Old Cheezhead

Idibu Applicant Tracking Solution

Idibu recently launched its newest addition to its group of products, iTrack, which is an applicant tracking and reporting tool that plugs directly into idibu. The company has made it’s newest feature available to both existing and new clients on a two weeks free trail basis.

Instead of leaving employers to wonder about the success of their online job announcements, iTrack gathers the applications received from job advertisements posted through idibu in order to create a group of efficiency statistics. This detailed analysis allows users to know how effective their Internet job announcements are in drawing in interested candidates.

This information is broken down into three groups; Application & Job Board Analysis, Consultant Analysis, and Overall Statistics. This data enables employers to rate and organize their candidates directly from their e-mail and see which job boards brought in the most and best qualified applicants.   

The Consultant Analysis aspect shows the response rate to each ad and copy effectiveness. Other benefits include the ability to view position and applicant status by month, week, day or even by hour and the power to accurately calculate the true ROI of an advertising budget. All of this data can be downloaded easily into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Company representatives believe that iTrack’s applicant tracking and other features will be “invaluable” to those wishing to calculate the effectiveness of on-line job advertisements. "Launching iTrack is a proud moment for us,” said Managing Director Steve Walker. “We're excited to be able to bring a cutting edge tool to idibu and one that really adds value to our clients I know we always seem to mention this, but again we have listened to what our clients wanted and responded.”

He went on to say that iTrack will make a difference to the company’s clients no matter what size of organization they are. “Smaller agencies will benefit from detailed analysis of their applicants and larger agencies from detailed management analysis tools,” he explained.

What is Internet Recruiting?

The job market can be a tough place for both employers and job seekers, but one resource is bridging that gap: Internet recruiting.

Internet recruiting is the act of scouring the Internet to locate actively-searching job seekers and passive candidates, or potential candidates who are content in their current position.

Recruiters often use large job boards, such as Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com, to locate potential employees, while job seekers use these same resources to locate potential employers. Apart from this, there also are third party recruiters, which will help an employer fill the gap between job openings and job seekers for a price.

Employers also have begun using social and business networking sites to locate potential candidates. The immediate goal of internet recruiting is usually to find individuals that a recruiter or company can present to hiring managers, and Internet recruiters often have very short-term goals when dealing with online recruiting.

Generally, a recruiter will receive a new job requisite, and if no matches are found on the company's database, the Internet is usually the next step.

According to Gaebler Ventures, online employment sites provide job-seekers with a free venue to post their resume. This has become an increasingly attractive employment resource due to the lack of out-of-pocket expense.

"As popularity with top candidates surges, a great number of employers are also turning to the Internet as a way to fill vacancies with people that will fulfill the needs of their organization," the site explains. "In exchange for acting as an intermediary, companies looking to utilize these sites are required to pay a fee in order to post open job listings as well as for the ability to communicate with candidates."

Some companies even chose to recruit exclusively online because of the convenience and efficiency.

It's noted in "The Effect of Internet Recruiting on the Matching of Workers and Employers," by Yael S. Hadass, that more than 25 percent of unemployed job seekers use the Internet to find jobs.

"The adoption of Internet recruiting is modeled as reducing application costs to workers and improving screening technology for firms," Hadass states. "The reduction in application costs to workers is shown to induce applications from candidates who are relatively less qualified and to decrease the proportion of qualified new hires; however, the improvement in firms' screening technology may offset this effect."

Hadass also states that employees hired through the Internet have similar job durations as those hired through print advertising.

Broadlook Technologies' Driver Recruiting Software

Those in the market for new recruiting software will be pleased to know that one well known company is now offering their product with a “try before you buy” incentive. Recruitment software designer, Broadlook Technologies, recently announced that they will be offering their newest program, Driver, with a three day free trail option.

Considering how important such recruiting software can be in assisting HR departments find new employees, being able to know what the product one is investing in before making the decision to buy can be very reassuring. After all, few would purchase a new car without first taking it on a test drive.  Why should recruiting software be any different?

Driver, known for being user-friendly and straightforward, is able to extract contact information on a real-time basis from popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo!. When compared to to other software programs, some of which use databases that are update as infrequently as two or three times a year, this recruiting software option is more efficient. According to a Broadlook press release dated September 11, Driver is able to minimize “the time it takes to sort and gather data from days or weeks to hours or even minutes.” 

When searching for the most skilled individual to fill a vacant cubicle, recruitment software that delivers results expediently gives the company utilizing it more of a completive edge. The more marketable a potential employee who can pass a background check is, the less time it will usually take for another company to snatch them out of the pool of available job-seekers. Programs like Driver can guarantee that one's company has such an individuals contact information before other the programs used by other companies have a chance to finish loading.

