Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cassie Dunn on June 19, 2008 at 10:02am

With this new change in the industry, the Sourcing Team at Wal-Mart is starting to focus more on the new wave in sourcing, blogging and networking. Currently we do a lot of search engine search strings, blogging on niche blogs, and user group networking. Postings seem to run hot and cold, so we can never rely on them. We're also going back to warm calling more than we used to. We'll see how the next few months go.

Permalink Reply by Brandon on June 19, 2008 at 10:05am

I just don't see this happening with other major job boards anytime soon. At this point, it's not a concern. They get too much revenue out of yearly access fees.

LinkedIn is huge and is my major source for candidates anyway along with craigslist postings which are quite effective.

Permalink Reply by Mike Walton on June 19, 2008 at 10:44am

My gameplan is simple.......use sites that offer profiles (whether the name is included or not) like Zoom, Linkedin, professional organizations etc.... I recruit in the actuarial space so job boards do nothing for me. I would not be surprised to see all job boards go with "confidential" resumes where the name etc.. is not viewable by anyone. Monster already has this feature so the idea is nothing new, however, it seems that the concern over privacy would be diminished if all job boards were required to have their resumes listed as "confidential.

Permalink Reply by Chet Volpe on June 19, 2008 at 10:55am

It's all about networking... It is always nice to have heaps of resumes to search but as a contingency recruiter, I find more of my clients are using the big boards to cherry pick the easy ones and I get the job orders that they can't fill internally, thus some of us in the industry have been faced with this problem for a while. New strategy is really the old strategy, networking, just in all the new places. I rely heavily on LinkedIn for my higher level (I do all IT) positions. I have been using a lot of the local niche boards (free) to post my positions and get resume. It is working. I find that many of my candidates are not posting resumes, but doing more of their job search by scrubbing the niche boards as well as the big boards, often using sites like www.indeed.com. Every candidate is also a networking opportunity. Networking, Networking, Networking...

Permalink Reply by Elaine Basham on June 19, 2008 at 10:59am

Hello All! As an owner of The Resume Group, my ONLY goal is to help our clients achieve their career objectives. We don't just write resumes and end our relationship with candidates at that. The resume is a vital piece of the search puzzle, certainly, but we also work closely with clients to help them put together a job search strategy. We have developed relationships with, and have worked with a number of recruiters across the country to help our clients find the right position with the right company.

My hope is that, if job boards limit recruiter access (which sort of defeats the purpose of a job board, in my opinion), that recruiters will turn to companies like ours to find great candidates for specific positions. We work with candidates at every level, in all industries and typically have a pool of 100+ candidates who really can use the help of a great recruiter.

I think that if recruiters use a company like The Resume Group as a resource, the relationships that are developed can be extremely helpful - we may not have thousands of candidates at your disposal to source, but we can be a great resource for top candidates for specific positions.

All the Best - Elaine

Permalink Reply by David J. Sforza on June 19, 2008 at 11:09am

I have often wondered how long it would take for this to become an issue and it would seem that the time has come. Identity theft is a big deal these days and I can see how people would be concerned that the wrong people will gain access to thier information. Although I don't see the main boards out there drastically changing anything right away, this will definately put the issue on their radar. I have thought for some time now that we may have to return to the "old fashioned" recruiting/sourcing methods of actually meeting, talking with and networking with people rather than connecting via internet or phone. Those mediums can and will still be used but they should be secondary. I think the first meeting is the most important and sets the tone for the relationship moving forward. We are going to have to get out there and start "pressing the flesh" more often which will lead to more personal referrals and in turn more first hand business leads. Utilize your network and let THEM work for you.

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Fest on June 19, 2008 at 1:14pm

When job boards hit the market years ago there was much speculation as to the effect they would have on the recruiting industry. Would these boards become the medium that would connect employers with potential employees, thus eliminating the third party recruiter all together? The main reason that recruiters have not been replaced by job boards is trust. Trust is a by-product of relationships and developing a relationship with a job board is impossible. Early on recruiters could use resume postings as an introduction based on the candidate's background and experience. Specifically when dealing with the "baby boomer" generation who define themselves through work and career, knowing a candidate's background gave recruiters a big advantage. With the emergence of generation "X" and more so with "generation Y" we are seeing a much different view toward work altogether. As opposed to the "live-to-work" philosophy that their forefathers had, gen "X" has the "work-to-live" outlook with the goal of achieving life/work balance. The old methods of relationship building through a resume still apply to gen-X because they are interested in the end result, time-off. They realized that career progression was a "necessary evil" and knowing the candidate's professional background was a clear advantage when developing a relationship. In the past 5 years we have see huge rise in on-line social networking and the desire of gen-Y to stay connected, both at home and at work. Because Gen-Y is now bringing their "life-to-work" it is necessary to develop a bond or relationship on a personal level verses a purely professional level. On of best ways to build a personal relationship is by sharing information about yourself in social and quasi-professional forums that our frequented by your target market. You are allowing your candidate an opportunity to look through your window and learn something about you which may result in them reaching out or warm-up the instance when you approach them. The two key components that make or break professional recruiters are information and relationships. The biggest change over the past 20 years is the shift from relationships build on candidate's information to a relationship based on a recruiter's information. This all ties into trust being an integral factor in relationships. My game plan is to provide information about myself in mediums that are frequented by my target audience. The tough part is staying on top of the latest trend with regard to these forums as they change rapidly. What is the future myspace and facebook? At the same time we must not loosing track of previous generations mentioned who are more likely found on LinkedIn and Zoominfo. A final note, beyond the leads that these examples provide, methods of communication are also moving a light-speed. If you can't IM, text and leave voicemail on cell phones simultaneously, it's time to bring your children into the picture;)

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Porter on June 19, 2008 at 3:09pm

Hello Bill,

Here at GoliathJobs.com we understand both sides of this topic. Several "bad bananas" spoiled the whole bunch. Unfortunately there are issues where organizations access resume search utilities strictly for spam purposes. It has raised red flags in terms of privacy and has caused many job boards to react. Some have increased the cost to search resumes while others have deleted the feature all together. We are adding the feature in our V2. On GoliathJobs all employers are verified giving job seekers peace of mind. That should help to avoid the issue.

Another key point is that we penetrate schools, alumni associations, social networks, professional networks and niche boards. This saves employers & recruiters the work of manually posting to all these locations. The ensuing traffic also reduces the need to search resumes.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute.