StlRecruiting

St Louis Recruiter Posting: Sourcer

A couple of weeks ago, Mike Tiffany of Net Effects sat down with me for lunch and discussed the general state of staffing in St Louis.  We covered recruiting, new technologies, his background, and the strategies Net Effects has put in place for thriving in a market where talent is at a premium.

Today, Mike is looking for a Sourcer for his Chesterfield office.

The way this works is Mike just promoted a Sourcer to a junior recruiter, and so is looking for another sourcer to backfill the slot.

The ideal candidate is someone that wants to learn the IT Staffing industry and eventually move into a sales or recruiting role within 6 months.  Top candidates will have some technical knowledge (degree or past job) and some kind of parallel staffing industry (admin or health) experience.

The Compensation package will register 30-40K in the first year with standard corporate benefits. 

Net Effects is located in the Chesterfield Mall parking lot, next to Bahama Breeze, in the former Bank of America building.  This is a local staffing firm with a good reputation, and I can personally vouch for Mike as a good guy that a young recruiter would be happy to work with. 

If you do decide to apply - e-mail Mike directly at mtiffany@neteffects.com, or call him at 636-237-1000.  If you want me to look over your resume or give you some pointers first, please feel free to contact me at jim@recruiting.com.

If you decide to contact NetEffects, and you found out about it from StlRecruiting.com, please tell Mike where you heard about the position. 

Since 1995 NetEffects has been providing faster, smarter, better information technology contract staffing solutions and consulting services around the world for a variety of industries including retail, financial services, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and government services. NetEffects creates a family friendly environment that attracts quality candidates who want to work for us, many of whom are referred by current consultants and clients.

No matter what your skill set or staffing needs, NetEffects delivers . . . faster, smarter, better. 

St Louis Welcome(d) Jobster

Last Friday, the Jobster crew came into town and delivered a presentation on the state of recruiting and how Jobster products fit into the solution.  Franki and I had a chance to speak to the CEO Jason Golberg before his presentation, and we took some notes on what to expect.

First things first, I have a much better understanding of what Jobster does from the employer side.  Prior to the meeting, I was aware of a referral network software as the main product, but didn't quite understood how it worked.

Wow.  That's what I think of it.  Yes, I am associated with Jobster through Durbin Media Group, but I think I can safely and objectively say, "Wow."

The Jobster software allows you to truly build a talent pool of interested contacts, reach out to passive prospects through the use of a social network, and stay in touch with them.  The software manages the process for you, both within and without an ATS. 

What this means is if you contact 20 developers for a position, and fill it - you can stay in touch with those 20 developers through the click of a button.  You can group your talent pools by skill, diversity, time contacted, and how helpful they have been in forwarding contacts.

That's all well and good, but how about some Jobster numbers?

• 20% of the Fortune 100 are customers.
• Hundreds of customers.
• 50 million in VC, but 50% quarteer on quarter revenue growth over the past five quarters.

That wasn''t the best part of the presentation.

Hurricane Katrina Saved 50,000 Lives

As we approach the 1 year anniversary of Katrina, it's probably time that we took a look at what Paul from Wizbang has been saying all along - Katrina didn't flood New Orleans - the Army Corps of Engineers did.

This is not some crazy blog guy writing about conspiracy stories - Paul lived in New Orleans and has been tracking the story for the last year.  He walks you through the story beginning to end, provides links to the original sources, and remains calm in explaining the real story of Katrina.

What you think you know, and what happened, is just about the worst story you can imagine.

Katrina saved 50,000 lives.  Read it for yourself at Wizbang.  An important piece of blog journalism, better than anything you will read in any local or national paper you subscribe to.

Fact #1:  Katrina was a Category 1 Storm when it hit New Orleans.

The Real Story of Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans Flood.

Local Cardinal Fan is Big League Blogger Makes

Do you think that blogging can make a difference in your life?  Ask Will Leitch what blogging did for him.