Driver speed in yielding necessary contact information makes the program a staffing industry's dream come true. Capable of increasing office efficiency and decreasing the time vacant positions remain unfilled, Driver is consider especially beneficial for market research firms, financial analyst and investment firms, and lead generation.

Employers Going Green in Austin

Austin made an excellent unveiling of both its promising forward motion towards becoming an entirely self-sustaining city in the future. The presentation’s primary theme being the interlinking of wireless technology and services, automotives, and semiconductors. Add to this the push towards an increasingly “green” future and you recognize the promise that the clean energy sector brings with it.   

Strategic geographical location of this particular city explains why many companies, such as CitiGroup, plans to start a new call-center in Austin, a growing digital media market, and improving training and educational programs leading to an increasing number of skilled workers in the workforce to fill Austin jobs. In addition, to further promote and attract new businesses the state offers a comfortable tax climate for both corporations and individuals.

Such as those taken by more and more companies as incentives intended to entice development, research, and implementation of alternative fuel and energy sources. Finally, the last stand out feature that certainly appeals to already established companies is the fact that the state of Texas is working hard and succeeding because it routinely supports both new and existing companies in a similar fashion as it recruits and lures new business, even implementing new recruiting software solutions. This is something many states and cities fail to do.

This support seems rare when compared with other governments but it absolutely demonstrates a commitment to fairness and excellence which others are encouraged to quickly implement in order to retain existing jobs and keep an economy growing strong. This is what self-sustaining is all about – retention and addition of those businesses which provide jobs for the workforce.

In addition to the tremendous support, the city of Austin has shown new and existing businesses, the city largely has learned to appreciate its diverse workforce. Being situated so close to the Mexican/American Border the city has for some time recognized the duality of cultures that has significantly affected its ability to attract new businesses successfully. In addition, this dual culture has opened new markets for many Texas businesses.

Obviously, being voted one of the Nation’s top cities for Mexican and Latino populations to live and work has allowed Austin and cities like it to step closer and closer to the overall goal of self-sustainability. Austin is one city that definitely does not share the current woes other comparable cities are experiencing in respect to immigration issues and over wrought public service complaints. The city has embraced those illegals who had joined its working ranks and for good reason. The reason being – diversity is good business.

Internet Recruiting Blogs

Two years ago when started blogging, there were probably less than a dozen dedicated to Internet recruiting topics. A lot has changed since then.

The number of blogs on the topic of recruiting today is immense. All you have to do is look at sites like Recruiting.com, a Digg-like rating system of the best of the best, and Recruiting Fly and The Day in Recruiting to see how many people and organizations want to be heard and represented.

In addition to so many voices, businesses big and small are starting to take notice. Recruiting.com, for example, was acquired by Jobster.com, a social networking site for employment. Other bloggers as well have generated significant advertising and sponsorship, even into the six figures.

The future for employment and recruiting-related blogs is perhaps not certain. However, if the past is any representation, blogs in the employment space will continue to flourish.

Recruiting is marketing. Try jobcasting.

I-9 Forms

The I-9 compliance program is designed to bring greater responsibility in hiring.  It is required of all new hires no matter their country of origin. In respect to foreign nationals, it is neither discriminatory, nor prohibitive, provided the worker has been granted permission to reside and work in the United States. It acts as a security measure against those who have came here illegally and arrived with intent to do harm to citizens and property in this country. It imposes sanctions for those who willfully fail to comply with economic and criminal measures.

The purpose of filling out I-9 forms of compliance is to ensure national security. For this reason, the Department of Homeland Security is charged with enforcing the laws regarding employers and the hiring of any individual after November 7, 1986. Beginning with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), an employer is now required by federal law to confirm employability status of every new hire. This applies to all persons whether citizens of the United States or those born of foreign origins.  The Form I-9 requirement stems from Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act and implementing regulations, which require all U.S. employers (including agricultural associations or employers who recruit or refer persons for employment for a fee) to verify an individual is employable in the United States.

  An I-9 compliance form must be completed by the end of the third day of employment. The employer should supply a copy of the official list of acceptable documents to an employee and allow that individual to decide which to document to use. An employer can neither dictate nor make the determination of which type is presented. List A documents can establish both identity and work eligibility. An employer who receives a document that appears not to be genuine may request assistance from the nearest Immigration field office or contact the Office of Business Liaison.

