ERE.net » Jennifer Hicks

Clue #2: Understanding a Niche Market

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 02 Jan 2000 19:00:00 +0000

As important as a community is, so too are sub-communities – niches where we feel most comfortable, most understood, and most likely to find something in common with another group member. Some of us find this in a religious arena, others on an athletic field, and others at Minorities’ Job Bank. Yes, it’s another job board. And yes, you can post your jobs and search a hefty resume database – for a fee. But, in addition to providing the requisite job postings and career information, Minorities’ Job Bank creates ethnic communities – one each for:

Native Americans

African Americans
Hispanic Americans
Asian Americans
Women

So what? Well consider this. In 1990, according to the US Census Bureau, the US population was 83.9% white. Being a person of color and working in a white-dominated society might just possibly bring with it some unique questions, experiences, and perspectives. Where better to learn to deal with it all than in a community of like people? Thus, the birth of the individual ethnic villages. Each village offers a plethora of articles for, by, and about people of color. Each also offers a discussion forum. And, significantly, each also offers news of particular interest to each group. Although the white population in the US had declined to 82.5% by 1998, clearly our media comes from a primarily white perspective. The Minorities’ Job Bank throws a monkey wrench into this. It offers minority news from mainstream sources like the Associated Press and Reuters, but, it focuses on news from non-mainstream sources – the Pacific News Services, tribal newspapers, etc. Thus, a place is created where newsworthy events often ignored by the mainstream take on new life and importance. This in turn, creates a climate of an increased knowledge base, and of a power that can only come from numbers – almost one million visitors a month. From 1990 to 1998, while the white population decline, all other groups in the US grew. The percentage of:

African Americans grew by almost one-half of a percentage point
Native Americans grew by one-tenth of a percentage point
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders grew by almost a whole percentage point
Hispanics grew by more than two percentage points

Wouldn’t it make sense to understand what each of these populations is looking for so that your companies can provide it and tap into growing markets?

Clue #1: Vaulting to the Top

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 19 Dec 1999 19:00:00 +0000

As you already know, people with top-notch skills are hard to find. Job seekers know they’re in demand and don’t feel the need to beg for a job nowadays. Nor do job seekers want to frequent the vast amount of job sites on the Internet. The large number of job site choices has become so overwhelming that the sites tend to blend into one indiscriminate Web page for the job seeker. Unless, of course, the job site has the ability to Distinguish itself from the rest of the pack. That’s exactly the leap that Vault.com is trying to make. Vault.com has created two different avenues for the job seeker to explore. First is the Vault.com Electronic WaterCooler, the Internet’s first network of company-specific message boards for employees. The WaterCooler delves into the nitty-gritty of what it takes to work at top US corporations and also offers an inside track on specific company culture. The report gives the job seeker a heads-up on difficult interviewing questions, tips on pay, promotion and benefits, and the overall company dirt. P.O.V. magazine noted that “the job searching public can’t get enough of Vault’s fly-on-the-wall approach.” The valuable information within the guides can make or break a job seeker’s decision to pursue the company. Electronic Recruiting News advised employers that “If you’re not tracking the Vault.com WaterCooler boards on your company, it’s time to start.” Besides offering office gossip, Vault has recently doubled its traffic to 500,000 and increased membership with the release of its research publications. The 130-plus publications were previously only available in printed editions, sold either on Vault’s Web site or in bookstores. Now the online guides are free. With half a million job seekers making the decision to use Vault.com as an integral aspect of their job search you’ll want to take a look too.

