by
Brett Iredale
January 5, 2009
What an exciting year we have ahead. It is very hard to predict what will happen this year in world economies, the employment sector, online recruitment and so on. What we do know is that 2009 will be a turbulent year full of challenges, changes, and opportunities. Personally I am excited by the prospects this year holds and can't get into it fast enough.
Those of you who are into Chinese horoscopes will know that 2009 is the
year of the Ox. I am not really into horoscopes but I couldn't help but notice some interesting parallels between the characteristics attributed to people born in the year of the Ox and the characteristics I believe will be required to be successful in business this year.
"Those born under the influence of the Ox are fortunate to be stable and persevering. The typical Ox is a tolerant person with strong character. Not many people could equal the resolution and fearlessness the Ox exhibits when deciding to accomplish a task or an objective. As we used this great creature long ago to plow the soil day after day, so do Ox people labour through their daily responsibilities either at work or at home without complaint or gripe. Oxen know they will succeed through hard work and sustained effort and find no truth or benefit in concocting get-rich-quick schemes."
- stable
- persevering
- strong
- tolerant
- fearless
- resolute
- hard working
Sounds like a recipe for businesses success in 2009 to me. I could not have written a more concise list of the qualities I know I will need to be successful in '09.
The Chinese might just be onto something.....
by
Brett Iredale
December 22, 2008
The
recent changes to
SEEK's user interface have made the salary filter much more prominent. On the left hand side of every job search you can now filter job search results by salary range.
I do not have access to the data on how many people are using that filter but I am willing to bet my bottom dollar that it is a very high percentage.
If you are not including salaries in your SEEK ads then your ads will not be displayed when a person filters their job search by salary. It is as simple as that. I know all the reasons why some people don't like including salaries on jobs, but remember if you use the "search salary" fields then the salaries are not actually displayed on your ad. It is simply used to determine if your job should be included or excluded when someone searches for jobs in a particular salary range.
If you are one of the many who still think it is not wise to include salary info on your job ads then I am afraid it is time to reconsider.
by
Brett Iredale
December 8, 2008
A couple of beauties currently live on SEEK.
I have always said that a good job description should outline exactly when the toilet breaks are.
Maybe SEEK should consider licensing MyCareer's profanity checker?
by
Brett Iredale
December 8, 2008
If you needed any evidence of the effect of the market downturn then look no further than the job numbers of the major job boards.
In October I
wrote about SEEK ad numbers dropping to 191,000 from 220,000. That felt like a big drop to me at the time I wrote the blog post. Today SEEK ad numbers are down to 154,000, a drop of 30% in a matter of months. This is a not just your average end of year slow down.
SEEK's drop in ad numbers will be due largely to a drop in casual advertising (a market they pretty much own). Most other job boards are experiencing similar sphincter tightening drops in ad numbers however for many of them it is caused by a much more worrying drop off in contracted advertising. Losing your casual advertising is one thing but losing contracted revenue is much more concerning and can be a lot harder to bounce back from when things pick up.
The question now is how low can it go and how long will it last?
by
Brett Iredale
December 4, 2008
This lovely piece of
news from the UK yesterday. By now we are all aware that there is a downturn under way but I think many are still glossing over the reality of what is happening in some overseas markets.
UK job market weakening rapidly
The UK job market weakened rapidly in November as permanent placements declined at record levels, a new survey from Markit Economics suggests.
The drop in permanent and temporary jobs was faster than at any point in the survey's 11-year history.
The figures provide evidence of the rapid slowdown in the UK economy and suggest unemployment rates will rise.
"The UK jobs market is heading downhill at breakneck speed," said Mike Stevens at KPMG, a sponsor of the survey.
The report also showed record survey falls in permanent salaries and temporary staff pay rates.
"Employers in almost all sectors have drastically cut recruitment plans and are shedding contract and temporary staff as fast as they can," Mr Stevens added.
Permanent placements declined for an eighth consecutive month in November, with the rate of contraction accelerating to a new survey record.
Temporary and contract staff billings also fell by record levels, as did demand for permanent and temporary staff.
The only sector to avoid the downturn was nursing and medical care.
Unsurprisingly, record rises in staff availability were also recorded.
