't really recruiters, but are instead generalists who are multi-tasking, or if it is because they are pulled in so many directions that real sourcing is something they don't find valuable enough to spend time on.

Either way, I don't like the push for iRobot to do my sourcing. I'd rather put in the time on the front end so I can exercise more control over the search. Perhaps it is a control issue, but for now I'll stick to my guns that I have yet to be convinced an automated search tool does it better.