Today's St Louis Post-Dispatch tells the story of the most famous Cardinal (blogger) of them all. 

Well, sort of.  Will writes for Deadspin.com, one of the Gawker properties, and his sports blog was just named one of the 50 coolest Internet sites by Time.com.

The Mattoon, Ill., native recently received news that Deadspin (www.deadspin.com), made Time magazine's list of 50 Coolest Websites as it celebrates its first anniversary. Time described the site as "funny, irreverent, occasionally raunchy, and a departure from the usual national sports-commentator fare."

What's cool about the whole affair, is the number of people who simply develop a passion in life and start writing, and then good things happen. 

Congratulations Will.  Check out the Time 50 coolest websites.

Jobster is in Town

I'm headed out to a lunch seminar today put on by Jobster, the hot employment company that has been the subject of a lot of positive press in the Wall Street Journal and the Recruiting Blogosphere (notice how I equate the importance of the two in my post).

Some people get confused as to my relationship with Jobster, so I thought I'd clear it up and also give them a free advertisment.  This is all my opinion, and I'm sure I'll get some things wrong, but that should be corrected at their tour this afternoon, no?

About Jobster:
Jobster wants to turn traditional recruiting on its head and make recruiters think like marketers.  Their flagship product is a social networking referral system that helps your employees, vendors, and their known friends find the best people for you.

It's like an employee referral system on steroids, but restricted to people who receive invitations.   

Jobster also has a vertical search engine (it's  ajob aggregator), workplace mash-ups, and a series of properties in online employment.  In June, they acquired Recruiting.com, a group blog recruiting portal.  That's where I come in.

My relationship with Jobster:
I'm an author for Recruiting.com, having been invited to blog there by Jason Davis, the founder of Recruiting.com.  Over the course of the last sixteen months, I've written posts at Recruiting.com, edited the weekly newsletter, This Week, and served as a kind of reporter for Recruiting.com, seraching out new online employment sites.

I was compensated for my work at Recruiting.com, am currently paid to put together the Recruiting.com newsletter (which I'm paid for), and I still write for Recruiting.com, not as a consultant. 

Summary:
I'm excited to go to the tour - my relationship with Jobster has not been a close one, and I've avoided searching too much about them out of concern for remaining objective.  They are such a big part of the online employment puzzle, that I have to set that aside and see what the are all about. This I can tell you - they hire lots of smart people, and from what I know of their clients, they are very happy with their results from the referral software system.

More of an update on Monday.

BlogSwap: The Recruiting Animal and Ben Stein

The following is a guest post from the Canadian Headhunter, part of the Recruiting.com BlogSwap

Ben Stein Slams Young Business Leaders

Ben Stein argues in The New York Times that the career-minded citizens of today don't hold a candle to the civic-minded businessmen of yesteryear. As proof, he runs through a list of successful men who signed up to fight in WW2.

But, note this: none of the people mentioned by Stein were career soldiers. They signed up when they were needed. And, the military doesn't need the common man now. The War on Terror is not the Second World War. Neither was Vietnam.

But, if the Western World once again requires the services of all fighting-aged men -- and women -- to thwart an imminent strategic threat, I think that we (or people younger than us) will answer the call just as our predecessors did before.

Here's a sample of what he says:

But what I did not know about John Weinberg was that even though he was rich and well connected, as a young man he joined the Marines to fight the Japanese in the Pacific, then fought again in Korea. That was Americaís ruling class then. The scions of the rich went off to fight.

My longtime pal and idol, Peter M. Flanigan ó a former high honcho of Dillon, Read; a high aide to my ex-boss, Richard M. Nixon; and heir to a large brewing fortune ó was once a naval aviator. My father left a comfortable job in Washington to join the Navy. The father of my pal Phil DeMuth left a successful career to be an Army Air Corps pilot, flying death-defying missions over Burma.

