by Benjamin Yoskovitz
Seth Godin suggests changing the name of the HR Department to the Talent Department.
Let’s just go all the way and be done with it.
Let’s change the name of the HR Department to the People Department.
The word “talent” is certainly better than “HR” but it’s still not totally personal. It wobbles in the middle of saying, “Yes you’re more than a human resource, but you’re still made up of skills and I still have to treat you at arm’s length.”
Seth writes:
What if you started acting like the VP of Talent? Understanding that talent is hard to find and not obvious to manage. The VP of Talent would have to reorganize the department and do things differently all day long (small example: talent shouldn’t have to fill out reams of forms and argue with the insurance company… talent is too busy for that… talent has people to help with that.)
Talent isn’t really that hard to find. Talented People on the other hand.
So maybe we can get the best of Seth’s world and mine, and change HR Department into Talented People Department. Suddenly, I want to work in that department! And imagine how everyone else feels when they’re approach by the VP of Talented People. Sounds pretty good to me…
by Benjamin Yoskovitz
Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman are a couple of veterans of the online recruiting space. And they’ve just launched a podcast - The Chad and Cheezhead Podcast - about recruiting. It’s worth listening to if you’re in recruiting at all.
About 19 or 20 minutes into the podcast they talk about Standout Jobs. Admittedly, it’s not all good. But that’s OK. I appreciate that they’ve taken notice of what we’re doing and are willing to discuss it and keep an eye on us. Hopefully we can turn them into raving fans soon enough.
Go check it out.
by Benjamin Yoskovitz
Chris Russell at Jobs in Pods thinks that companies will soon start creating new job positions for “social network recruiters” (or perhaps “social media recruiters”) — people who are active on sites like Facebook, MySpace and using tools like Twitter, etc. looking for talent.
I don’t disagree. But…
I think the path of least resistance for encouraging companies to use social networking and social media for recruiting is through Marketing. Joel Cheesman, writing at The Industry Standard, points out that there’s often a disconnect between Marketing and HR at corporations. He’s absolutely correct. But in smaller companies I’d argue that’s less the case, and really that’s where the uptake of new technologies and approaches will be stronger. Eventually…the big guys will wake up and try desperately to catch up.
So how does Marketing play a role in recruiting?
For starters, recruiting is marketing.
Secondly, marketing is more apt to test out new techniques to reach customers - and so we see a bigger usage of social networking and social media in marketing. It’s not an avalanche of use just yet, but certainly marketing tends to be more aggressive than HR. Along with that we’re starting to see a new job position being created at companies — the “Community Manager” or “Social Media Manager”. Other titles we’re seeing crop up on a more regular basis:
These are fairly new job titles. And we’re going to see more of them. What I would encourage companies to think about is how these social media / community / marketing / blogging / social networking people can help with recruiting. They’re already out there, interacting with people - interacting with customers (some of which are going to be candidates too), and they’re familiar with the techniques and principles behind social media. Those same techniques and principles can work for recruiting.
The sooner companies realize that recruiting is marketing, and social media/networking/blogging are great forms of marketing, the sooner companies will be able to take more control of their recruiting and generate better results.
by Benjamin Yoskovitz
Fred’s a star. If you didn’t know that already, you will soon. Did you know he was voted one of the sexiest geeks in Montreal? It’s true.
And on his way back from DEMO 08 he stopped in Boulder, Colorado to connect with some friends.
Ever the media hound, Fred connected with my good friend, social media guru Jim Turner and did a podcast interview with Ronald Lewis and Paul Swansen. Ronald covers a lot of ground in the podcast, and Fred does a great job explaining where Standout Jobs came from, what makes it interesting for companies, where we’re going, and more. Go have a listen and enjoy!
by Benjamin Yoskovitz
From Jobacle: From a jobseeker’s perspective, Standout Jobs does help make the featured companies a little less intimidating and more likely to grab one’s attention. The Reception service, which starts at $149 a month (90-day free trial), appears to be a no-brainer for stodgy companies looking to evolve. Standout Jobs succeeds in making a company appear fresh and inviting, and might just separate it from the pack for young talent. Read the full story.
by Benjamin Yoskovitz
The nice folks at ERE invited me to speak at the ERE Expo Spring 2008 which is taking place March 31-April 2 in San Diego.
I’m doing a Q&A Session on the last day in the afternoon where I’ll take about 10 minutes to present Standout Jobs and then open it up for questions. It should be a great experience! And I’m looking forward to meeting so many experts and great people in the HR industry.
If you’re in the HR industry I’d encourage you to check it out. And if you’re going to be at ERE, please come see my presentation! Otherwise I’ll be spending the rest of the time meeting with as many people as possible. If you’d like to meet while I’m there just get in touch.
by Benjamin Yoskovitz
BlitzWeekend is taking place at the beginning of March, organized by Montreal Tech Watch, Denis Canuel and others. It should be a fun event, bringing together small teams of people to build web applications over a single weekend.
It’s nice to see the support they’re getting from folks like iNovia, Embrase, BDO and others.
And now, you can include Standout Jobs in the mix. We’ve agreed to sponsor the Pre-BlitzWeekend Party that’s happening tomorrow at Bar Blizzarts (A-3956 Saint-Laurent Boulevard). Looks like we’ll be supplying some drinks and may even be handing out drink tickets. The goal of the get-together is to meet other participants, sponsors, volunteers, etc. and get people excited about BlitzWeekend.
I look forward to meeting people there tomorrow, and helping (in a small way) the launch of BlitzWeekend in Montreal.
by Benjamin Yoskovitz
Who can resist, right? It’s all about recruiting. It’s in Vegas. And it’s being organized by good friend, Jason Davis from RecruitingBlogs.com.
Jason’s been a supporter of Standout Jobs from very early on, and even provided us with a great quote for our Reception launch press release:
“Standout Jobs’ approach to relationship-based recruiting and their Reception product is the most exciting offering for recruiting that I’ve seen in a really long time. Online recruiting is no longer limited to traditional job sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com. The future of hiring is clearly going to where Reception is positioned.”
RecruitingBlogs.com is a great resource for recruiters, and his subscriber base is growing quickly. I have no doubt that the Networking Event in Las Vegas will be a huge success and a ton of fun. I’m still working out the details to get myself out there for the event.
Click to continue →
by Benjamin Yoskovitz
Companies from all over are jumping on board with Standout Jobs to give it a try. The goal is simple: Launch a more effective, dynamic and interesting Career Site to really engage an audience of job seekers.
A few companies have taken the plunge, and I’d like to introduce them here:
Click to continue →
by Benjamin Yoskovitz
DEMO 08 was great. Lots of opportunities have emerged from it and it’s wonderful to be live with our product and moving forward.
Our presentation was broadcast live online, but they also filmed everything. I’ve included the video below. Although it’s painful to watch myself (I think most people feel that way) we received a ton of positive feedback. In particular, people felt like we were very clear about the value proposition and the basic functionality we’re offering. And that’s a good thing.
Of course, we’re always interested in more feedback — so what do you think?