The monthly survey, sponsored by the Recruitment and Employment Federation and accountancy firm KPMG, features original data collected by Markit Economics from 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies.
by
Brett Iredale
November 28, 2008
So the
Monster is
back. No great surprises that Monster have re entered the Australian market. The interesting thing is how they have done it and what this means for CareerOne advertisers and for CareerOne's competitors.
A few obvious questions are:
- Will the new site be called CareerOne or will it be a dual branded site?
- Will it be based on the Monster platform as we know it or is there a new or hybrid solution that?
- Will the site still look and feel like CareerOne or will it be a whole new animal?
- Will the prices be more in line with CareerOne prices or
Monster's pricing?
- How will CareerOne benefit from Monster's global network?
- Do MyCareer and SEEK see this as an opportunity or a threat? I can see arguments both ways.
- What is the market sentiment towards Monster these days? Have they been away long enough to be able to make a fresh new start?
- and so on....
I asked Patrick Roberts, CareerOne's Business Development Director if he could provide any further information for us and for our advertisers. Clearly it is secret squirrels until the new site launches but here is what they can say at this stage.
Hi Brett,
The new joint venture, which will initially carry both brand names, will be utilising Monster’s technology platform. The process for transitioning the technology is expected to last well into 2009. The end product will be superior to anything currently in the Australian marketplace, although we are not disclosing specific details at this stage. We will release more information in due course.
The initial response from advertisers has been extremely positive – they welcome more competition in the market place and are excited at the prospect of Monster’s global expertise and world-class technology being paired with News Limited’s powerful marketing and sales platforms.
Regards,
Patrick
by
Brett Iredale
November 24, 2008
Phillip Tusing at
Destination Talent blog has put together as comprehensive a presentation on the Australian online recruitment landscape as I have seen. I have embedded the slide show below for convenience but please also visit the
blog as Phillip has a lot of interesting things to say.
by
Brett Iredale
November 21, 2008
It's good to see
SEEK still have a sense of humour this week as their
share price goes west young man.
I gather the new logo (below) is in honour of Movember but I couldn't help but make the Village People connection and wonder how many other one liners there are for this classic.
by
Brett Iredale
November 12, 2008
If you have seen the JobAdder home page in the last few days you will have seen that we have just launched a major new release. JobAdder is now just a month under 2 years old and has come a long way in a short period of time. Months of hard work and customer feedback have led to what is a greatly enhanced user interface and an even better job posting platform.
The reasons for the upgrade were simple;
- Modernise a 12 month old user interface
- Implement a host of new features
- Implement a lot of the latest technology we have been eyeing off
The new release has been a big success and feedback to date has been universally excellent.
A few of the more substantial improvements include:
- A new job posting platform
- New job board integration platform that allows our consultants to create new job board integrations in as little as 1 hour
- A completely new graphical reporting interface and enhanced management reporting
- Enhanced spell checking options
- Hundreds of hours of development time in enhancing the HTML editor to be compatible with all versions of Word. Cutting and pasting from Word was good before in JobAdder but now it is the best in the business.
- Greater job board feature visibility. Management know at all times which features and functions are available and which ones they could be using.
- Improved job board partner pages (more improvements coming soon)
- New look and feel for job posting pages
- Larger customisable user desktop including more graphical widgets (as requested by users)
- Ability to try JobAdder free of charge on a limited trial (coming very soon).
- and plenty more...
The new platform enables us to roll out a continuous flow of enhancements and the next few months will be an exciting time. Note that all enhancements will continue to be required to pass the JobAdder "simplicity" test. That is "if very easy to use, looks good and adds value to users then do it, else bin it".
Thanks to all customers for your fantastic ongoing support and to our development team for your great work (as always).
by
Brett Iredale
November 7, 2008
That little tart of a domain name
Jobs.com.au is now in bed with
MyCareer. Recent partners have been
CareerOne, the jobs.com.au job site,
JobX and MyCareer. SEEK is about the only site not to have spent some time on Jobs.com.au now.