Congressmen resigned to serve. Senators resigned to serve. Professional athletes resigned to serve in the uniform. Now, who ís fighting for us in the fight of our lives?... Do the children of the powers on Wall Street resign to go off and fight... for the system that made them rich?... The other side considers it a privilege to fight and die for its beliefs.... On our side, it ís: Let the other poor sap do it. I've got to make money.... How can we fight this fight with the ruling class absent by its own sweet leave?

I'll admit that I don't think the Canadian public has much stomach for seeing Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan by suicide bombers. Pretty soon, they'll want us to pull out -- even though the soldiers themselves believe in what they are doing. But, at the same time, Ben doesn't mention the America First Committee.

Large numbers of Americans, including hero, Charles Lindbergh and future-president, Gerald Ford, wanted to keep the US out of the war. And, Gunther Plaut, who was a chaplain in the US Army during the war, wrote in his memoir that many soldiers did not know what they were fighting for even as they entered Germany.

I have a great and ever-growing appreciation for the sacrifices made by the Allied soldiers in the Second World War. But the Greatest Generation tag is often used as a stick to beat their descendants. And I don't think it's fair. Was 9/11 Pearl Harbour? Ben doesn't say but his entire argument rests upon it being so.

Author: The Canadian Headhunter, Recruiting Animal.com

5 More Ways to Save Money If You're A Northwest Employee

In honor of Paul getting linked by NPR, I've written five more ways that Northwest Airlines Employees can save money when they lose their jobs.  As you may or may not remember, Northwest Airlines sent out a Budget-Saving letter to employees, incuding suggestions to not feel too proud to take things out of the trash.  Well, in that spirit, here are my contributions.

102.  Read new books at Borders.  Brew a pot of coffee and put it into your child's thermos.  Take the bus to the local Borders Bookstore and root around in the trash for a coffee cup.  Wash the coffee cup out inside the bathroom, then pour your coffee into the cup, being sure to use the free milk and sugar (mmm, calcium) to sweeten your beverage.  Now go to the shelves and pick out a new book (maybe one that discusses how to live on a budget).  With your shiny Borders cup and a book, no one will know that you didn't buy the coffee and aren't thinking about buying the book.  After two hours, put the book back, but keep note of the page number.  Leave the store and get back on the bus to head over to the nearest Barnes and Noble retailer.  Find the book, repeat the coffee process, and finish the book, with no one the wiser!

103.  Get free beer.  Having lost your job and having little money - consider drinking.  Don't be a sucker and pay for every beer.  Buy dark colored bottles, and when you're almost finished, go to the bathroom and fill the bottle with warm water.  Then leave the bathroom and stand by the bar.  Try to get another patron to bump you, and when the do, drop your *full* beer, and expect the bartender to buy you a new one.  Everyone wins!

104.  Collect bottles from the trash of well-off neighbors trash and recycle them.  Now that you're comfortable taking things out of the trash, learn to scave...I mean repurpose your neighbor's refuse for big bucks.  Getting the bottles is easy, but if you can, consider hitching a ride on an empty truck to take your bottles to Michigan, where I hear you get $.10 a bottle.

105. Eat Breakfast with Your Children.  Something you haven't thought of is your children will now qualify for a free hot breakfast at school.  You've always wanted to spend more quality time with your kids, and now here's your chance.  Walk your kids to school, and wait for them and their friends in the cafeteria.  Each day, pick one child who refuses to eat and convince them to give you their breakfast.  Children are very gullible, so if you make it a game, you should be able to eat three, four times a week.  Bon Appetit.

106.  Beg to get lunch money.  The American people are very generous, and if the beg is performed correctly, you can usually get a few dollars to spend on the dollar menu at McDonald's.  Try this.  Approach someone in a grocery store parking lot and say, "I'm not trying to beg, but I was just mugged, and the mugger stole my wallet.  There wasn't much in it, just a few dollars, but I was hoping to get some lunch before my big interview this afternoon.  Can I do something for you, maybe carry your groceries to your car for a dollar or two?"  The best part is you won't even have to carry the groceries - most people will just give you the money.

