Digital Recruiting

What’s that coming over the hill?

Well, as the song goes – for 2009 it is indeed “a Monster”. A renewed and re-invigorated Monster.

On Monday I was invited to the launch breakfast of the new Monster.com look and functionality. Launching from Millbank Tower, the home of the New Labour spin machine and from a job board that was practically there at the start of the Internet (and certainly mastered the art of it’s own brand of Internet hype I’d suggest), I was expecting polish and shine but to have to leave questioning whether there was any real substance. I was pleasantly surprised to actually find quite the reverse.

Our starter was a 60second advert which we were told by Monster’s UK MD was made but never aired because the American target audience only ingest 20-30second adverts. Hmmm – was this a portent of what was to come – something made that looked nice but actually didn’t do the job and left you wondering “how much?” & “why?”?!! Oh dear. I thought the presentations themselves were actually pretty flat, which was surprise reversal of expectations no1 – but hey I’m no polished Alan Whitford myself, so I’ll just leave it at that and move on to looking at the substance.

So what did I make of the new offering? Well let’s start with the fundamental principles. Aggressive growth through global acquisition is a tough business model to deliver against long term, especially when you’re in the websphere and “bringing together” different systems – and Monster have clearly been honest with themselves about the fact that it was approaching do or die in terms of addressing this. So as of January every single Monster site (well most – the rest to come) will be working off the same single platform. No different inventory for this site or that site – and one would also hope the facility for a sales team to access real time stats and data (and costs?) to give you a simple response to what should be a simple global question. So, in theory, tick one.

The next thing they’ve done is completely re-invent the user interface. What’s a user interface? Well that’s what the visitor to the site interacts with. And I think they’ve done a cracking job. Now of course the proof is actually in the using, but from the screen grabs I saw I’d say that this is a significant advance – for both the candidate user (front end) and the recruiter user (back end). NEVER underestimate how dramatically a bad interface will ruin / hamstring your site, or for that matter how much a good interface will enhance your site.

If people can’t work out quickly how (or why) to use something then they just won’t – particularly in such a crowded place as the job board market. So it doesn’t matter how clever this widget is or that whodjamaflip - if it’s not easy to get to grips with they won’t be arsed (you may have heard of two examples sites that do this element pretty well: Google & Facebook). To a slightly lesser degree the same is true of a back end experience – if it’s a pain to understand and work with then it’ll be barely used (or used just as little as it can be), and if the candidates don’t fall in through basic use then it all adds up to a negative overall impression of the entire proposition. Monster has reinvented both experiences.

I see this as a massive tick for Monster and short term will be a big positive. Knowing they HAD to change the underpinning system (more on that shortly) they did the right thing and used the time to also bite the bullet on design (which due to the new technology on offer they probably had to do anyway), but I think from what I’ve seen it looks like they’ve done their work very well.

But what of this much vaunted technology that’s going to “change everything”? I actually think it does indeed have the potential to do so. Monster have looked at their CV database not as just a pile of CV’s, but as a source of knowledge from which to train a kind of search based artificial intelligence. Is it going to be perfect from day one? No. Is it going to be a pretty blunt tool? Absolutely – but it’ll get better and is already significantly less blunt than other sites’ can offer. Monster are actually doing their bit to bring the future to today – and this system (if it’s worth the millions they’ve spent on it) will just get better. It will never stop learning, and as more people rate the relevance of the possible matching vacancies it delivers them it will learn some more.

Look – if you’re reading this you’ll be bored to tears with discussion about what web2.0 is/isn't/might be – but this is indeed web3.0. And if you know me you know I hate to bandy terms for terms sakes, but sometimes it’s easier. Web3.0 is about the intelligent web, websites doing some thinking for you and in return for some of your data and/or perhaps a little time provides you a far "richer" experience (without you even realising it most of the time). And that’s what this is.

And do you need to know how it works? No. All you need to know is this:

•     Monster has a very impressive audience to tap into to start with – that’s a good start.
•     They’ve redone their interface so it’s easier for candidates to use – that will pay dividends in the short term (possibly leading to better informed candidates, my money says certainly leading to more candidates).
•     The search/profile matching is very clever but will take time to bed in – but it should be pretty good to start and it will get better and better and better.
•     The more people that use the system the better the search/profile matching gets (it’s a recession, so you can pretty much guarantee an upswing in traffic).
•     The better the search/profile matching gets the more people talk about it and the more people us it.
•     <repeat last two ad infinitum>

Now there were lots of other bits and pieces talked about but I’m sorry to say I didn’t necessarily buy into those as the shinning future. For me it was largely about a job board trying hard to gain some Social Media space (or at the very least some headlines from those who fall for massively complex diagrams and organisations trying to be the next Facebook or LinkedIn) and IMHO will generally in practice wash over the greater candidate community.