The interface is just a very simple browse based model and seems to be quite effective. My only gripe is that when you click the Apply Now button on an ad it takes you to the job on MyCareer and you have to click Apply Now again rather than just opening the application page the first time. That could just be a teething issue though.
by
Brett Iredale
October 31, 2008
A German doctor in the town of Horsham is set to be forced to leave Australia as the Government will not grant him a PR visa because his son has Down syndrome. His son was deemed to be a burden on taxpayers so the doctor and his family cannot stay in Australia. You can read the story
here.
With the trouble we have recruiting doctors and health professionals to come and work in Australia I find it absolutely stunning that the government could be so outrageously small minded. I can only hope this story is a
Today Tonight style beat up because if this is true then I am afraid I have just lost what little remaining confidence I had in the Australian Department of Immigration.
Maybe this is one for the
RCSA to weigh into on behalf of all the medical related recruitment companies out there who are struggling to attract health professionals into Australia.
by
Brett Iredale
October 27, 2008
Congratulations to
SMF Recruitment for winning the inaugural
Recruitment Extra "Best Recruitment Agency Web Site" award on Friday night.
I wasn't there but a little birdy tells me there me there weren't any SMF representatives present to collect the award (no doubt busy making placements). I am sure it will find its way safely to their offices.
{Shameless mention : the SMF web site was designed and developed by the JobAdder team so naturally we're a little bit pleased for SMF. Congrats to Chris and Camilla for their great work}.
by
Brett Iredale
October 27, 2008
This morning's
news is reporting that James Packer has resigned from PBL Media board positions.
"MEDIA investment company Consolidated Media
Holdings (CMH), which has a 25 per cent interest in Channel Nine owner
PBL Media, says James Packer has resigned from PBL Media group's
boards.
John Alexander, Chris Anderson and Martin Dalgleish have also resigned the PBL Media board positions.
The boards involved are PBL Media Holdings, PBL Media Finance Holdings and PBL Media Group.
"CMH no longer has any board representatives on the boards of the PBL Media group," it said.
CMH said it had resolved that the company does not intend to contribute any further funding to PBL Media.
"Accordingly,
any additional capital contribution to PBL Media by its major
shareholder, Red Earth Holdings an entity owned by funds advised by CVC
Asia Pacific and CVC Capital Partners will dilute CMH's shareholding."
As CMH will no longer has significant influence over its investment in PBL Media, the
CMH Board has also resolved to change the manner in which it accounts for
PBL Media in its books.
CMH will now cease equity accounting for its 25 per cent shareholding in PBL Media."
SEEK shares are also down 40% since September, currently at $3.65 down from a high of $5.60.
Rubicor is another recruitment stock taking a pasting - currently $0.04 down from an initial listing price of around $1.00.
These 2 examples are not unlike the rest of the market though and no great news in and of themselves. Both are strong businesses and will no doubt recover in time when the rest of the market does.
There will be a few sweaty palms around town as markets open today...
by
Brett Iredale
October 21, 2008
We are pleased to announce that you will shortly be able to post to 4 new job boards covering the Health and Fitness, Sport and Recreation, Sp and Beauty, Hospitality, Travel and Tourism
FIT Australia and
FIT New Zealand are job sites specialising in
the Health, Fitness, Sports, Recreation, Leisure, Spa & Beauty
markets. FIT is the new marketing brand of Leisurepeople Australasia
Limited with offices in both New Zealand and Australia.
HIT Australia and
HIT New Zealand are job sites specialising in
the Hospitality, Travel and Tourism markets. HIT is the new marketing
brand of Leisurepeople Australasia Limited with offices in both New
Zealand and Australia.
If you recruit in any of these areas then check out these sites today and let us know if you would like to start posting to them.
by
Brett Iredale
October 20, 2008
Associated Northcliffe Digital (AND) have just announced the acquisition of Broadbean, the UK's leading job posting solution. In 2003 AND acquired Conkers.net, the UK's other job posting solution.
AND is the
digital division of the Daily Mail and General Trust and among other things owns a sizable stable of UK job boards including jobsite.co.uk.
UK recruiters and commentators are already expressing their concerns (and here) over a job board business owning the job posting supply chain in the UK. In Australia this is the equivalent of Fairfax or News Digital buying Adlogic and JobAdder. No doubt there will be more news on this soon.
by
Brett Iredale
October 13, 2008
Ninemsn is reporting a
story today about Dumbang and Dumberono - 2 Indonesian job seekers who had their faces tattooed for a job, only to find out it was all a hoax.
