Spread the Word about LinkMe and Get Rewarded!

LinkMe is offering $500 to folks who set up an interview with an employer who has a role in offing. (See details here). This is one of those things that, on the outset, appears reasonable.

“Great! ” reads the well-connected individual who is always open to new and exciting business ventures (and perhaps sells a little Amway on the side), “here’s a unique opportunity to make a quick buck.”

Here’s where I challenge you to look a little deeper; to engage your understanding of human behaviour, Australian culture - all that. Well-connected individual has a chat with Human Resources Manager (or whoever is in charge of finding employees within their company). Part way through the chat comes what is known in the sales industry as “The Permission”. It goes something like this:

“May I pass your details onto LinkMe so that they can contact you regarding this position. They may be able to connect you with passive candidates who you would otherwise not be able to find.”

Human resources Manager suspected that the well-connected individual smelled slightly of Amway - but now they are certain that what was perhaps a lingering aroma is a fully-qualified stench. The meeting is called to an abrupt halt with promises that the Human Resources Manager will “get back to” the well-connected individual.

Get the picture?

Figure A: Well-Connected Individual

Job Board Traffic Update

According to Nielsen//NetRatings Australia, CareerOne’s traffic as of 25 May 08 is at 1,046,351 unique browsers (UBs). That’s 162,333 UBs ahead of MyCareer and over 1.3 million behind Seek.

MyCareer’s latest TV campaign seems to be a fizzer and not propelling them into second place over C1, as they would have hoped.

CareerOne’s sitting in its dream position - pity it’s your dream position too, MyCareer!

JJJ - Strong April traffic And New Chairman

Jobs Jobs Jobs is on the move…

They have reported strong April results with job applications up over 60% - record numbers of registered users and record traffic to its website.

Rob Stewart has also joined the Board of jobsjobsjobs Limited as Chairman. “Rob has an impressive track record in business and is currently on the Board of Mitchell Communication Group Ltd (formerly eMitch) and Melbourne IT, where he is Chairman.”

Let’s hope Mr Stewart can weave some of his magic and help JJJ realise its dream of owning the online employment advertising space.

Head Hunter - Sneak Peak

In January I reported the strategic co- branding alliance between MyCareer and Jobfox.

It appears MyCareer are only a few pizzas away from launching the initiative called Head Hunter. See test URL: mycareer.com.au/headhunter

If you have a spare twenty minutes or so to sign up, answer a series of questions and you’ll end up with your own personal Head Hunter page. See mine here.

Nowhiring - Counting The Bucks

Last week, niche job site network Counting Jobs paid an undisclosed sum for the Now Hiring group of sites.

What this means, beside the fact that Now Hiring founder Brett Iredale can concentrate on his JobAdder business, is that this may kickstart the attack of the niche job boards on the top three players.

Now, I don’t have a doctorate in business, or anything scholarly like that, so shrug me off if I’m singing an overplayed song here (and don’t you just hate it when radio stations flog a song?), but it seems that, in their genesis, industries thrive because of broad-reaching, generalised competitors. But as that industry develops, niche players are required.

Indeed, the online recruitment industry will benefit from niche job boards in a few ways. Firstly, they offer the job-seeker more targeted content, and the converse is that advertisers and others who wish to disseminate information get themselves a specific audience.

Secondly, they’re more efficient to run - and to use. I’m a huge fan of not having to click around too much on a site to find what I’m after.

Sure, they attract a smaller amount of traffic, but if they’re well-marketed and reach the people who they need to reach, what does that really matter.

Thirdly, because they’re generally less expensive to run, they’re also less expensive for advertisers to use.

Whilst the major job-boards all have their niche catagories, there’s nothing like the experience of having experts in specific fields find candidates and some folks like to support independant players - it’s an ethical kinda decision, if you like.