Posts filed under 'Industry News'

OK so LinkedIn have released an API for developers to be able to more effectively create and link applications to LinkedIn.  However before you start taking calls from dodgy consulting companies, spending money and attending seminars and webinars here are some things you should be aware of;

API stands for Application Protocol Interface, or in other words a piece of software that lets one piece of software talk to another piece of software.  The API effectively allows third party systems to access and display data that currently already exists on LinkedIn.  

So here's the rub.  If you are not already using LinkedIn and don't have an active LinkedIn presence then the LinkedIn API is not going to be of any benefit to you.  It does not magically connect you with people you are not already connected to.  It does not magically open up the LinkedIn database of contact details for you to search and extract data from.  The API simply allows you to access the same information you already can through LinkedIn.com, but from different places, and possibly presented in different ways.  But it is still the same LinkedIn data you can (or can't) access today.

So to take real advantage of LinkedIn you need to be using it as the networking tool it is intended to be.  There are no shortcuts or magic placements in this for you. You need to be a trusted person, treating people with the same respect you would if you met them in a room.  Remember if you can't work a room then you probably can't work LinkedIn.

Here is an extract from a recent article;

LinkedIn has a significant "anti-harvesting" feature built into its API where it only allows you to get profile information for friends that are directly connected to you. This means that you can't use the API to crawl networks of second or third level contacts in order to build your own repository of LinkedIn user data. LinkedIn is also not providing user's emails via the API.

The real upside to the API is that it allows current active LinkedIn networkers to utilise the system from more places and in more ways.  For example Blackberry are about to release a LinkedIn application.  This is exciting if you are an active LinkedIn and Blackberry user.

So before you worry too much about LinkedIn APIs and recruitment systems with LinkedIn logos all through them, just remember that it is all only as good as your LinkedIn profile and reputation are today.  To take full advantage of these tools you need to be, or become, fully engaged in LinkedIn today.

So off you pop, go and login and start working the room.

Brisbane recruiters and HR people, join us for the launch of the new JobAdder Recruitment Management System (RMS) on Thursday November 5.

 

Come and see a live demo and jump online and have a play on one of the computers set up in the venue.

 

There is plenty of room for everyone so email darren@jobadder.com to confirm your spot.

 

 

Every 12 months we re-write our products from the ground up. 
Every 2 years we re-invent something about our business.
This year we are doing both.

I am delighted to formally announce that at the end of September we are releasing the next generation JobAdder.  The next generation is a full recruitment management system (RMS) that allows you to manage your entire recruitment process from within JobAdder. 

What does it do?

Some of the key areas of functionality include;

• Job orders
• Companies and Contacts
• Candidate management
• Job posting
• Candidate communication
• Notes
• Folders
• Comprehensive graphical reporting
• Resume parsing
• Automated import of job applications
• Duplicate record management
• Digital desktops
• and more

So how is JobAdder's recruitment system different?

1. It is a pleasure to use.
2. Is is web based and utilises the latest web technologies to make difficult tasks dead easy.
3. It is suitable for recruitment agencies AND corporate recruiters.
4. It is easy to setup and maintain
5. It is Australian software designed for Australian users
6. It has the best job posting software in Australia built right in. 

A couple of important points

• You can still use JobAdder just for job posting.  This will not change.
• Existing customers who want to continue just using job posting can do so.  Nothing will change for you.
• The new system will still be called JobAdder.  There will just be 2 versions of JobAdder, Job Posting and Recruitment Management.

A few other changes

• This blog is being retired.  Blogs are yesterday's news so moving forward we will be interacting with our users and friends in a more integrated, communal way.  More to come on that.
• The public home page will be changing to reflect the new offerings
• For everything else it is business as usual.

Arrange a Demo

• To arrange a demo please contact Darren Watts by clicking here.

I went for a walk this morning with my daughter and noticed a few positions vacant signs in windows.  Thinking there seemed to be a few more than normal I started taking pics.  In a 10 minute walk up and back in one little strip of shops near home I found no less than 10 now hiring signs. 