Ummmm....... guys ......... return to your village immediately and do not pass Go and do not collect $200.
by
Brett Iredale
October 13, 2008
In recent months SEEK ads have consistently sat at around 210,000 jobs or higher. Interestingly this morning they are down to 191,000.
I very much doubt this is related to Kevin Rudd's
warning yesterday that Australia's jobless rate will rise. There could be any number of reasons for this drop and no doubt they will bounce back again soon.
We will be watching that space with interest.
by
Brett Iredale
October 7, 2008
There has been some interesting commentary over the last few weeks about what is going to happen to job boards as the world markets hit the skids. No doubt there will be a lot more commentary too. A couple of notable examples are:
(1) An article in Shortlist last week ran the headline that "Niche job boards will come to the fore in a downturn".
(2) An article in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning quotes a Deutshe Bank analyst downgrading SEEK from a buy to a hold, predicting that SEEK ads will drop up to 9% over the next 2 years.
The first point is naive and largely just incorrect. The second point has some merit but I don't believe is truly reflective of SEEK's market position.
The reality for job boards is that the strong will get stronger and the weak will get weaker. In a downturn advertisers will be rationalising all expenditure including software, wages, rent and of course advertising. Part of the process of rationalising expenditure will be analysing where your applicants and placements are coming from and spending more of your budget with your successful sources and less money with speculative sites such as new generalist boards and fringe niche boards.
If you have a strong niche site with a strong audience in a market that is still in demand then you will prosper. A good example of a strong niche site that will probably continue to do well is Engineering Jobs Australia - www.engineeringjobs.net.au.
If you are starting a new niche board now or are trying to establish a generalist site over the next couple of years then you really have your work cut out for you. It is not impossible but it certainly won't be easy.
Regarding the Hold on SEEK I think it is probably fair. However following the line of thought that the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker I think dominant businesses like SEEK will come through this downturn in even stronger positions. They might see a temporary decrease in ad numbers and even in revenues however it will have a far greater impact on SEEK's competitors, thereby potentially weakening them and placing SEEK in an even stronger position relative to their competitors. Not many recruiters will be getting rid of their SEEK contracts over the next couple of years but I can guarantee other job sites won't be so lucky.
Another ace SEEK hold up their sleeve is an almost limitless opportunity for new products or services. SEEK haven't needed to innovate or offer additional products over the last few years however a downturn might mean they need to polish off their keyboards and come up with a few new products that they know people are willing to pay for.
by
Brett Iredale
October 1, 2008
No you don't !!
by
Brett Iredale
September 30, 2008
I had breakfast this morning in a cafe sitting next to 3 friends who were discussing their jobs and the impact of the world market downturns. Their conversation was fascinating - easily as interesting as the newspapers I was pretending to read.
One of the three friends owned a communications business and said he was noticing a definite slow down in new work. Another one worked for an overseas bank and has been told to have 3 weeks off while they assess their options. The third friend was a french hair dresser. He waved his hand dismissively and said "I am not worried, I am just cutting less off my client's hair so they have to come back to see me more often".
I couldn't help but laugh. If only it was going to be that simple for all businesses.
by
Brett Iredale
September 26, 2008
According to
Google Trends (and let's face it - they should know) the average Australian's heirarchy of needs is:
1. Sex
2. Jobs
3. Cars
4. Property
5. Money
There are 3 particularly interesting things about this for me.
1. In the last 4 years 2008 is the first year when "jobs" searches have outranked "cars" searches.
2. South Australians and Tasmanians search for cars more than jobs. If you've been to either place I guess you will know why. The first car I drove was my Mum's orange
Torana in Adelaide.
3. People search for sex less in the ACT than anywhere else in Australia. Is that related to legalised porn, a largely government population or the fact that it is so damn cold?
by
Brett Iredale
September 26, 2008
by
Brett Iredale
September 17, 2008
Today's papers
report that
SEEK have just purchased a 10% stake in
Jobstreet - one of South East Asia's largest job boards.