Monster is trying to do in web2.0 terms what Workthing did with web1.0 when they entered the market not as a straight up and down job vacancy posting website, but rather a kind of career advisory facility with jobs. Everyone does that now though, so Monster are using latest technology to do that in a far more engaging way. It may take off, it may not – when you’re talking Social Media not even Monster are in charge of whether the web takes to it or not (no matter what the pitch says). Anyway, time will tell for that – and just because I’m a cynic doesn’t mean that I won’t applaud them for trying. And at least they’ve not put all their eggs in that one social career networking basket.

I’m a simple man at heart and I think simple things work best on the web. And it’s those elements I’ve laid out above as to why I think it looks as though they have some fundamental elements right to actually indeed game change the job board market.

But – I’m gonna slip in a disclaimer here – and quite a big one. Over the years (admittedly I’m going back quite a few - but the market is slow to forget) I had plenty of clients coming to me disillusioned with the Monster sales machine (or indeed the delivery that didn’t back up the dream they felt they bought). My worry is that in a down recession where the pressure is on a hard pressed sales force then the dream weavers will be out and by 2010 we’ll be seeing another pile of client/media relationships in tatters.

Make no bones about it: I think Monster have here what could be one of the best interfaces of any jobboard with the clever underpinning technology to back that up and keep evolving and enhancing the candidate experience – it should be a winner.

All that really matters to people buying space is bums on seats and I see no reason why that shouldn't be significantly enhanced by your tech & design teams' efforts. But please guys n gals @ Monster – resist the pressure (as much as you can without losing your job) to blow it by believing your own hype and go all short term and aggressive on us again – keep your focus on the site delivering great results and this will in turn beget great results for you. The investment WILL pay dividends, but it will need time and nurturing. With a platform that looks like it can really deliver Monster should seize the chance to be a little more approachable like the toy Trumpy given out on Monday - I just hope it doesn't have an ugly short-termist sales crazed monster inside all too desperate to get out and get us all angry again.

It's that time of year again.......

Yes that's right it's December and that can only mean one thing. I am of course referring to Louise's UK Recruitment Blog of the year competition. Now far be it from me to blatantly solicit votes for Digital Recruiting but you know what....I'm going to

So if you've enjoyed our sometimes insightful, sometimes random but never dull prattling this year then we'd love it if you voted for us here

Mobile internet usage surges by 25%

The number of Britons accessing the internet via mobile devices increased by 25% in the third quarter of 2008, according to new research from Nielsen Online.

Source: Nielsen Online. Growth in internet use via PC and mobile from Q2 to Q3 2008

Results from the study Mobile Media View, highlight that usage of  the mobile internet is increasing eight times faster than PC-based internet growth, rising from 5.8 million to 7.3 million between the second and third quarters of 2008.

BBC News is the most popular site, being visited by 24% of British mobile internet users, followed by BBC Weather, Sky Sports and Gmail. This compares to PC-internet favourites Google Search (23%) and eBay (43%).

"Recruitment - but not as you know it!" - the biggest digitally focussed event of the year...

... (that's being held in The Gate in Farringdon) is now nearly here.

:)

You've probably heard of it already (MLL tend to get themselves heard) - but just in case thought we'd give it a final plug. Now there's a rumour that it might actually be over subscribed for agency types - I don't tend to like believing rumours though, so if you're intrested get onto MLL and tell them just why they "need you" to be there and that you know there's room in one of them famous Gate leather boothes for you to squeeze in with another friendly person.

I think they can also squeeze in a further media or two though - so if you're reading this and have something that is pretty new / innovative / not your run of the mill digital media offer and just has recruitment communication potential written all over it then do get a move on and tell Jamie ([email protected] or @jamieasleonard). If it screams "Web 2.0" (and I don't mean Paul Harrison in the shower!) and you're reading this blog, so therefore one might assume you have a recruitment industry interest, then you gotta think this audience is worth a couple of hours.

Who's there already? Well some names you'll know, some you won't - but hopefully most (although probably all) of whom you'll be impressed with (even if you can't see a way of working together right now) and I'm sure all will help you leave feeling a little more enlightened as to the potential on offer.