It is staggering to think that in certain parts of the world and certain industries the job market is falling apart and yet I could have found a job for myself, my wife and probably my 19 month old daughter within a 10 minute walk from home.

In tough times companies need to be flexible and on the lookout for innovative ways to add further value to their clients.  A great example this week of a job board doing just that is CareerOne adding a dedicated NSW Government banner on their home page, linking to a dedicated NSW Government home page where job seekers can read latest news articles relating to Government jobs, latest jobs, dedicated job search and more.

I expect we will start to see a lot more of this sort of client focus from job boards as we all head back to customer service fundamentals.

This will probably be the last blog post I make about Twitter because frankly it is about done to death now.  However there is a large amount of interest in Twitter as a business tool for recruiters so for those with the appetite you can click here to download the the definitive guide for using Twitter for HR & Recruitment

This guide has been put together by Michael Specht, HR and Recruitment commentator, consultant and avid Twitterer.

If you would like to know more about posting your job ads to Twitter please call Stuart on (02) 9955 1555 or email us.

For existing JobAdder clients it is a doddle.

If you are not a current JobAdder client we can have you set up within 24 hours.  If your ATS or job posting provider does not post to Twitter then we can still post your ads to Twitter for you.  You can send your job ads to us in XLS, CSV, XML or just about any other format you like and JobAdder can distribute your jobs for you.

Call now to find out more.

You can also follow us on Twitter @JobAdder.  We practice what we preach so come and join the conversation.

News Ltd's Courier Mail is today reporting that Queensland recruitment agencies are up in arms over the Queensland Government engaging an interstate recruitment firm to fill lucrative key QLD Governement roles.

A spokesman for Premier Anna Bligh said the Victorian agency was selected "because they offered the best value for money, but also they offered the opportunity to open up new networks and contacts, both within Queensland, interstate and overseas, which have not been used in our previous CEO recruitment campaigns."

The article can be read here

And incensed reader's comments here

On the 4th of April contractors working on the Olympics Venue project in East London bored through a major Telstra fibre optic system, taking down many Telstra services and services of Telsra's competitors.

Story here.

Unfortunately it looks like one of the world's largest job board networks, Jobserve has been caught up in the outage, including their much touted JobG8 job distribution network.

Jobserve.co.uk, Jobserve.com.au and Jobserve.com all appear to be down today, some 2 days after the accident first occured.

Jobserve.co.uk is the UK's leading IT job board so an outage like this must be devastating.

Unfortunately for local Australian job boards who are using the JobG8 network for job content their jobs all appear to be affected with the "apply now" button leading to a page load error or timeout.  Example

Unfortunately this is one of the major downsides of third party job content providers. If you run a job board and your content provider goes down then through no fault of your own, your jobs also go offline.

After weeks of industry rumour and speculation JobsJobsJobs and JobX have today announced that they are merging.

JobsJobsJobs.com.au will be the job board face of the new business and JobX will be renamed to JX Technologies and will focus on "recruitment technology and content distribution".

Guy Sigston, CEO of JobsJobsJobs.com.au says "Job hunters will enjoy a broad range of content, similar in volume to other major job boards".

It is unclear from the media releases what will happen to the current JobX.com.au web site but we will keep clients updated as more information comes to hand.

Philip Tusing at Destination Talent Blog has spent many months compiling the first edition of the Australian Job Board report.  The report is free to download and you can get yours by clicking on the image below.

JobAdder is proud to be a sponsor of this report as we believe the Australian market is long overdue a quality production where you can quickly and easily find a comprehensive list of Australian job boards and recruitment solutions.

Download yours today.

An article today discussing the pending demise of Second Life (the online refuge for those with no first life) served to remind us yet again that just because something is hyped and trendy does not mean you should rush out and invest in it.

Second Life has been touted for the last 2 years as being "the next big thing" and "the future of the online world".  Recruiters and corporates have invested heavily in it.

Well it turns out Second Life isn't all that.   Here is an extract from the article:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those who can't do, teach. Second Life, the most overhyped virtual world, has been abandoned even by its most fervent journalistic promoters, like Reuters and Wired. It's now pitching itself as an online schoolhouse.