Following on from their
recent investment in Zhaopin this move further reinforces SEEK's plans to be a major player in the Asian region.
by
Brett Iredale
September 17, 2008
In a tightening market anything free is a bonus. If you haven't already seen it
JobX are generously giving away free access to all registered job seekers on their site. I bet the spam bots are having a feast so hurry and get your free resumes now while you still can.
Go to the home page, click "Find Staff", enter your search terms and away you go. It displays a clickable email address for each job seeker so you can just email them directly.
100% free.
by
Brett Iredale
September 10, 2008
We are pleased to announce the addition of
PropertyRoles.com as a job board partner on JobAdder. You can now post your property related vacancies to this site through JobAdder.
Property Roles is a new site so here is some info about them from their press release:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
propertyroles.com, a new global online jobs board, has officially been launched and is dedicated to the property industry and tomorrow's property leaders.
With major employers and recruiters already on board and more joining everyday, propertyroles.com is fast becoming the place for tomorrow's property leaders to find their next property role, get daily industry news, make contact with global industry bodies and stay connected with their industry.
Job seekers can search for specific, industry termed property jobs easily and quickly. By accessing the Global Resource Centre they can view tips and information that will help their job search, they can find out more about global industry bodies and their events and they can download daily industry news.
For job seekers, loading a Resume couldn't be easier and it's fast, straight forward and lets employers search for them.
Using the latest online recruitment technology propertyroles.com allows job seekers to choose who sees their profile and contact details, when their Resume is searchable and how potential employers can contact them.
Their name and contact details are always completely confidential, totally secure and controlled by the job seeker. Everything on the site is automated so they can sit back and let the employers and jobs come to them.
For employers and recruiters, propertyroles.com offers an employment solution that is fast, easy, cost effective and dedicated to their industry and target market.
propertyroles.com is a place where their target market will return and connect enabling employers and recruiters to actively and passively source the most relevant and qualified candidates for their property jobs. And with cost effective job advertising options propertyroles.com has solutions for major corporate employers to boutique recruitment agencies.
As with the job seeker functionality everything on propertyroles.com is automated, tracked and logged within the advertiser's secure account.
by
Brett Iredale
September 4, 2008
Next time you hear someone banging on about the role of
Facebook or
MySpace in recruitment you might like to point them to this little video. Very funny.
by
Brett Iredale
September 1, 2008
These pics were sent in tonight from a mobile phone in North Sydney train station. This is the main billboard as you get off the platform.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the train station up pops
our old mate Axel from Jobs.com.au....
The person who sent this in asked "I wonder how far in advance they pre booked this slot?", but our feeling is they have probably just scraped off a few old ads and accidentally unveiled this old beauty.
(for those who missed
this ad campaign first time around this was a series of TV, radio and outdoor ads run by the then Jobs.com.au web site. The site didn't last long but the
ads hold a very special place in history...)
by
Brett Iredale
August 29, 2008
We've seen some crackers in recent times but this one is a Friday afternoon special.
You will need a beer in your hand and your speakers on for this one.
Click on the image below, then click through the pages for more.
by
Brett Iredale
August 28, 2008
Has anyone else noticed the irony of the recently tangled
Ninemsn/
SEEK/
eBay/
CareerOne web?
-
Ninemsn and
SEEK are
CML stable mates
-
eBay sits right beside Jobs in the menu bar on Ninemsn
-
eBay is in bed CareerOne.
In short we have one of Australia's largest online portals enjoying a threesome with 2 of Australia's largest job boards.
Perfectly acceptable if not a little bemusing.
by
Brett Iredale
August 28, 2008
Do you know the difference between the "job title" and the "search results title" on SEEK ?
Many people don't realise that there are 2 different titles, or that one is more important than the other.
On SEEK the job title that is returned in the summary results is called the "Search Results Title' in JobAdder. This title can be different to the one that appears on the detailed view of the job ad.
If a job seeker does a keyword search to find a job then SEEK uses (among other things)
the search results title to determine the best job matches for the search. If your job ad has those keywords in the search results title then your job will rank higher in the search results than jobs that contain those keywords only in the body of the ad.
When writing your search results title it is important to consider what a job seeker might type in the keywords field to find your job. For example if your job is a Java Developer and they need to have Oracle, SQL and J2EE experience then it would be a good idea to get as many of those words as you can into the search results title.