This is all (well I think it is anyway) about getting a snap shot of what's out there in the digital world that you might not come across in your every day media schedules, or else seeing what's new and exciting with some brands you think you already know - and if there's just one thing you pick up, one new contact you make, something that renews your interest in digital developments that will impact the recruitment world or something/someone inspires you to go back and slap your clients until they get with the digital programme then that's gotta be worth a show up. Hasn't it?!

So wanna see if they squeeze you in?

It's at The Gate (Farringdon) and starts at 3pm on Wednesday 26th November.

Matt Wise: [email protected]
Jamie Leonard: [email protected]

T.   020 7183 1227

Maybe see you there.

Phone sexiness (of the technical persuasion)

We've been waiting what seems like an eternity for a promised post from our very own Matt "3blogs" Alder about why he felt that the i-phone (of course he had one within the first few days) was indeed a game changing technology. I mean we all have a good idea that it's fun, very cool to have, got some nifty features and is beautifully designed - but what does a user I know find about it that means phones and the way we interact with them will never be the same again?

I'm particularly interested at the moment as I've been having my own phone provider related issues (if you've got time to kill you can find out here why I'm gutted to not be getting the G1) and so in an "habitual need for annual technical toy replacement" will likely be ditching t-mobile and deciding between Blackberry Storm or the i-phone in the not too distant.

Anyway - whilst we all wait I did pick up on these two videos today, and have to say "Oh my god - how clever are these people when they work together".

Now I've never seen fit to even use voice activation on any of the phones I've had in the past where it's an option - and I'm not so sure this will be used more than showing off just how cool your i-phone is to mates in the pub (although I understand a significant flaw/frustration with the i-phone is the virtual keypad - so maybe google have effectively helped create a bit of a work around for apple) - but if nothing else it's just impressive to see technological advances continue to trickle down at an amazing speed to us (quite literally) in the street.

 

and

WOW!

Innocent guilty of mediocrity, but still pick up award

In case you missed it the National Online Recruitment Awards (NORA) 2008 were announced at the end of last week. The debate has already raged (e.g. on the UK Recruiter blog & globally on Cheezhead) about how contentious these awards are (we also took issue with the results last year). Anyway - in case there's any interest out there and the news hasn't filtered through to you already you can pick up all the results here.

Anyway - congrats to all winners (it's nice to get an award even if no one can really work out how some of the decisions are arrived at).

My focus is looking at Employer activity and I still stand by my comments on the quality of the Best Employer website shortlist (left this in response to Andrew Baird's blog post on the nominations) and in particular the stand out favourite (in a poor quality field) Innocent:

Yes Innocent has a quirky tone and good written content because it's clearly got it's employer proposition right - but the delivery is as flat as a flat thing. The only media rich element is the video of a TV interview which (not sure about your browser) but for me was so distorted it was pretty much un-viewable and would have been better, at this quality, stripped down to just audio.

Perhaps NORA judges are looking for something different to myself - but I have this, perhaps quirky, feeling that awards should be awarded for "best in class", not just "quite good". We're living in a world where rich media and true creative engagement is not just possible but all around us - so flat careers sections with an animated button or two just shouldn't be held up as anything other than "awright" or a "decent effort".

Now I don't profess to have my finger on the industry pulse for best work coming out, but I do know there's far far better out there. Perhaps the problem is how NORA draw up their shortlist, maybe they're not seeing the full picture either - but however you cut it for any of these to win "Best Employer Website 2008" will do the Recruitment Communications industry a massive disservice in regards to the strides we have made with creative digital execution.

So - the "massive disservice" was of course followed through (as it had to be) and Innocent was proclaimed 'best employer website of 2008'. I suppose the positive for this year is that it was without doubt the best of the flawed shortlist - where as last year the disservice was done by the shortlisted (and truly excellent) Royal Navy site losing to a flawed Police site, so let's check back in 12months and see if Stephen O'Donnel has listened or is impervious to the very public feedback this years awards has stirred up - or whether the controversy storm that is now associated with these awards more than the results is such that it doesn't actually warrant whatever benefits running such an event provides Stephen & his interests.

Obama may digitise but did he monetise online?

When I first came across Obama's use of social media and blogged about his barackobama.com site here in April 07, I noted its potential and asked a couple of questions:

'Registering to vote is made easy.....Will the Internet lead to more people taking part in the political/democratic process by making participation easier and more accessible?'

Answer: Yup - this election achieved an unprecedented record level of people voting, with huge amounts of people voting in advance and many queueing for 3-4 hours to place their vote.