How fitting, since Second Life, a piece of software which allows users to move "avatars" representing themselves around in a three-dimensional space and decorate themselves and their virtual land, resembles nothing so much as a failed academic experiment.

Linden Lab, the maker of Second Life, has raised $19 million in venture capital from a star-studded list of backers, including Benchmark Capital, the backers of eBay; eBay founder Pierre Omidyar; Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus; and Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos. But the last infusion came nearly three years ago. The company charges fees on people and companies who own virtual land in Second Life, and also issues a currency, Linden dollars, used to trade goods in-world. Kapor, the company's chairman, told the Financial Times last year that it was "absolutely in the ballpark of profitability."

Second Life may well be on the verge of profitability. But it is firmly headed into irrelevance. It is impossible to imagine another BusinessWeek cover story like the one it garnered in 2006. Reuters closed its Second Life bureau last year. The former bureau chief, Adam Pasick, told PBS's Mark Glaser that there was no longer a there there:

 

We were primarily interested in Second Life as a business/commerce/finance phenomenon, covering it like we would any small but fast-growing economy in the real world. The bureau is now closed. Essentially the story we were there to cover has moved on.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
At the risk of sounding like an irksome bore I want to emphasise again the importance of not getting the social media cart before the horse.  

Before you even think about investing in social media recruitment strategies you should ask the following questions of your business:

• Do we have a strong brand?
• Do we have a compelling web site where candidates can find and apply for our jobs and interact with us?
• Are we getting people to our web site?  If so where from, what do they do there, what do they think of the site and are we converting them to job applications?
• Do we rank on page 1 of relevant Google searches?
• Are we taking advantage of all other available online sourcing options? (within budget, niche etc).
• Do we have efficient and effective recruitment systems that track, measure and report on the effectiveness of our sourcing strategies?
• Do we communicate well with the candidates we already have?
• Do we have a referral program in place and is it effective? 
• Are we taking full advantage of the products and advanced options on proven sites like SEEK and MyCareer?

Very few Australian recruiters can tick even half of these boxes. 

If you are not across most or all of these points then you should really forget about Facebook and MySpace for now and focus on at least catching up to the market leaders.  Unfortunately there is no magic social media turbo boost button that is going to send you flying to the front of the race.

Online recruitment expert and founder of Recruitment Directory Thomas Shaw has today raised some serious concerns about security on the new RCSA web site currently under development.  The new web site can be freely accessed on the web even though it has not been launched yet.

Shaw says in his blog article "We have uncovered various security errors with the new RCSA http://www.web.rcsa.com.au website within 5 minutes of playing with it...
This security failure has not gone unnoticed within the industry and needs to be fixed immediately before it becomes another laughing stock like recent issues with Monster and the NSW Government Job Board...
The current issues add weight to my stance that the RCSA does not understand technology and how it is used within the online recruitment industry. It could use some advice from its own members and suppliers, who are professional experts in these areas."

I am not a security expert but there is clearly cause for concern if private RCSA membership data is able to be accessed through this web site.  Who knows what kinds of information may have been accessed by people over the last few months while this web site has been online.  One thing is for sure - the site has to be taken offline immediately until these issues are resolved.

It looks like the brilliant "Best job in the world" marketing campaign by Queensland Tourism has become a victim of it's own success.  The site is down this afternoon for unscheduled maintenance. 

Hopefully they are removing some of the unnecessary Flash components and tripling the number of servers (and maybe reducing storage requirements by deleting all ugly applicants).  OK only joking - no rude emails please.

I am just looking at January's stats in JobAdder and it makes for interesting reading.

Most notably this:

- Job ad numbers are down 26% compared to November 08.

- Total job applications are up 11% compared to Nov 08.

Get those ads up folks - the fish are biting.

In what could be a sign of things to come for the Australian software and tech services industry Oakton today announced below expectation results for the Oct-Dec 08 quarter and revised first half FY2009 earnings down by around $4m

The share price has taken a pounding, down 23% in a single day.