Below is a perfect example. I typed 'java developer oracle j2ee sql' in the keyword field.
Notice the second job that appears is actually 16 days old - yet it is number 2 in my search results.
If you use your search results title effectively then your ads will appear in more searches and therefore receive more applications. This also means you don't need to continually refresh your job ads.
Write it once and write it properly and your 30 day ad will remain relevant for the full 30 days instead of 30 minutes.
Note : Don't just keyword load your search results title for the sake of it - your ad still needs to read well and make sense.
by
Brett Iredale
August 26, 2008
Fairfax have announced that they are
cutting 550 jobs or 5% of the workforce. Not sure if these cuts affect MyCareer but in any case it is not just Fairfax making the tough decisions.
A few other recent cut backs from around the globe:
Air Canada to cut 2000 jobs
HP cutting 5900 European jobs
Embarq to cut 500-700 jobs
Qantas to cut 1500 jobs
Chrysler plans to cut 1000 salaried jobs
Siemens to cut 16,750 jobs
Wollongong Council to cut 50 jobs
Constellation Brands to cut 350 jobs in Australian workforce
Ford announces VIC job cuts
Melbourne Uni Arts faculty face job cuts
Cadbury axes 160 jobs from Hobart factory
But it's not all bad -
according to Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner 2 days ago "the employment outlook for Australia remains strong despite the large job losses announced recently at major companies...
The overall employment figures are still very robust, we anticipate that they will continue to be in good shape," he said. "It's important to note that bad news always sells well in the media."
Media scaremongering or government propaganda?
by
Brett Iredale
August 26, 2008
Another
story this morning of a snake behaving very badly...
This is why we didn't call it JobPython.
by
Brett Iredale
August 14, 2008
Recruiters - be very careful how you treat your rejects
candidates lest they turn evil and flame you on Facebook...
A Facebook group called "I F#CKING HATE Recruitment Agencies, they don't help u, they r useless" is using Facebook to showcase their superior literacy and vocabulary skills by articulating concerns with recruitment practices online.
A few classic quotes from members of the group:
"all i want to say is arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhrrrrrrr. worse than public transport, worse than politicians, worse than rude bailiffs who threaten small children and worse than traffic wardens...yes it's job agents. patronising, cloth eared, two faced liars. the (almost) lot of them"
"god damn vampires. i swear if they tell me "sorry, its all a bit quiet" or "just put your name on the availbles list" thats already got like 10,000 names on it once more i WILL kill one of them useless pricks."
Given that recruiters now commonly check out candidates on social networks during the recruitment process I would think these gifted individuals are not doing much to help their cause....
by
Brett Iredale
August 14, 2008
As always we have been busy integrating new job boards into JobAdder.
The latest batch off the production line are:
|
|
Expat Jobs consists of 9 separate job boards covering engineering, mining, teaching, medical, IT and finance
|
|
|
TotallyLegal.com.au is a leading legal and law recruitment website specialising in legal jobs for professionals in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. |
|
|
Brand Republic Asia Jobs is the leading specialist jobsite for
marketing, advertising and media jobs. Brand Republic Asia Jobs has
positions available across all levels from marketing director to media
sales, from account manager to copywriter |
| |
|
|
by
Brett Iredale
August 4, 2008
In going through the July stats on the weekend we were pleasantly surprised to see the
number of job ads distributed by JobAdder was up by 54% in July.
JobAdder has been growing steadily month on month since launch but a leap in significant new client acquisitions in June resulted in a big increase in the number of job ads distributed in July.
by
Brett Iredale
July 30, 2008
In an economic downturn free job boards should flourish.
Advertisers know they need to keep advertising even when times are tight however constricting budgets will mean they will be looking for more cost effective solutions.
This does not include startups who hope to attract advertisers with $10 or $29 or $79 job ads. Startup job boards heading into the next 12 months should be frantically revising their strategies because job advertisers are even less likely to be taking punts on start up job boards now, no matter what the price per ad.