Job Sites With a Clue Part 1 of 3

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 12 Dec 1999 19:00:00 +0000

The latest estimates from NUA Surveys put the number of Internet users around the world at about 201 million. That’s a lot of people. In the US alone, there are more than 112 million. Think about what this means. Yes, it gives you potential access to more people than you’ll even need to hire. But, unless you understand the medium you’ll still trail behind. The Internet, by virtue of how it is accessed, is an individual experience. Each one of its millions of users, sits alone, in front of a computer monitor, isolated. Sometimes frustrated. Most often, able to communicate only through typewritten words. A solitary, potentially lonely experience to be sure. Think about the automated telephone systems in use today in many businesses across the US. You call with a question or a complaint. You listen to a pre-recorded menu offering several choices and try to guess which option will put you in touch with the person you need. You punch the appropriate number. You get queued into another pre-recorded message. A sub-menu this time. You listen, choose again, and the cycle spins on. When (if) you do reach a person, often it is within the wrong department, and you are transferred back to recorded hell. The same potential exists on the Web, too. Think about those sites you’ve encountered with no contact name, no phone number, no way to correspond with a real person. The sites whose pages refresh automatically and keep you from effectively using the back button. Do you stay long? Neither do people who are looking for new career opportunities. For the most part, we are social beings who thrive on human contact and exchange. We have the need to express our ideas, share our experiences, and understand that we are not alone. Yet many of us now live in areas where we don’t know our neighbors. We work in cubicles with walls so high we can’t see our co-workers. And we sit at computers, do our solitary work, and wonder at the malaise that besets us. Yes, there is a shortage of workers. But there is no shortage of people. If you had access to even 1/1000th of all the people on the ‘Net, you’d have plenty of applicants to choose from. So, why is it so hard to find them? Look at the job boards. They’re all the same. They post jobs. They run articles about skill development, career enhancement, dealing with subordinates and bosses. After a while, they all blur and it’s hard to figure out why yet another group of people thought creating yet another job site was a worthwhile use of their time. Then, look at the popularity of the newsgroups, of online games, even of email discussion lists. In each of those, the computer is the medium, but the participants are real. They are people interacting with other people. If job boards could recognize this need for interaction think what the results could be… There are a few job sites that understand. Yes, of course, they offer job postings. And resume databases. And the requisite career advice. But, they also offer the prospective candidate a reason to visit – virtual human contact. A place to interact, to theorize, share, talk, complain, congratulate, learn, express, and meet other human beings. Without that, the site is static, deadly, and, in essence, useless to the people you most want to attract. In the next two weeks, we’ll look at two particular job posting sites that understand the Internet medium – that understand people need contact – and use that understanding to create advantages for the recruiter. One is a pay posting site, the other is free.

Free Job Posting Sites: National Sites – Part 6 of 6

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 05 Dec 1999 19:00:00 +0000

If you have loads of reqs. to fill across a vast array of locations, state and city searches may not be enough. You may want to broaden your candidate search and go national. When this is the case, try some or all of these sites: For non-profit organizations committed to diversity, willing to partner with the Minorities’ Job Bank, check out: http://www.minorities-jb.com/native/partners/partnering.html If you have a job that requires a bilingual candidate (Spanish or Portuguese and English) – try LatPro at: http://www.latpro.com If you’re a corporate recruiter, post your job page at Career Exposure at: http://www.careerexposure.com/index2.html Jobland USA may not be the premiere free site, but it offers three different ways to get your jobs out there. First, there’s a classified section where you can post for free according to work category at: http://jobland.com/classifieds/

Then, if you have the jobs posted on your own site, you can add that URL to their database at: http://jobland.com/websearch/AddURL.html

Or, from: http://jobland.com/websearch/urlser.html you can even submit your postings page to over 20 different search engines, including Northern Light, AltaVista, HotBot, and Google. You can also try Big Jobs at: http://www.bigjobs.net/post.htm Or Career File at: http://www.careerfile.com/ Or Professional Careers Network deals with the top 34 industries and you can post your jobs for free at: http://www.jobs-careers.com/visit.html The Job Resource is terrific if you need entry-level, college-educated workers. Try it at: http://www.TheJobResource.com/prospects/ Then, too, there is SearchEase at: http://www.searchease.com/cgi-bin/wc.dll?EEnter~?PostJobs Of course, don’t forget Yahoo! Classifieds at: http://classifieds.yahoo.com/ If you can’t find any local candidates and are willing to sponsor an immigrant, post at Visa Jobs at: http://209.35.112.66/html/employers.html

Free Job Posting Sites: Region and Industry Specific – Part 5 of 6

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 28 Nov 1999 19:00:00 +0000

Over the past four weeks, we’ve looked at the free posting sites within each individual state and some of the cities in the U.S. This week, we’ll look at somewhat broader sites that deal with regions of the US instead of just a particular state. In addition, we’ll also preview a few industry-specific free job posting sites. Next week we’ll look at the national sites.