IT recruiters we have spoken to so far this year have been quite buoyant.  I hope it continues that way and that we don't see more results like this in the coming weeks.

In what can only be described as a stroke of genius Queensland Tourism is offering people in 18 countries around the world the chance to land the "best job in the world" as caretaker of Hamilton Island for 6 months. 

Here is the job description from the web site www.islandreefjob.com

About the Job
Tourism Queensland is seeking applicants for the best job in the world! The role of Island
Caretaker is a six-month contract, based on luxurious Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier
Reef. It’s a live-in position with flexible working hours and key responsibilities include
exploring the islands of the Great Barrier Reef to discover what the area has to offer.

You’ll be required to report back on your adventures to Tourism Queensland
headquarters in Brisbane (and the rest of the world) via weekly blogs, photo diary, video
updates and ongoing media interviews. On offer is a unique opportunity to help promote
the wondrous Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

Other duties may include (but are not limited to)

Feed the fish - There are over 1,500 species of fish living in the Great Barrier Reef. Don’t
worry – you won’t need to feed them all.
Clean the pool - The pool has an automatic filter, but if you happen to see a stray leaf
floating on the surface it’s a great excuse to dive in and enjoy a few laps.
Collect the mail – During your explorations, why not join the aerial postal service for a
day? It’s a great opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of the reef and islands.

About the job package
Living above the Great Barrier Reef is a pretty unique benefit, but the successful
candidate will also be paid a salary package of AUD $150,000 for the six-month contract.
You’ll receive return airfares from your nearest capital city (in your home country),
accommodation and transport on Hamilton Island, travel insurance for the contract period,
computer, internet, digital video and stills cameras access, plus travel to a number of the
other Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. The six-month contract commences 1st July
2009.

About the location
Stretching for 2,600 kilometres, and composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900
islands, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia is the world’s largest coral reef
system. The World Heritage Listed area supports a diversity of wildlife including whales,
dolphins, sea turtles and more than 1,500 species of fish. The reef is an extremely
popular destination for tourists, sustainably managing approximately 2 million visitors
each year.

Education/Experience Requirements:
A broad range of experience will be considered, but the successful applicant should
posses:
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills
- Good written and verbal English skills
- An adventurous attitude
- Willingness to try new things
- A passion for the outdoors
- Good swimming skills and enthusiasm for snorkelling and/or diving
- Ability to engage with others
- At least one year’s relevant experience

Applicants apply online and submit a 60 minute video which can be viewed and voted on by visitors on the web site.  Brilliant!

So far it looks like only 2 people have applied and they're both Aussies so go on get in there! Good luck.

In speaking with our clients over the last few weeks it is becoming apparent that many recruiters are having a hard time getting invoices paid and it is taking a severe toll on some businesses.  3 of our recruitment agency clients have closed their doors in as many weeks, and signs are not good for quite a few others.

Industry experts have been warning recruiters for some time to get a handle on debtor days so if you needed any additional encouragement then this is it. 

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.

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?

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.

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

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.

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;

1. Modernise a 12 month old user interface
2. Implement a host of new features
3. 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).

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.

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.

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}.

This morning's news is reporting that James Packer has resigned from PBL Media board positions.

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...

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

This week Jobserve have announced the launch of their new JobG8 job distribution system.

Founder Robbie Cowling says "In a nut shell JobG8 creates a network of job boards who whilst retaining their complete autonomy are able to harness the combined effect of all of the job boards in the network. And, it operates a true Pay for Performance business model so whoever it is in the network who adds the value, get the reward."

As I understand it JobG8 allows job boards to distribute their client's jobs to a range of other job boards and other web sites that jobs are advertised on.  The job advertiser pays their job board to list the job in the normal way and the job board then has the option to have the job ad sent to a broader range of job boards to increase the job's exposure.  The original job board then pays for each applicant received through the network. 

I quite like Robbie's idea in principle but there is some serious rocket science required to make this work.  For example the P4P aspect is very complex as there are potentially multiple people in the job supply chain all with their hands out for a slice of the action.  From the tone of the press release they sound very confident in their product so I guess we will know more when we see it in action in our local market. 

