I’ve been exploring jobfox.com while preparing for a presentation about internet recruiting, which I’ll be making to an HR group later this spring. I’ve been impressed with the scalability of the match criteria on jobfox. I experimented with a search for an industrial outside salesperson. I was able to search for the individual’s reported “length of sale” experience (long sale for capital equipment; short sale for phone service, for example); the nature of the businesses/sectors to whom the individual has sold; average ASV generated; etc. Much more robust criteria than some of the “match” functions on other job boards.

If the “universal application” idea catches on, could be a substantial innovation!

As a point of clarification, ResumePal matching is not based on the content of the resume at all. Candidates create a matchable profile at http://www.ResumePal.com, and attach their resume — but the matching happens based on the profile data. Of course, recruiters and hiring managers will want to see the resume, which is why it’s attached to the ResumePal profile and also goes into the ATS. So in a way ResumePal is the best of both worlds — an intelligent, data-driven matching system to float the most qualified candidates to the top of the list, along with a traditional resume attachment for the phone screen and interview process.

In reference to the point about updating one’s profile, surely someone in active mode will have all the motivation to do so, no doubt. But if updating one’s profile helps connect a candidate with an employer, that can only be a good thing, and everybody wins.

I also agree with your comment about screening candidates to better align them with the right jobs, helping ensure a good fit, and in turn, optimal performance.

All the best,

Steven Toole
VP Employer Marketing
Jobfox.com

Candidates love to over-describe their qualifications.
Recruiters hate resumes that over state qualifications.

No doubt, candidates tire from the very repetitive database-nature of the typical ATS. Making the time to go back and update changes is only a priority for active job seekers or the highly career conscious social networker. A one-stop for resume/personal profile data makes a lot of sense. It may even have monetary value from a time/efficiency perspective.

Recruiters are always seeking more effective ways to have the most current candidate data. Having some sense that a query will be based upon up to date information can be a confidence booster and potentially save time.

The down side is that the system is still resume-based. Resumes are poor predictors of job performance. Resumes are typically laden with misrepresentations. And most notably, the misrepresentations are the greatest on the variables most often used to sort candidates. This one-stop approach allows the same misrepresentations to be distributed broadly and efficiently.

It is clear the resume continues to be the main data source for information exchange in the recruiting process. Using more database-driven resume/profile builders will no doubt increase the consistency of information in this exchange. But how it impacts the useable quality of data will be driven by the depth of data that can be used to isolate meaningful and job relevant candidate differentiation.

Many ATSs have scorable or screening questionnaire. Most of the companies I speak with make very little use of that feature. Unused or under-used features add no value. The long term market value proposition for ResumePal will in getting more comprehensive adoption of screening that differentiates in relationship to predicting performance.

Joseph P. Murphy
Shaker Consulting Group
Developers of the Virtual Job Tryout®