Region Specific:

SOUTHEASTERN STATES – If you need an entry-level candidate in the southeastern states, try SEAC at:
http://www.seacnet.org/job_entry.html
NEW ENGLANDERS – Try Town Online at:
http://www.townonline.com/working/ – it’s not free but at $28 a posting, it’s about as cheap as it gets.
Want STATE SPECIFIC POSTING with a few easy clicks? Try Work-Web at:
http://www.work-web.com/
And while not all are free or even appropriate, if you must go a LOCAL OR REGIONAL ROUTE, try this mega resource from Duke University:
http://cdc.stuaff.duke.edu/stualum/

employment/JobResources/jregion.html

It’s full of recruiting sites, online newspapers, and a bunch of other stuff that you can add to your arsenal of tools.
CANADA – A plethora of Canadian sites at:
http://www.canadajobsearch.com/postings.htm and also at: http://empowerednetworks.com/tech/it-resource/jobs.html
On a more INTERNATIONAL SCALE, if you’re an international agency and need to find candidates in China or Hong Kong, try: http://www.dailyjob.com/
INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC:
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS – use: http://207.175.95.175/sharedpages/cmsother.asp
IT – If you are a firm that hires IT candidates and you have those jobs posted at your own site, you may want to request a free link on Internet Solutions IT jobs page at: http://www.internet-solutions.com/itjobs/us/usselect.htm
Also consider advertising at technical recruiter at: http://www.technicalrecruiter.com/

sharedpages/cmsother.htm
TEMPS – If you’re a temp agency with summer jobs or internships, consider Summer Jobs at: http://www.summerjobs.com/
SCIENCE – If you advertise jobs for scientists, check out scijobs.org at: http://scijobs.org/recommend.shtml they’ll link to you!
FINANCE – For jobs in the accounting and finance fields, try: http://jobsinthemoney.com

Free Job Posting Sites: City-Specific Part 4 of 6

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 21 Nov 1999 19:00:00 +0000

This article was originally published on November 15, 1999, but due to email delivery problems, we are republishing it today. In some job markets, posting statewide can be ineffective. Unemployment might be so low that no one is interested in moving. The state may be so large, no one in the north cares what?s offered in the south. So now that we?ve exhausted each of the states in the U.S., this week we?ll look at city-specific sites where you can post your job ads for free. IN CALIFORNIA:

The Bay area – Request a link to your jobs page from: http://www.bayareacareers.com/add.html

Southern California – Job Search in southern California is located at: http://www.ventura.com/jsearch/unique/
29063/jshome1.html

IN FLORIDA:

Jacksonville – Try: http://www.leading.net/JobBank/
Southern Florida – Consider adding a link to SoFla.com at: http://www.sofla.com/shared/mod_perl/looksmart/
looksmart/emia176954/emia176867/emia177859/

IN MASSACHUSETTS:

Boston – If you?re a corporate recruiter looking in Boston, try the Boston Job Source at: http://bostonjobsource.com (agencies must pay a nominal fee).
Greater Boston – Try Career Moves at: http://www.JVSjobs.org/

IN NORTH CAROLINA:

In the Charlotte area, use Charlotte?s Web at: http://www.charweb.org/job/jobform.html

IN PENNSYLVANNIA:

In Philadelphia, look at Philly Works where you can add your site?s URL at: http://www.phillyworks.com/addurl.html
If you?re in Southwestern Pennsylvania, add your jobs page at: http://trfn.clpgh.org/Employment/employreg.shtml
In Pittsburgh, add your jobs page at: http://www.pghguide.com/pghjobs/jobsites.html or http://www.pghguide.com/pghjobs/listjob.html.

IN TEXAS:

Houston – If you need a candidate in Houston, try Houston Employment Opportunities at: http://www.wt.net/cgi/bb/bbb.pl?hccom_job.

Free Job Posting Sites: City-Specific Part 4 of 6

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 14 Nov 1999 19:00:00 +0000

In some job markets, posting statewide can be ineffective. Unemployment might be so low that no one is interested in moving. The state may be so large, no one in the north cares what?s offered in the south. So now that we?ve exhausted each of the states in the U.S., this week we?ll look at city-specific sites where you can post your job ads for free. IN CALIFORNIA:

The Bay area – Request a link to your jobs page from: http://www.bayareacareers.com/add.html

Southern California – Job Search in southern California is located at: http://www.ventura.com/jsearch/unique/
29063/jshome1.html

IN FLORIDA:

Jacksonville – Try: http://www.leading.net/JobBank/
Southern Florida – Consider adding a link to SoFla.com at: http://www.sofla.com/shared/mod_perl/looksmart/
looksmart/emia176954/emia176867/emia177859/

IN MASSACHUSETTS:

Boston – If you?re a corporate recruiter looking in Boston, try the Boston Job Source at: http://bostonjobsource.com (agencies must pay a nominal fee).
Greater Boston – Try Career Moves at: http://www.JVSjobs.org/