The Australian newspaper reported yesterday that Monster is believed to be returning to Australia

"FIVE years after it pulled out of the Australian online job market, US giant Monster Worldwide is understood to be assessing a return to Australian shores.

The company, which is in the middle of a fierce rearguard action in the US and Europe to protect its interests, is believed to have begun looking at a return to the Australian market in a bid to help its operations in Asia, where it has maintained a presence."

This rumour has been going around for a long time now and we haven't seen any real evidence that it could be true.  Nor has anyone with any credibility been quoted in support of the story.  Part of me feels this is just industry gossip that someone stirs up every few months for a bit of a laugh.

I think Monster can make a profit in Australia and I think all positions except # 1 are vulnerable.  (I know my opinion on that will be howled down but that's ok).   If Monster are happy with position 2 or 3 and believe they can run a profitable business here from that position then the rumours might just be true.  The biggest issue I see for them is pricing.  Monster's pricing in many of their overseas markets is way above what the Australian market will wear.  If they can get their prices in line with the standard $150 (ish) per job here then there is chance it could work. 

One of the biggest assets Monster have is their international network and I think there is a real interest in leveraging that here in Australia.  With candidates in most markets in high demand Australian recruiters desparately need reliable avenues for sourcing overseas candidates.  If Monster are willing to invest in this market and can get their prices right then it could be interesting....

May was a very interesting month in JobAdder as numbers of jobs, users and jobs boards continue to grow strongly across the site.  Here are a few random interesting stats.

74,560 job ads were posted through JobAdder in May

63% of all applications received came from SEEK

Job boards with the highest average number of applications per job were (in order)
1  SEEK
2  JobsJobsJobs
3  MyCareer

The job boards with highest month on month growth in average number of candidate apps per job were:
1  JobsJobsJobs
2  Linkme
3  FinancialPlanningJobs.com.au
4  Gurus.com.au

Best day for ad response : Tuesday

19 % more people applied for jobs on Sunday than on Saturday.

23 % more people applied for a job on the weekend than on a Friday

More people applied for a job between 11am and midday than in any other hour

Between 10am and 10pm the WORST time to list a job is 6pm

In what appears to be a very big move away from their original generalist job board strategy JobX are going all out with a new white label job board network.  This appears to be a move to broaden their job distribution network and apparently not so much about generating revenue as they are only charging a few hundred dollars a month for the service. 

Under the heading "What’s in it for JOBX?" in the slide show they say "We believe our technology is the best in its breed.  Sharing our leading technology with our White Label partners increases JOBX’s profile and ability to promote our jobs to a wider audience."

This is an interesting strategy and time will tell if it will pay dividends.  White label job boards are an extremely support intensive and complex business (if done properly) and I wonder what the potential impact of this could be on a startup business. 

JobX are up to some interesting stuff lately. This white label strategy appears to go hand in hand with their recent partnership with Adlogic to create a network of niche job boards that all cross post to each and share revenue.  If the concept gets off the ground job advertisers will be able to post job ads on multiple job boards from within any of the participating niche sites.  Eg from within JobX you would be able to post a job to JobX as well as to a handful of other niche sites.  This seems remarkably similar to Jobserve's JobG8 product which is also launching in June.  It will be fascinating to see how that all plays out. 

Some of you may have seen the Shortlist article last week but for those who didn't we are extremely pleased to announce that we have successfully finalised the sale of our Now Hiring job board business to Counting Jobs Pty Ltd. 

Last week's Shorty article sums it up pretty well so you can click here to download the article.

Our reasons for this move were simple.  We want to focus all our financial and human resources on JobAdder.com.

We are extremely fortunate to have created 2 successful businesses in their own rights - JobAdder and the Now Hiring job boards.  As each business continues to grow it was clear we had a choice to make - ramp up resources on the job board business to accommodate the growth or find a new home for it. 