'...it's a great example of 'Recruiting for Power' in practice and also demonstrates that recruiting people via the Internet for votes or anything else for that matter (note the fundraising options) is extremely effective.'

Yup - the site recruited 1.5 million volunteers and generated $600 million from 3 million people, which were fundamental to the success and election of Obama.

Now, everyone knows that in this 'Youtube'  election, Obama's online strategy has been superb and has given him the funds to win the election.

However I read an article a couple of weekends ago which reveals the challenge if not the dichotomy of the Internet platform, especially from a media and publishers perspective.

Of the $700 million that was reportedly spent on advertising in this campaign, it has been estimated that less than 1%of total expenditure has been allocated to online advertising. So whilst the Internet has powered the whole communication strategy,it has recieved a miniscule proportion of the paid-for advertising - such is the free, democratic, user-generated nature of the medium.

Herein lies the challenge that many media, especially 'traditional' media face when devising their digital strategies. How can we translate the incredible value that this digital communications medium offers into tangible financial value, on a par with media that has gone before?

Social Networks - An Inaccurate truth

I haven’t had a rant for ages so I thought it was about time I put that right! Unusually this time I’m not ranting at a company or a person, I’m ranting at what is fast becoming a “universal truth” of recruitment advertising.

One particular person may not have started it but the belief in our industry that advertising on social networks doesn’t work for recruitment is certainly wide spread. The wisdom says that social networks like Facebook are for friends and social networking and therefore targeting recruitment advertising messages into them won’t work. Further more it goes on to say that anyone who does this is simply frittering their client’s money away trying to be “innovative”

Well do you know what? Nothing could actually be any further from the reality of the situation.

As I’ve mentioned many times before we use third party software to track all the advertising we place online for our clients. Guess what…Facebook advertising not only works, it is often the most effective placement on the schedule in terms of number of applications generated.

Now there is obviously a caveat to this. It doesn’t work for all roles and it doesn’t work in all locations but when it is included as part of a properly considered and well researched media strategy the results can be tremendous.

There is actually an interesting dichotomy at work here that may go some way to explain how the waste of money myth came into being.

If you actually ask most Facebook users what they think of the advertising and whether they would click on it the response is nearly always negative. So why are the click throughs so high and the ultimate results often so good? The answer is two words…targeting and relevance.

Now I’m sure you can all think of a time when you saw a contextually targeted advert on a site you were using and thought “how rubbish that's an advert”. However I bet there are also times when you saw an advert that was so relevant to what you were thinking right at that moment that you clicked on it straight away.

Don’t remember doing that? Well the stats say you have.  You probably don’t remember because you thought of it subconsciously as an incredibly useful link and not an advert. This is what the stats tell us is going on with Facebook advertising

So next time someone tells you that advertising messages in social networks don’t work for recruitment just ask how they know that. I bet they won’t be able to tell you!

Now this is an apolitical US election video - and it's good!

yup - video clip Friday seems to be back.

Anyway - I think this one is very good too.

No way we're cool enough in the country to get such a thing done next general election - but I think someone should edit this for the UK market too - great sentiment hitting out at the apathetic. (and loving the British input in it).

When is it OK to business blog about politics?

A question that's being found out right across America at the moment. With such an impassioned election campaign many business related blogs are having to ask themselves how much their blog personality and any personal political opinion is enmeshed with their business profile.

A blog I like to catch up on once in a while is a great example - you can read it here Common Craft

Sitting in the UK it's of course easier to pass comment on Politics in another country - we're less likely to have passionate clients who would take exception to any comments and take their business elsewhere (actually - even if it was about British politics I wonder if it's probably "not very British" to get so worked up about someone saying something pro or anti one political party or the other?)

But when I think it's safe to blog about politics is when you come across something that is so well executed and amusing that one would hope no matter your political persuasion you'll see the funny side. Or perhaps the fact that I think this clip is so well put together demonstrates my underlying political allegiances in the current American election race - and if I was leaning the other way I'd be struck by how powerful a message has been put together and horrified by the potential reach of it.

Well - here's sticking my neck out and posting something picked up in a number of places for those of you who missed it. I think it's excellent - hope you enjoy.

Please be aware - there's another party other than Mr Obama's to vote for in the American election and posting this highly amusing and very powerful and poignant video in no way reflects any political bias of this blog, it's contributors or any company that they may work for.

That said - anyone else scared witless of Sarah Palin in the white house?!

;-)