IN NORTH CAROLINA:

In the Charlotte area, use Charlotte?s Web at: http://www.charweb.org/job/jobform.html

IN PENNSYLVANNIA:

In Philadelphia, look at Philly Works where you can add your site?s URL at: http://www.phillyworks.com/addurl.html
If you?re in Southwestern Pennsylvania, add your jobs page at: http://trfn.clpgh.org/Employment/employreg.shtml
In Pittsburgh, add your jobs page at: http://www.pghguide.com/pghjobs/jobsites.html or http://www.pghguide.com/pghjobs/listjob.html.

IN TEXAS:

Houston – If you need a candidate in Houston, try Houston Employment Opportunities at: http://www.wt.net/cgi/bb/bbb.pl?hccom_job.

Free Job Posting Sites: Region-Specific Part 3 of 6

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 07 Nov 1999 19:00:00 +0000

In the past two weeks, we started covering free job posting sites. We began with Alabama and last week finished with North Dakota. This week, we?ll finish the individual states and then, next week, we?ll move on to larger regions where you can add your jobs for free.

OHIO — The state job bank at:

http://www.obes.org/scripts/obes/commun/html/orderentry.asp
OKLAHOMA — The state job bank at:
http://www.oesc.state.ok.us/scripts/jobnet/jo_reqform.asp
OREGON — The Oregon Employment Department at:
http://www.emp.state.or.us/jobord/jobord.htm

Or try a free trial at this Portland site at: http://www.pdxjobs.com/cgi-bin/pdxjobs.pl?start=test_drive
PENNSYLVANIA — The state job bank at:
http://pa.jobsearch.org/
RHODE ISLAND — The state department of labor and training at: http://ri.jobsearch.org/employer
SOUTH CAROLINA — State Employment Service Commission at:
http://www.sces.org/surveys/joborders/

joborderformver02.htm

Or look at the state job bank at: http://sc.jobsearch.org/
SOUTH DAKOTA — The department of labor at:
http://sd.jobsearch.org/
TENNESSEE — America?s job bank front door only at:
http://www.ajb.org/
TEXAS — The workforce commission at:
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/jobs/htejm.html
UTAH — An electronic bulletin board at:
http://www.dws.state.ut.us/job_board/default.asp
VERMONT — The state department of Employment and Training at:
http://www.det.state.vt.us/cf/joblist.htm

VIRGINIA — CareerConnect at:

http://www.careerconnect.state.va.us/employer/

empvacancy1.htm

Or, the state employer commission at: http://va.jobsearch.org/employer/
WASHINGTON — The state job bank at:
http://wa.jobsearch.org/

Or, try a free resume search at Access Washington located at: http://www.wa.gov/esd/work/searchwtb.htm
WEST VIRGINIA — Through America?s Job bank at:
http://wv.jobsearch.org/
WISCONSIN — The employment connection at Job Net at:
http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/joborder/emplogin.htm

Or look through America?s Job Bank at:

http://www.ajb.dni.us/index.html
WYOMING — no easy online forms, but you can contact an employment center at:
http://wyjobs.state.wy.us/ercmap.htm

Next week we?ll take a look at city-specific posting sites for those of you who need a more targeted approach.

Free Job Posting Sites: Region-Specific Part 2 of 6

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 31 Oct 1999 19:00:00 +0000

For those of you who need to find candidates in specific localities, we’ve put together a list of free job posting sites categorized by state. Last week we covered Alabama through Iowa. This week we cover Kansas through North Dakota.

KANSAS: The Kansas job bank at:

http://www.kansasjobs.org/cgi-dir/newemphome.cgi
KENTUCKY: Kentucky’s state job bank at:
http://ky.jobsearch.org/employer
LOUISIANA: The Department of labor’s home page at: http://www.ldol.state.la.us/homepage.htm (good luck). It may be easier to go through Louisiana’s BizPort and list there. It’s at: http://bizport.com/neworleans/employ/
MAINE: The only way into Maine is through the main America’s Job Bank page at:
http://www.ajb.dni.us/employer
MARYLAND: The job bank at:
http://md.jobsearch.org/employer
MASSACHUSETTS: The Massachusetts job bank at: http://ma.jobsearch.org/employer
MICHIGAN: Contact a local Michigan Works agency at:
http://web.mesc.state.mi.us/michigan_works/index.html
MINNESOTA: Department of Economic Security at:
http://www.des.state.mn.us/employer.htm
MISSISSIPPI: The job bank at:
http://ms.jobsearch.org/employer
MISSOURI: Missouri Works page at:
http://ms.jobsearch.org/employer
MONTANA: The Montana Job Source page at:
http://jsd.dli.state.mt.us/mjshome.htm
NEBRASKA: Nebraska’s state job bank at:
http://ne.jobsearch.org/employer
NEVADA: The state job bank at:
http://www.state.nv.us/detr/es/es_job.htm
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The NH Works page at:
http://www.nhworks.state.nh.us/
NEW JERSEY: America’s job bank at:
http://nj.jobsearch.org/employer
NEW MEXICO: The job bank at:
http://nm.jobsearch.org/
NEW YORK: The state department of labor at:
http://www.labor.state.ny.us/html/joborder.htm
NORTH CAROLINA: The state Employment Security Commission at:
http://www.esc.state.nc.us/
NORTH DAKOTA: The jobs services page at:
http://nd.jobsearch.org/

Free Job Posting Sites: Region-Specific Part 1 of 6

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 24 Oct 1999 19:00:00 +0000

If you?re looking for candidates in particular areas, and if you want to post your jobs for free, there are plenty of sites to help you out. Over the next few weeks, we?ll look at free job posting sites, organized by state. Then we?ll end it with a look at the biggies the national free posting sites.

ALABAMA: The Alabama State Employment Service is a good place to start at: http://www.dir.state.al.us/es/

ALASKA: Try the Alaska Job Center at: http://www.labor.state.ak.us/jobform/joform4.htm
ARIZONA: Use Arizona Careers Online at: http://www.diversecity.com/jobs.html
ARKANSAS: Try the state Employment Security Department at: http://www.state.ar.us/esd/
CALIFORNIA: Use the Employment Development Department at: http://www.6jobs.cahwnet.gov/ scripts/runisa.dll?JOBS.131762:ERPREREG:272460112
COLORADO: The state job bank at: http://co.jobsearch.org/employer
CONNECTICUT: Connecticut’s job bank at: http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/progsupt/bussrvce/jo_intro.htm
DELAWARE: Consider the job bank at: http://de.jobsearch.org/employer
D.C.: America?s job bank is here, too, at: http://dc.jobsearch.org/employer
FLORIDA: Try Florida?s Preferred Jobs at: http://florida.preferredjobs.com/
GEORGIA: Again, a government source at: http://www.dol.state.ga.us/emp_post.htm
HAWAII: Hawaii?s job bank at: http://hi.jobsearch.org/html/hi_services.html
IDAHO: The Department of Labor jobs page at: http://www.doe.state.id.us/
ILLINOIS: Department of Employment security at: http://www.ides.state.il.us/
INDIANA: The state job bank at: http://in.jobsearch.org/
IOWA: Contact a Workforce Development Center at: http://www.state.ia.us/iwd/centers/files/offices.htm

Next week, we?ll continue the list.

For Techies Only

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 03 Oct 1999 19:00:00 +0000

Techies.com and ZDNet have announced the creation of a co-branded site in hopes of fulfilling IT recruiters’ dreams. Techies.com currently has thousands of resumes from Technology professionals and ZDNet is the most trafficked technology site on the Net. Sounds like a golden opportunity. So much so, that techies.com expects to more than triple their number of resumes to more than 350,000 by year’s end. The idea behind the joint venture is two-fold: technology Professionals will have free and confidential access to job listings in all the cities covered by techies.com and recruiters, ostensibly, will have their job listings exposed to a huge new tech-savvy audience. When you subscribe to techies.com, you get a multi-page recruiting site that sits on their server and within their site. You can include graphics, corporate philosophy, mission, etc. as well as pages and pages of jobs. While visitors to the site must register in order to view the job postings, anyone can browse the posted companies… not a bad way to get a bit more publicity and name awareness. The subscription price includes use of their Career Agent, Which automatically finds member candidates with qualifications matching your job requirements. Once a match is found, the agent notifies the candidate and gives them the URL of your postings page. If the candidate is interested, he or she contacts you. Is it worth it? If your requirements are in the major cities listed and you need a candidate pool fast, it very well could be worth your while. There are lots of resumes there. For instance, in the Boston area alone, there are more than 8,600 resumes; 4,100 in the Raleigh-Durham area; and in Denver there are more than 13,000. I couldn’t find subscription price information on any of the techie.com sites, of which there are several – one for employers, one for hunters, one for each major metro area… But from what I was told, pricing depends on the area and market penetration. Keep your eye on the site, which is scheduled to launch on October 15, to see how useful it might be for you.