*Whatever you do, don't approach people near an ATM.  They only have $20 bills, and won't want to give you one.

There you go - Five Economical ways to save money during hard times!

BlogSwap" Social Networking Sites – The Growth Continues

Today's post is from a guest author, Mike Taylor from Web Based Recruitment, as part of the Recruiting.com BlogSwap.

It was announced this week that Microsoft has signed a three year deal with Facebook to manage its entire advertising inventory (Facebook is the third largest social networking site in the US behind MySpace).

And it was only a few short weeks ago that Google signed a three year deal with MySpace (worth a reported $900 million over three years).

It seems that Microsoft have acted quickly in securing this deal (it is rumoured that they only started talking to Facebook a week or so ago). What would be interesting to know is whether it was a planned move, or a move to simply stop Google from being associated with the top two social networking sites in the US?

Both MySpace and Facebook have a massive number of visitors each month and another hugely popular community website, YouTube (which supplies 100 million video downloads per day) have also started to sell advertising on their homepage.

So what does this all mean? Obviously it is good news for MySpace and Facebook as they will hopefully earn a lot of money from their deals. And for Google and Microsoft they will expect a decent return on their large outlay as well.

As you will see from the latest comScore data there has been massive growth in the popularity of social networking sites:

If you are considering advertising your company and your jobs via these sites it is worth noting that they have very targeted demographics, and secondly, some of them now have more visitors each month than traditional job boards!

Another thing to consider as part of your online media planning!

About the Guest Blogger

Written by Mike Taylor from www.Web-Based-Recruitment.com. Mike previously worked in HR as a Corporate Recruiter (IBM & Nokia) and has experience of working as an independent Online Recruitment Consultant helping companies with their online recruitment strategies. Mike’s expertise also includes how emerging technologies can benefit both job seekers and recruiters using online recruitment. 

Dave Mendoza in the Recruiter's Lounge

Our pal Jim Stroud is the host of the Recruiter's Lounge, a podcast show where Jim interviews thought leaders, industry experts, and bloggers involved in online employment.

Dave has posted the recording of his podcast, and he describes his adventure in jumping into the recruiting blogosphere.  It's a great story, a good interview, and Dave does a good job shredding objections as to why you can't blog.

As an internal corporate recruiter, Dave is experiencing a lot of success in his blogging, both from a personal branding standpoint and from his increased knowledge of the tools out there.  This isn't bloggers talking to each other, it's major corporate players seeking fresh talent.

Listen here for cutting edge ways of using a blog as a corporate recruiter.

It's 17 minutes of excellence, brought to you by Jim Stroud.

Dave can be read at Six Degrees from Dave.

Blogs Aren't Always Serious

I often spend my time showing the useful business aspects of blogs, but the original uses of the blogs were often far more humorous and better suited for late night browsing than 9-5 searching.

The, well, the oddity of the human condition is best seen in blogs, where talents you never thought existed come to the forefront.

Take for example, these two blogs, Slacker Manager, and Eccentric Employment.  There exists, in this world, people with both the time and inclination to put slightly amusing anecdotes on management and the occasional odd job up on a website in excruciating detail, and these two sites generate more traffic then most serious business sites.  Maybe that is an indictment of the internet in general, but I find it comforting to know that some people just don't take work that seriously.

Eccentric Employment searches out job postings that might seem, odd.

Slacker Manager actually has more of a purpose, which is to show you how to do less at work by utilizing tools. 

It warms my heart to see the success of these two sites.  See, you really can be successful at blogging - as long as you know what your goals are.  Business sites looking to build traffic and buzz might consider what it is that these sites offer.

(hint:  they're unique, personal and authentic.  They give you something no one else does).