Further, these forms are not filed with the government, as are income tax forms to the Internal Revenue Service, instead they must be retained by the company which handles the hiring process and produced upon demands for inspection.  U.S. immigration law does not prescribe or proscribe storage of a private employer’s I-9 records in employee personnel files. However, employers must comply with a notice of inspection within 3 days by law.  Finally, regarding safekeeping of I-9 forms, companies and the various hiring agencies are required to retain records for three years after the hire date or one year after an employees termination which ever is longer.
A special stipulation of this same law applies to temp agencies and recruiters or referrers for a fee. These groups are required to retain the Form I-9 records for three years after the date of hire. Failure to properly complete and retain the Form I-9 subjects the employer to civil penalties ranging from $110 to $1,100.

An interesting by-product of I-9 was announced in November 2005. In a stunning new initiative made public by DHS. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began strengthening interior enforcement. This includes efforts to combat document fraud and is intent on monitoring worksites. Unlike, the controversial I-9 issues, which primarily regard American citizens and Mexican nationals, The new initiative is focused on “Other than Mexican” (OTM) illegal in the workplace and set out to reduce the processing time involved in returning OTMs to their country of origin. It has succeeded by shortening the process from 30 to 15 days.

In certain aspects, the controversy can be summed up, as I-9 is an economic condition of living in the United States. In others, it is a tightening of control to prevent the further influx of undocumented persons into the United States. While it does bring safeguards against discrimination in the hiring process, it primarily imposes additional duties and responsibility on the hiring party and employer.

Realistically, it shifts the burden from government to private citizens insisting employers take additional responsibility that might be best undertaken by government.  It carries out its goal by placing special restrictions in the hiring process. Yet, I-9 is a program of incredible design and one that places deepening problems for undocumented aliens at the most basic economic levels. All the while insisting its goal is to ensure the safety of American citizens and preserve National Security.

jobster intergrates with jobcentral

This is just getting more and more interesting by the minute. Jobster now joins Indeed and SimplyHired in integrating its job content into JobCentral's interface:

indeed integrates with jobcentral

This is pretty interesting. Looks like Indeed has integrated its search with Job Central, just like SimplyHired did a few weeks back, a la the New York Times hubbub. Bob may have to change his rankings now.

craigslist confirms charging fee for rental listings in NYC

see your ad here

It's been out there for awhile, but Craigslist has apparently confirmed that it is or will be charging $10 for real estate listings in New York City. Craig currently charges $25 to post a job there.

Although no one has doubts that this will bring in a nice chunk o' change into Craig's coffers, the move had more to do with fighting spam than it did profit.

As you can imagine, the New York rental market is pretty intense and, no disrespect to The Big Apple, the city has a high concentration of scam artists licking their chops at the opportunity to access Craig's users at no cost.

The $10 fee, albeit small, is sure to deter shady behavior.

Remembering my job board days, we used to sit around at the beginning of each year discussing the option of raising rates. We'd say, How many customers will we lose? Will our competitors raise their rates? Well, we're still cheaper than so-and-so.

In essence, How high can we go?

I wonder if the conversation these days is a bit different, as in, Should we lower our prices? If so, how much? How can we compete with $10?

It's bizarre to consider lowering prices in the world as we used to know it, but not anymore. While job sites employ armies of sales people to convince employers to use them. Craig chugs along with a mainly self-service offering on the back of buzz and search rankings, no sales people required.

The small fee keeps spammers out and is a no-brainer for any size business, while maintaining a healthy, fair profit, and competitors are left shrugging their shoulders.

While Google and vertical search engines can offer postings at no cost, relying on their algorithms (and human policing, in some cases) to keep out the bad neighbors, the question for traditional job boards now is, How low can we go?

yahoo ups ante on vertical job search

Welcome to the future of recruiting, boys and girls ... Yahoo!'s HotJobs is quickly becoming a vertical job search engine.

You'll notice results from a local Cleveland, Ohio job site called CareerBoard. If you click on the job, it takes you to CareerBoard's site, framed by Hot Jobs.

HotJobs refers to the non-HotJobs listings as Job Results from the Web. Clever spin, huh?

I can't find evidence on a widespread basis, so this new offering may be in beta, but I'm sure it'll spread quickly.

If there was ever any question that the big search engines (Yahoo!, Google, MSN) were getting into the vertical search game for jobs, this is undeniable proof.

Wonder how HotJobs' clients will feel about this? What's Google going to do now? Will they aggregate Monster and CareerBuilder listings? How will smaller players like Indeed and SimplyHired react?

If you're in the northern hemisphere, summertime is a great time for roller coasters, and no better time for an online recruitment thrill ride. Woohoo!