Military Offense

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 26 Sep 1999 19:00:00 +0000

The military defenders of freedom and importantly, people who’ve had good training in some hot fields. Certainly not all of them intend to pursue a military career, so why not learn how to get in touch with those people now? That way, when their tour of duty is over, you’ll have them all lined up. Finding Navy Personnel Email Addresses -

http://chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/internet/faq/.www/email.html Military City Community -

http://www.militarycity.com/community/index.html

Look for people by name, or simply post what you’re looking for. Fort Bragg Phone Directory -

http://www.bragg.army.mil/18abn/phone.htm GovBot – the government search engine at:

http://ciir2.cs.umass.edu/Govbot/

Use Boolean phrases to find the people you want in all the government, not just the military. The National Military Family Association -

http://www.nmfa.org/links.html

There are no links here to specific email addresses or contacts. However, there are links to organizations that assist military families and, where there’s a family, there’s often a spouse who’s looking for a job… Military Installation Locator -

http://www.armedforces.com/Sections/

Homebase/Homebase.html

Find the site near you and tap into the talent. The Military Registry -

http://dbease.mconetwork.com/dbEase/cgi-bin/

search.pl?tableName=Military_Registry

A simple search by specialty is all you need. You get names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. The Unofficial Air Force Locator -

http://www.usaf-locator.com/

Helps find email addresses. The Internet Locator -

http://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib46.htm#intr

Contains 21 million entries in a searchable Database; requires download of free software. Military Woman -

http://militarywoman.org/homepage.htm

Complete with bulletin boards and forums. The Few -

http://www.thefew.com/

With more than 31,000 listed Marines.

ISP Means “Incredible Sourcing Potential”

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 19 Sep 1999 19:00:00 +0000

You know the term. ISP. To most people it stands for Internet Service Provider. But with a bit of finesse it can mean so much more. Start at The List to access 7500 ISPs by area code or country. The first search by country brings up a list of those ISPs offering access throughout the US. One such ISP is Earthlink. If you click on the link provided by the List, you go to Earthlink’s sign up page. Don’t bother. Just go to Earthlink’s main Home Page. Right on their front page you see a link to their Member Directory. And, how delightful it is. You can search through more than 100,000 homepages of Earthlink users and do it by keyword. Okay, nice start. But let’s say you need a bit more local information. Using The List, search for ISPs in the 612 area code — the Minneapolis area. You’ll get a long listing of all ISPs offering service there including Earthlink and AccessEarth which offer access across the nation. So ignore the national ISPs and click on a few local ones and see what happens. For instance, a click on Citilink Internet will bring you to all the exchanges they deal with. It also gives a link to their page, though. Click on it and you’ll see a link to Members, not a bad way to find local talent. Not all ISPs are as accommodating, but many are. And if you’re not looking at their clientele for your next candidate, you can bet someone else is. Also try The Directory, which lists more than 10,000 ISPs.

People Finders – Again

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 12 Sep 1999 19:00:00 +0000

There are lots of sources to tap into when looking for people. If you think you’ve exhausted all your possibilities, try some of these places. General

C/NET Forum Search

You can search a variety of message boards for people with specific interests.
Planet Search
Search for personal pages by keyword.
ComFind
ComFind takes a bit of patience, but that patience can pay off. Here, you search for business by keyword, then limit it to geography. If you want company information that can lead to employee information, this is a good place to start.
Mega Web
A search tool that takes your search term and looks through multiple databases. Enter your search term in the top box. In the second box, scroll down to people finders.

Industry Specific Very often, associations and organizations maintain bulletin boards or member services that allow for finding the professionals you seek. All it takes is a bit of digging.

Entry-Level Looking for a bright computer scientist, about to graduate? Here you can find a search form pointing to thousands of college email directories Or try, Personal Page Direct. More than 200,000 home pages of college students — not bad at all since in two clicks you can get to students at Northeastern University’s College of Computer Science Recruiting Internationally Try the WhoWhere Finder International phone directories.

Anyone Need a High-Tech Exec?

