Comments on: Assessment and Job Boards: Two Years Later http://www.ere.net/2008/08/05/assessment-and-job-boards-two-years-later/ Recruiting News, Recruiting Events, Recruiting Community, Social Recruiting Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:02:01 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Rick Bacon http://www.ere.net/2008/08/05/assessment-and-job-boards-two-years-later/comment-page-1/#comment-6498 Rick Bacon Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:22:53 +0000 http://www.ere.net/?p=3512#comment-6498 Dr Handler, You have started a debate! First I should declare an interest as a vendor: (www.iProfile.org) - another one you missed! From an individual's point of view the prize is to be able to hold securely all my career information, aptitudes, references, certifications etc. in one place and rather than distributing that out across the job market (job boards, business networks, agencies and employers) give the participants links back to my iProfile. In that way I am in control of who sees my data, I can see if they have opened the link, I can get feedback within the link from the agency, I can update my details, including availability, simultaneously across all my contacts. By ensuring recruiters have access to more up to date structured career information we are enabling them to find suitable candidates faster. By partnering with niche and general job boards to provide an apply on-line capability (with an iProfile) we are offering an enhanced user experience and increasing traffic for them. We are not challenging existing business models - just making them far more efficient, transparent and secure. Today, 15% of UK professionals have an iProfile and it has been adopted by major job boards and recruiters in Europe and Asia Pacific Best regards Rick Bacon CEO iProfile.org Dr Handler,

You have started a debate! First I should declare an interest as a vendor: (www.iProfile.org) – another one you missed!

From an individual’s point of view the prize is to be able to hold securely all my career information, aptitudes, references, certifications etc. in one place and rather than distributing that out across the job market (job boards, business networks, agencies and employers) give the participants links back to my iProfile. In that way I am in control of who sees my data, I can see if they have opened the link, I can get feedback within the link from the agency, I can update my details, including availability, simultaneously across all my contacts.
By ensuring recruiters have access to more up to date structured career information we are enabling them to find suitable candidates faster. By partnering with niche and general job boards to provide an apply on-line capability (with an iProfile) we are offering an enhanced user experience and increasing traffic for them. We are not challenging existing business models – just making them far more efficient, transparent and secure.
Today, 15% of UK professionals have an iProfile and it has been adopted by major job boards and recruiters in Europe and Asia Pacific
Best regards
Rick Bacon
CEO
iProfile.org

]]> By: Danielle Sayles http://www.ere.net/2008/08/05/assessment-and-job-boards-two-years-later/comment-page-1/#comment-6473 Danielle Sayles Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:04:46 +0000 http://www.ere.net/?p=3512#comment-6473 Great article Mr. Handler! I do however agree, somewhat, with the last comment regarding the size of the boards implementing the profile assessment technology. Being a vendor rep that has worked for a major generalist board, as well as, a niche board, I feel your focus is dead on! The problem is, if the boards don't attract enough candidates in the first place, it is still hard to get quality hires. This is where the focus of niche boards come in to play. Using niche job boards, in my opinion, is the first step to ensuring a certain level of quality. No tool is going to solve all of the issues. When companies have a presence on job boards that are specific to their industry, they are able to target better qualified candidates, generally. In terms of what Monster is doing, I am afraid that I don't think it will be as effective because of the multitude of candidates from all different industries and all walks of life. The solution is better if we start educating the candidates on what "quality" is. I feel that is where the confusion comes in. As a former seeker, I would skim an ad's requirement section and would feel that I have the intelligence to to the job. In this situation, my idea of quality is not necessarily what the employer is looking for. Being as detailed as possible in the ad also minimizes the level of unqualified candidates. Instead of telling candidates they are qualified if they can do A, B and C, Tell them they are qualified if they HAVE done A, B, and C. They also need to know the level of experience in terms of duration for A, B, and C qualifications. When jobseekers are more knowledgable, they will be better equipped to know which positions they will more likely get a response on instead of a simply statement that if they meet the qualifications, they will be contacted. In essence, A good recruitment plan includes 1 generalist job board, 1 niche board and 1 local board. Great article Mr. Handler! I do however agree, somewhat, with the last comment regarding the size of the boards implementing the profile assessment technology. Being a vendor rep that has worked for a major generalist board, as well as, a niche board, I feel your focus is dead on! The problem is, if the boards don’t attract enough candidates in the first place, it is still hard to get quality hires. This is where the focus of niche boards come in to play. Using niche job boards, in my opinion, is the first step to ensuring a certain level of quality. No tool is going to solve all of the issues. When companies have a presence on job boards that are specific to their industry, they are able to target better qualified candidates, generally.

In terms of what Monster is doing, I am afraid that I don’t think it will be as effective because of the multitude of candidates from all different industries and all walks of life.

The solution is better if we start educating the candidates on what “quality” is. I feel that is where the confusion comes in. As a former seeker, I would skim an ad’s requirement section and would feel that I have the intelligence to to the job. In this situation, my idea of quality is not necessarily what the employer is looking for. Being as detailed as possible in the ad also minimizes the level of unqualified candidates. Instead of telling candidates they are qualified if they can do A, B and C, Tell them they are qualified if they HAVE done A, B, and C. They also need to know the level of experience in terms of duration for A, B, and C qualifications.

