Monster Mistake

Major online recruitment player Monster has suffered its second major data hack in the last 18 months. On January 23rd Monster admitted that its database had been compromised and that certain details and phone numbers had been taken.

The data stolen from Monster included telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and gender details. This kind of data is a goldmine for phising attacks and leaves the user open to the sly installation of malware and trojans.

Luckily it doesn’t seem that a bulk download of CVs occurred or the users would be open to identity theft as most CVs contain addresses, national insurance numbers and current employers details.

If Monster is to become the trusted brand that their advertising is aiming for, then they need tighten up the security so that job seekers feel safe uploading their personal details. Come on Monster sort it out – in a such a competitive market where candidates are in abundance, anything that will deter them from using their site will have a knock on effect on their advertising revenues.

Is your job recession proof?

Are you looking over your shoulder wondering if your job will be next for the chop? It seems since we have officially been in recession and everyone from partners at law firms to sales staff at Woolworths have been losing their jobs we have been suffering from job insecurity.

Yahoo have brought a ray of sunshine to some lucky souls with their list of the top ten most recession proof jobs.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out the top two safest jobs are those of teaching and working in the NHS but can you guess the rest of the list? If you were on Family Fortunes with Vernon could you name the other eight? Are you praying your job is on the list? Should you be as worried as Gordon Brown or Tony Adams or is your future as sure footed as The Queen? See the full list.

3 Weeks Since Launch: My Thoughts – High Five!

4th – 23rd January 2009 has been a busy start to the year for me. Work-wise I’ve successfully completed 2 recruitment advertising campaigns, visited several potential clients, quoted for numerous projects and written & distributed a press release regarding our PPC division. What else? I’ve written & secured an article regarding pay per click job advertising in the legal market to be published in at least 2 trade press.

Last night I was asked to do an interview for the BORN podcast which I’m really chuffed about. One of my competitors in the fixed fee recruitment market released PR that almost mirrored what I had written several weeks before – initially, when reading it with disbelief, I was annoyed @ the blatant copying and couldn’t believe the ‘cheek’, but then I simply found it amusing and in some way I guess a compliment. The fixed fee division of our business is just one offering to clients and all our combined elements presents employers with a ‘one stop shop’ to suit all their needs – so stick that in your pipe & smoke it Mr C!. We also achieved a number ONE organic ranking in MSN search for the term ‘online recruitment advertising’ – quite an achievement in such a short space of time. Our website has had 400 visits over the last few weeks which I am also pretty impressed with.

The icing on the cake has got to be today - 2 clients I’d pitched for business have said YES! One opting for our combined vacancy management & resourcing service, which in this case includes additional advertising on high calibre sites like theguardianjobs to pitch at the right level of candidate, and the other a fixed fee standard campaign – both clients will save a decent amount of £££ from their usual routes. Great!

From a personal point of view – I’ve visited the gym 6 times (3x less than I should have!!), lost 4lbs, turned 37, cuddled & comforted my Son for a day when he was unwell & caught up with many of my girlfriends at a party. I’ve been asked to be a god mum to my friend’s little girl, Amelia, had physio on my knees and paid a rather large Tax bill. I think that’s it …. Nearly forgot, I bought an i-phone & am loving it … Phew!

Speading The Gospel of E-Recruitment

Our First Podcast!

Its Saturday night and I was just checking the internet using my new i-phone (get me!) and noticed a podcast link with e-recruitment buddy's details on it. I clicked to the 'Broadcasting Online Recruitment News (born)' website, delighted to find a c1minute clip about the launch of our business. Born is a specialist news and information site, you can subscribe to the podcast and listen to back-episodes.

Recruitment Podcast

E-Recruitment Buddy Transcript

Single White Recruitment Agency

The BBC has released a report today about its findings from recruitment and letting agencies in the West of England and the racism that lies just under the surface. “Of 30 temping agencies contacted by an Inside Out West researcher, 25 agreed to a request for a receptionist job to be offered only to white workers.“{source bbc news}. Quite frankly having read today’s news on the bbc whilst I am disgusted that people still do not follow discrimination laws I am not completely shocked by the results of the research. In a country where members of the royal family feel its acceptable to dress as a Nazi at a fancy dress party or using racist language openly is it any great surprise that this sort of institutional racism exists within the recruitment industry?