A fascinating article on
Interbiznet today reinforces the importance of continued advertising during a downturn. You can read the article
here but some of the highlights are:
- Maintaining a company's advertising during an economic downturn will give the image of corporate stability within a chaotic business environment, and give the advertiser the chance to dominate the advertising media
- Economic downturns reward the aggressive advertiser and penalize the timid one
- When times are good, you should advertise; when times are bad, you must advertise
Not everyone can afford to increase or even maintain advertising budgets through a downturn so this is where free job boards will become a great option for those looking to maintain branding and awareness when times are tight.
by
Brett Iredale
July 28, 2008
AFAICT TXT LNGE DNB IN JOB ADS. AOAS IT S2B OK FOR PPL TO PUT TXT IN2 JOB ADS. @TEOTD IT IS NTEOTW AND IT IS PAND THO A PITA IF U R A NOOB. OMG WE !!
OK I am exhausted - that really took it out of my 30 something year old brain! Kiddies please bear in mind WDASURL (old person guessing the SMS for "We don't all speak your language". It's probably a real one but WCFBB checking :)
It was an interesting exercise to check a few SMS words on major job boards to see how often some of these words are appearing. Unfortunately a little too often for my taste.
Below are a few real life examples from Australian job boards....
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyone interesting in learning a new language can visit the
SMS Dictionary here.
by
Brett Iredale
July 25, 2008
This week's well written job ad of the week is from Retail World Resourcing. This is another great example of creative ad writing that catches the eye and captures the imagination. I found myself thinking about firing up the BBQ....
by
Brett Iredale
July 24, 2008
There is some confusion in the job-board-in-a-box market at the moment over the similarities in name between
Jobbex.com, a leading job board software solution in the US, and JobX.com.au's
white label job board brand.
There are huge differences between the products but the names are almost identical, especially when pronounced.
The JobX.com.au solution is really just mini branded versions of JobX.com.au, whereas the
Jobbex.com solution is a true configurable job board in a box product. A nice example of an Australian careers site using Jobbex.com is
www.hrcareers.com.au.
by
Brett Iredale
July 23, 2008
Last week I wrote about the importance of
displaying salary details on your job ad. This week is about my second biggest bug bear -
bullet points.
Most companies now utilise the 3 bullet points on their SEEK templates (and most other job boards) to the point where 3 bullets at the top of a job ad has almost become the industry standard.
The problem however is that bullets have become so "the norm" that most people don't put any thought into them - the result being boring, pointless drivel that detracts from the job ad.
I don't care how amazing the role is or how much time you put into crafting your job ad
if your bullets are mindless your job ad probably won't get read.
Some real life examples I found today:
Every job has a location and every job has (at least in your mind) an "impressive", "excellent", or "competitive" salary". You might as well save yourself the trouble and write:
- My client has an office
- You come to work on a train
- You get paid, you go home.
Bullet points can add tremendous value to a job ad but they are also one of the first impressions a reader has about your job ad. Put the time into writing useful and creative bullet points and more people will make their way down to the bottom of your ad, where incidentally the Apply Now button usually sits :)
by
Brett Iredale
July 15, 2008
In today's job market it is vital to list salary details on your job ads whenever humanly possible.
With the number of job ads currently listed on job boards it is imperitive to list salary details on your job ads so that candidates can more effectively determine if your position is suitable or not.
Salary is easily one of the most important criteria that candidates use to decide if a position is of interest to them.
An analogy I find interesting is that of property. My wife and I have been looking for a house to buy or rent for the last few months and to assist us in our searching we have been registering for alert emails on all the major real estate sites. One of the things I found interesting is that
after about a day of looking I stopped clicking on houses that didn't have a price listed. Even if the houses were in the right suburb and had the right ticks in boxes I found it too frustrating to then have to phone real estate agents, leave messages, never hear back etc etc. So in the end I used listing price as the key criteria in determining if a property was worth even clicking on let alone visiting.
Job searching is the same. Job seekers have hundreds of thousands of potential vacancies to look through so
why would they go to the trouble of clicking on your job if they don't know what the salary range is?
I know all the reasons why recruiters and corporates sometimes don't like advertising salaries but on the balance of things you are always going to be better off listing a salary. Job boards like
SEEK and
MyCareer know how job seekers behave and have been encouraging us all to list salary details for years. If you are not doing it yet then think about starting today.
by
Brett Iredale
June 25, 2008
This tinytinytiny JobsJobsJobs car....
by
Brett Iredale
June 24, 2008