All things considered it made most sense for us to find a good home for the job board business and focus all our energies on JobAdder.  JobAdder is growing rapidly and we are very excited to be able to now give it all the attention it deserves.  In just one week since the sale was finalised there have been a whole raft of improvements made including the integration of over 6 new job boards.  JobAdder customers will benefit from a dramatic increase in functionality and job board integrations and as a business we feel the timing is strategically perfect.

As the Shortlist article states, we are absolutely delighted to have the Counting Jobs team take over the Now Hiring brand and our job board babies.  We have worked tirelessly on the job boards for 5 years so it was really important to us that they go to a business who understands job boards as well as we do and who shares our vision and passion for the business.  Mike Thomas built his first job site with his own hands and knows intimately what it takes to make a job board business successful in this market.  Mike and his team have a clear focus on the job at hand and have some very big plans so watch that space carefully!

Please also note that we are changing our company name from Now Hiring Pty Ltd to JobAdder Pty Ltd and Counting Jobs will be taking over the  Now Hiring name and brand.   Please update your address books as our email addresses will now be @jobadder.com. 

So JobAdder customers and prospective customers, hold on to your hats as we take the snake to a whole new level.

The dust seems to be settling in job board land as established players and newcomers settle into their respective positions in the market.  Aside from a little jostling for second and third there isn't much new or interesting to report.  JJJ and JobX seem to have eased up on their gorilla poking, no-one has gone broke yet this year, the top end of town is settling back into normality, there doesn't seem to be anything new or exciting and all is calm.

So what is next?  Will it be something new?  Will we see consolidation?  Will MyCareer and Careerone join forces?  Will JJJ buy JobX or other tier 3s to strengthen their bid for outright 4th?  Or is everyone battoning down the hatches to see what happens in the US?

Google appears to have introduced some new embedded search functionality for certain web sites.

If you do a search for SEEK in Google you find this:



At first glance you would assume that this allows you to search for jobs on SEEK straight from Google.  Eg if I type in "IT Manager" I would assume it would go straight to IT Manager jobs on Seek.  Wrong.  All it does is return Google results that match - i.e. it does this "IT manager site:seek.com.au".

I wouldn't imagine that SEEK have paid or even requested this functionality because quite frankly it is rubbish.  Who on earth wants to do a nested Google search from within Google search results?  Show me what I intuitively expect to see or get rid of it.

A recent Hudson survey of job seeker opinions is getting plenty of coverage around town today.  You can read a detailed breakdown of the study here on Shortlist but there are a couple of very interesting points that I wanted to comment on...

1. Job Seekers want more details in job ads. 
   "It showed a growing frustration with job ads among candidates, with 45% of respondents saying they lacked sufficient detail for the candidate to make a decision. This included vague descriptions of roles, omitting the employer's name and lack of salary information."
   
   There are only 3 reasons I can think of that might explain why a recruiter wouldn't write a detailed, descriptive job ad. (i) You don't know much about the job (ii) you are too lazy to spend the extra 5 minutes (iii) you are being driven by unreasonable KPIs that don't give you the time you need to write a good ad.
   
   If you are guilty of (i) or (ii) then the good news is you can easily turn this around.  You will make more placements and more money by spending the time to understand your roles and write detailed ads.
   If your problem is (iii) then go and find yourself a new job.  There are plenty of them going..


2. Your web site is critical to your success.  "The research showed that more than half of all candidates (55%) now go directly to a company's website during their jobsearch process."
   
   Intuitively you would expect that people check out your web site when they are considering working for you or using your agency, but did you realise it was more than half?   These findings should spur all recruiters and employers to re-examine their web sites.  What does your web site say about you?  Would you work for you based on your web site?


3. Poorly written job ads are harming your future chances with today's passive candidates.  "Nine out of 10 (88%) candidates used the major job boards as a research channel during their job search process, and 83% also used newspapers."
   
   When writing your job ads bear in mind that job seekers and future job seekers are using your ads to research the job market.  In so doing they are forming opinions about you.