When jobseekers are more knowledgable, they will be better equipped to know which positions they will more likely get a response on instead of a simply statement that if they meet the qualifications, they will be contacted.

In essence, A good recruitment plan includes 1 generalist job board, 1 niche board and 1 local board.

]]> By: 080806 Daily Links For Recruiters (August 06, 2008) | johnsumser.com: Recruiting News and Views http://www.ere.net/2008/08/05/assessment-and-job-boards-two-years-later/comment-page-1/#comment-6466 080806 Daily Links For Recruiters (August 06, 2008) | johnsumser.com: Recruiting News and Views Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:56:45 +0000 http://www.ere.net/?p=3512#comment-6466 [...] Assessment and Job Boards: Two Years Later Another screed proclaiming the imminent demise of big job boards. The idea that small job boards with integrated assessment tools are the future is flawed. The problem is that accurate assessment is very expensive, the costs are front loaded and the results are speculative. Assessment is not a good candidate for global automation. [...] [...] Assessment and Job Boards: Two Years Later Another screed proclaiming the imminent demise of big job boards. The idea that small job boards with integrated assessment tools are the future is flawed. The problem is that accurate assessment is very expensive, the costs are front loaded and the results are speculative. Assessment is not a good candidate for global automation. [...]

]]> By: Phil Haynes http://www.ere.net/2008/08/05/assessment-and-job-boards-two-years-later/comment-page-1/#comment-6465 Phil Haynes Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:11:34 +0000 http://www.ere.net/?p=3512#comment-6465 Dr. Handler, Thank you for adding your expert perspective to this debate. However, you missed one vendor and one strategy that are tackling all the pros you mention. The strategy is called AllianceQ and is a collaboration of corporations designed to drive down costs and increase efficiency. One of the key components of this strategy is BRANDING the employers in the Alliance with those people who may have a negative experience - the people (98% industry wide) who don't get hired! Please take a look and let me know what you think; www.allianceq.com. The vendor is QuietAgent. Unlike the folks you mentioned above, this vendor moves completely away from "resume/job description" matching and uses the O*net database of competencies to allow job seekers to create anonymous profiles and recruiters to create job agents that match these profiles. Please take a look as well; www.quietagent.com. A lot of people like to label these new technologies as "job board killers" but in fact all we are doing is looking to increase the effectiveness of the recruiting process from both the recruiter side and the job seeker side. Phil Haynes Managing Director AllianceQ phil.haynes@allianceq.com http://allianceqblog.qaaqblogs.com/ Dr. Handler,
Thank you for adding your expert perspective to this debate.
However, you missed one vendor and one strategy that are tackling all the pros you mention. The strategy is called AllianceQ and is a collaboration of corporations designed to drive down costs and increase efficiency. One of the key components of this strategy is BRANDING the employers in the Alliance with those people who may have a negative experience – the people (98% industry wide) who don’t get hired! Please take a look and let me know what you think; http://www.allianceq.com.
The vendor is QuietAgent. Unlike the folks you mentioned above, this vendor moves completely away from “resume/job description” matching and uses the O*net database of competencies to allow job seekers to create anonymous profiles and recruiters to create job agents that match these profiles. Please take a look as well; http://www.quietagent.com.
A lot of people like to label these new technologies as “job board killers” but in fact all we are doing is looking to increase the effectiveness of the recruiting process from both the recruiter side and the job seeker side.

Phil Haynes
Managing Director
AllianceQ
phil.haynes@allianceq.com
http://allianceqblog.qaaqblogs.com/

]]> By: Andy Newport http://www.ere.net/2008/08/05/assessment-and-job-boards-two-years-later/comment-page-1/#comment-6459 Andy Newport Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:02:04 +0000 http://www.ere.net/?p=3512#comment-6459 Charles, your article hits the mark in so many ways. What is interesting is that you have largely written from the perspective of the job posters rather than applicants. Key is getting applicant engagement and the applicant experience with job boards is poor (multiple applications are required and resume content becomes obsolete). In Europe there is a move to an on-line resume format by applicants (to job boards, agencies, employers) that provides them with structured easily searchable resume data that is gaining wide adoption by agencies, job boards and an estimated 15% of the professional working population. Becauise this is NOT a dsruptive terchnology uptake across the stakeholder base of iProfiles is exploding. Only by addressing the needs of all stakeholders will adoption happen Charles, your article hits the mark in so many ways. What is interesting is that you have largely written from the perspective of the job posters rather than applicants. Key is getting applicant engagement and the applicant experience with job boards is poor (multiple applications are required and resume content becomes obsolete). In Europe there is a move to an on-line resume format by applicants (to job boards, agencies, employers) that provides them with structured easily searchable resume data that is gaining wide adoption by agencies, job boards and an estimated 15% of the professional working population. Becauise this is NOT a dsruptive terchnology uptake across the stakeholder base of iProfiles is exploding. Only by addressing the needs of all stakeholders will adoption happen

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