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 29 Aug 1999 19:00:00 +0000

Need a high-tech exec? Consider the People Finder tool at Corporate Information Technology Services. Last August, I wrote about them, but they’ve grown since then and if you’re not looking in their database, you’re missing a bunch of golden opportunities. Corp Tech has a database of 50,000 high-tech companies, sorted into 17 different industries including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and computer software. It also includes SEARCHABLE contact information for more than 180,000 high tech executives. You still can’t search by title or job function. And the only easy way to search is by last name and first name. But despair not. Even without a name, you can find some of the people in the database. You can’t just search for people whose names begin with the letter J. If more than 500 records are found, an error message appears. So you need to narrow your search a bit, but still leave it open enough to scoop up lots of names. For instance, a search for william AND s* brings back 390 names – including any name that contains the word william. A search for sm* AND r* brings back 193 names ? from Bennie R. Smith to Ray Smets and Robin Small. The search results also give you the person’s address, phone, job title, and a brief description of the company. The idea is to enter as common a letter-combination as you can, add an AND, and follow it with a single letter and asterisk. You could try ri* AND w* and get 369 results or sa* AND m* for 352 results. So practice your crossword and linguistic skills. Discover the most common letter combinations. Be creative. And, for your efforts, tap into a high-tech executive database to die for.

Responding to Resumes

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 22 Aug 1999 19:00:00 +0000

The Internet is about relationships about creating, maintaining, and benefiting from them. And all of that requires interaction. Do you interact when you receive a resume? If you simply transfer that emailed resume into your resume database, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to build relationships. Even worse, if you don’t respond to those resumes, you may be sending an unwelcome message to your potential prospects. Picture this all too familiar scene. Joe is actively seeking new employment. He’s not a ‘Net newbie and knows his way around. He’s made a list of the companies he’s interested in working with and the recruiting firms that specialize in his industry. He polishes his resume and writes an enticing cover letter which he emails to you (and 100 competitors). And then he waits. Joe’s got some hot skills, but you’ve got no immediate need for him. Will he hear from you immediately? Or will he hear from your competitor, who automatically responds to all the resumes it receives? Many job candidates have told me that “recruiters just don’t get it all they have to do is acknowledge me, and they don’t.” Do you? It takes only a few minutes. And that’s not a few minutes per candidate, that’s a few minutes ONCE and then you’re set to respond to any and all candidates. Autoresponders are simple programs that you can either add on to your email client or that are already included in it. Autoresponders accomplish three things. First, they automatically send a form response to email sent to a particular address, acknowledging receipt of the resume AND the person who sent it. Second, they let the candidate know that you understand the workings of the Internet and the importance of relationships. Third, they keep your name and your company’s name in front of the candidate. So, are you using one? If not, perhaps it’s time to start. Information about autoresponders for particular email packages is listed below: For Microsoft Outlook, Mail, and Exchange, and Eudora Pro: If you’re using Win 95/98 or NT Go Here. If you’re using Win 3.x: Go Here. Other Autoresponders and email helpers: Go Here.

Breaking the Mold – Cheap Resumes

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 15 Aug 1999 19:00:00 +0000

“We’re a little guy trying to bust up what’s wrong on the planet,” says Drew Hession-Kunz, chief Internet strategist and CFO of ReplyTo.com. And who knows, he might just succeed. Desperate to find workers, many companies are paying thousands of dollars annually to search through over-used Internet resume databanks. ReplyTo.com bills itself as “an open and fair marketplace for job seekers and hiring companies.” It uses an innovative business model to achieve this goal – one that easily allows small companies and individual recruiters access to plenty of candidates. The bottom line – as a recruiter you pay $30 a year to view as many resumes as you want. Then, if you hire someone through ReplyTo, you owe them 1% of the employee’s annual salary. In turn, ReplyTo pays one half of this fee to the person you hire. That’s it. No hidden costs. In order to use ReplyTo.com, simply register as an employer. (Even if you are a third party-recruiter, you can still register by assuring that you are in a position to assist in hiring someone.) You’ll then be asked to create a recruitment letter that contains some basic information about the company you’re recruiting for and a place to add 500 words to describe the work environment and company culture. And, if writing isn’t your strong point, they offer some sample letters to use as a guide. According to Hession-Kunz, there are currently tens of thousands of resumes in the database and only 200 companies looking at them, although each week these numbers increase. Once registered, you can easily search the “resume-by-career” category. A preliminary search returns your results (I got 1097 results when searching for computer professionals), which can then be refined by searching for keywords, specific state or sub-categories such as data processing, IT managers, or Web developers. A results page is returned and you can select which resume summaries, or capsules, to view. At this point the only information you have is the basic career title and state, so you may need to view many capsules. Each resume capsule contains the following:

Resume category

Occupation
Position/title wanted
Current Status
Years of experience
City
State
Country
Availability
Professional skills

When you see the resume capsule of someone you’re interested in, you hit a reply button. ReplyTo.com then contacts the candidate and lets her know of your interest. The candidate checks out your information and recruitment letter and, if interested, sends you her full resume. In the near future, Hession-Kunz expects employers will also be able to post their open positions right along with their recruitment letter.