4. Niche job boards are vital.  "54% of candidates used specialist industry job search sites as a research channel."
   
   Are you using specialist niche job sites to advertise your roles?  This report proves that the global move to specialist job sites is alive and well in Australia.  There are some great specialist job sites in Australia and you owe it to yourself to try them.

How do you go on these 4 points?

Sources today are reporting that News Ltd and Fairfax Digital are joining forces to form a new job board called MyOne.com.au.  MyOne will bring together all the best features of CareerOne and MyCareer to form a potent combination.  The new business is rumoured to be adopting the slogan "simply second" - a humorous but appropriate spin on MyCareer's "simply jobs" tag line.

Recruiters are today breathing a collective sigh of relief as the new site will put to bed the endless squabbles over who is in second place and who is third.  MyOne will be in an unassailable second position and are said to be happy to accept that position till death do they part.

Sources say job listings on the new web site are expected to be priced at around $1 an ad. 








(this story may or may not be fictitious. Please do not stampede us with requests to have the new job board enabled on your JobAdder account)

The Australian Domain Administrator (auDA) has today announced a further relaxing of the regulation that has made the Australian .com.au domain space so successful.

The new policy means you will effectively be able to buy and sell Australian domain names willy nilly.  Previously you were not allowed to sell a domain name (although it did happen) unless it was part of a business or asset sale.

Unfortunately this is very bad news and further weakens the domain regulation in Australia by opening up .com.au domains to even further abuse by domain name resellers, squatters, traffic rings and other bottom dwellers.

Clearly auDA are bowing to pressure from vocal and influential domain registrars and other people who stand to gain from the changes.  The average internet user in Australia will be disadvantaged by this move as there will be a massive increase in valuable domain names now sitting idly for sale, unused, or covered in Google adwords.  Unfortunately the average internet user doesn't know about nor participate in domain policy making.  This move is in line with auDA's history of continued weakening of regulation and I wonder why they don't just cut to the chase and make it the same as the US.  What a runaway success that has been.

For those intersted the key features of the new policy are as follows (quoted from here):  My comments are in red.

• it will not be allowable to register a domain name for the sole purpose of resale or transfer to a third party  (almost impossible to police or prove. And is if auDA cares less)
• registrants will not be able to transfer their domain name for the first 6 months after the initial registration (this does not apply to domain names that have been renewed or previously transferred) (so what?)
• after 6 months, registrants will be able to offer their domain name for sale/transfer by any means (eg. by listing the domain name for sale on a domain brokerage website, advertising the domain name for sale in a newspaper, or contacting a prospective buyer directly)  (key words here are "by any means")
• registrant transfers will be processed by the registrar of record using a standard transfer form, and the registrar may charge a transfer fee
• parties to a transfer will be asked to disclose the sale method and price, on a voluntary and confidential basis, so that auDA may collect aggregated statistical data to improve access to market information for buyers and sellers.  (yeah right. Why on earth would you volunteer that information?)

yep this is my dummy spat on the floor

There is an interesting post this morning on the Onrec blog about JobSpeed - a new IT job board run by a consortium of recruiters. 

Job boards with ties to recruitment agencies will always be treated with suspicion, especially in a market spoiled for choice.  It is not uncommon for a job board to have ties to a recruitment agency however for obvious reasons most normally go to great lengths to hide the fact.

Click here to read the conversation....

Would you fork over $250 or $500 for the right to interview a candidate?

This very interesting approach is being trialled by US site Notchup and from all accounts is generating quite a bit of interest.  The concept as I understand it is that the candidate registers their profile, specifies an amount that they would accept for an interview (generally a few hundred dollars) and then employers can get in touch and pay the fee if they would like to speak to the candidate.

Clearly there are a number of potential flaws in the system, such as candidates bonusing their experience to drive up the interview price, non genuine candidates interviewing for beer money, or genuine candidates who are no longer active.

Potential flaws aside this is a very interesting approach in a candidate short market.  Would you pay $250 to interview a candidate?  I think I would.  I would pay $250 without hesitation if I was sure that (a) the candidate was genuine and (b) that they knew enough about my company or role to be able to qualify their interest before I paid the fee.