From my personal experience in the recruitment industry I have seen many inexperienced recruiters take positions that have ‘stipulations’ from the client that blatantly break the law but they are desperate to take the job on their books and therefore do not challenge the client and agree to meeting their criteria.

Does the blame lie with the recruiter for taking the job on those terms or the employer for asking for them? Well really it’s down to the recruitment agency as they should be aware of the current employment laws. A gentle reminder of the law should be enough to make the potential client back track or go elsewhere. Would you really want a racist on your books anyway, I know I wouldn’t.

Discrimination of any nature, and in this case racism, should not be tolerated. There is no excuse and you cannot ascribe it to simple niavity but sadly I feel that racism is still active in British society but just cloaked in respectability. Unfortunately iff you listen to the clips on the BBC link it doesn’t sound as if all the recruiters are junior to the industry. It’s this sort of behaviour that gets recruitment such a bad name. I hope the BBC names and shames those involved.

National Phone in Sick Day!

It has been reported that last Monday 5th of January set a new record for the amount of people not attending work due to illness. An estimated 2.4 Million employees were off sick on the first big day back at work after the Christmas break.

Although a percentage of these would have been genuine illness, as both the flu bug and NORA virus have been sweeping the nation the cynic in my feels that many people just used this as an excuse for an extra days holiday. The freezing temperatures were an added temptation for people who just didn’t fancy a slog to work in the cold.

With the economic climate in its current state I wonder why anyone would risk throwing a sickie? Sure don’t go in if you are really ill but for heaven sake make some effort to show willing it might just save you from getting the chop!

Online Recruitment

JOBS makes it into the Top 10 Search Terms during 2008

JOBS makes it into the Top 10 Search Terms during 2008

2008 Year-End Google Zeitgeist - Studying the aggregation of the billions of search queries that people type into the Google search box gives us a glimpse into the zeitgeist — the spirit of the times. This is the seventh year of the zeitgeist, and Google has compiled endless lists for more than 30 countries this year - really just the tip of its iceberg of insights into consumer behaviour. The list that e-recruitment buddy is most interest in is the ‘most searched terms in the UK’ as ‘jobs’ is now appearing at number 10:

1. Facebook
2. BBC
3. YouTube
4. eBay
5. Games
6. News
7. Hotmail
8. Bebo
9. Yahoo
10. Jobs

From BBC's iPlayer to Facebook to YouTube, many of the top searches in Britain this year have been for our favourite websites. I suspect that ‘jobs’ will rise considerably throughout 2009.

For the full details, methodology and lists visit Google Zeitgeist.

Picture Perfect Candidates with PPC

Searching the internet to look for a job is part & parcel of modern day life. The term “jobs” was the 10^th most popular search term in Google UK in 2008, placing it above the likes of credit crunch, Obama and the BBC. It is well documented that the online advertising channels available to employers is the fastest growing and most innovative form of media. As an employer you need to be taking your job vacancies online. At e-recruitment buddy we can help you achieve this.

The problem is how to get your vacancies in front of candidates in a cost effect and appropriate way. There are millions of jobs being advertised on the internet, but often the frustrating part for direct employers is actually getting found. This is where Pay Per Click ‘PPC’ advertising comes into play. PPC adverts are the sponsored listings that appear in the search engine results. They are a shortcut to the front page of the search engines and provide a perfect window for your vacancy. You can place highly targeted adverts in front of candidates who are searching for a job just like yours.

Every significant job-board, employer and recruiter will have pay per click campaigns in place to attract candidates – so why not do the same? No matter what your budget, you can display your adverts on Google, adCenter (MSN) and Yahoo! networks. Vacancy management firm, http://www.e-recruitmentbuddy.com/, recommends PPC Job Advertising. They know their ‘broad match’ from their ‘phrase match’, how to use adwords location targeting, how to achieve good click through rates and what content to place on a landing page. Michelle Jones, Managing Director of e-recruitment buddy says “paid search marketing often provides the highest ROI amongst online advertising platforms. Using our skills and experience will stop you making costly mistakes. We know how to correctly set-up and optimise a PPC campaign for maximum return.”

Your campaign can be live within a few hours of talking to e-recruitment buddy. They ensure your bids on keywords are strategic, relevant and not wasted. If you want to benefit from e-recruitment buddy’s bespoke pay per click job advertising service contact Michelle on 01985 219590 or visit e-recruitment buddy for PPC campaigns for recruitment for more details.