Finding Candidates of Color – Part Two

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 08 Aug 1999 19:00:00 +0000

Last week we took a look at Minorities’ Job Bank that focuses on all people of color. This week, we’ll look at LatPro, which takes an innovative approach and focuses on bi- or tri-lingual candidates (Spanish, Portuguese, and English). LatPro is a terrific place to advertise your international jobs or those that require bilingual candidates. Not only will your posting be seen by 14,000 qualified candidates, you can post it for FREE. Specific demographics of candidates are available here. And plenty of businesses have found it a valuable tool; in the past three months alone, LatPro has tripled its number of job postings and almost doubled its Web traffic. LatPro costs the recruiter nothing. You can post jobs for free, look at the resumes for free, and have your job announcement emailed to thousands of subscribers for free. Membership in LatPro is optional for recruiters but does provide additional benefits in the way of news and information about Latin American trends. Job candidates can sign up for either full or associate membership for three, six or twelve months. Those who sign up for full membership have the ability to post their full resumes to the Web site. As an incentive to join, each prospect can respond to ten jobs for free before deciding to become a member.

Finding Candidates of Color – Part One

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 01 Aug 1999 19:00:00 +0000

Looking for qualified minority candidates? There are plenty of places to try, depending on what you need and next week we’ll look at several of them. This week, though, we’ll focus on the Minorities’ Job Bank – a job bank, resume database, and gathering place for all people of color. The Minorities’ Job Bank instituted a new resume database in February. According to Penny Francis, the director of online publishing, there are more than “15,000 qualified resumes from minority professionals – the average resume has 3.5 years of post-graduate experience.” Candidates run the gamut from experienced teachers to engineering professionals. To view the resumes, one needs to be a member of the Job Bank. Membership allows unlimited job postings and a listing in the employer directory. Annual membership for one hiring location is $5,500. One thing that sets the Minorities’ Job Bank apart from other diversity-focused job banks is their ethnic village concept ? which brings in more than 200,000 visitors each week. Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Native Americans and women each have their own area on the site. And in those areas are loads of articles about career development, workplace and political issues. Even better, there is daily news within each village, keeping you abreast of issues concerning your minority candidates and prospects. And each village has its own forum where people interact – and while you are dissuaded from posting any job position in the forum, you are welcome to interact with potential candidates and let them get to know you. Definitely worth a look.

Toolbox Goodies #2

Jennifer Hicks — Sun, 25 Jul 1999 19:00:00 +0000

This week we present a few more tools to use, as well as some tactics to consider as part of your recruitment strategy. Tools To Use:

Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Co. finds people who used to live in Maine and want to return. A list of discussion groups by country and state is at Deja.com. Attend a trade show, even if it’s not for recruiters. Find lists of what and where at TSCentral. Have you tapped into all the organizations and associations you can? Check out a pretty decent listing of some less well-known ones at Tom’s Recruitment Directory. Do you know where the layoffs are? Check out ABC News Search and simply type in the word layoffs. Need an accountant in Massachusetts or New Mexico? Or an IT person in Kansas or Nevada. Try USA Online for a listing of businesses by category and state. There’s a certain amount of superfluous information here, but there are some real companies with real people and contacts. Tactics To Consider

Cisco learned early on that the passive candidates didn’t hang out at the job boards. So, they went to art fairs and microbrewery festivals. They created a friends program and advertised at a local movie theater as well as on their Web site. Prudential has a global volunteer day. To many younger employees, this is a selling point and Prudential uses it to their advantage. During job fairs, Prudential brings in employees who, in assembly line fashion, often fill backpacks with personal care items for kids involved in foster care. They’ve noticed a 200% increase in attendance at the fairs because of this. A Gallup Poll last year found that employees under 32 years old were more likely to stay with companies that invested heavily in training. Think about a 1:1 payback system. Pay for education in return for employment. For each year of education you pay for, the candidate owes you a year of service.