Talent Filter

Security Risk = No More $$

   In today’s high tech world, identities can be stolen within seconds.  Millions of dollars are transferred from one account to another in the blink of an eye.  And resume banks are under attack by their own creators. 

Why does someone put their resume online?  To show others?  To share with their parents?  No, a resume is uploaded into a database to help the person get a new job.  The more people that see this resume, the more chances the person has of getting hired.  So, in the past, different sites have searched other resume banks to glean more candidates.  Not anymore. 

Some sites have shut down all access ability to their databases, doing a great disservice to all those that use their site.  The choice wasn’t given to the clients of the sites, but rather forced upon them.  They weren’t given a little box to check saying, “Yes, I do want other job boards to see my resume!”

The targeted audiences of job board candidates are least likely to fear the option of putting their name, email address, or profile online.  These are the people that want their resumes and profiles to get viewed.  Exposure is key to candidates.  Job boards are simply stating a cost issue in security shielding them from users remarks towards this issue.

Applicant Tracking Systems Don't Add Value

I thought that title would get your attention. Michael Homula over at Fistful of Talent throws out the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and says that ATS software was built for compliance and bureaucracy and not relationship recruiting.

Let's face it.  The ATS was built to manage process and track information for the purpose of compliance, EEOC, OFCCP, the corporate legal counsel and HR weenies in the house.  Sure, occasionally they kick out some tired, worn out and meaningless metric about time to fill, or number of positions filled in a quarter, but all the ATS really does is take the recruiting process on paper and put it on a server.  No value add whatsoever to actual recruiting.

What's astounding is that no one in the comments got angry - maybe it's because the story hasn't filtered out to the larger industry yet, but there's a real question of what works best in recruiting.  Internal systems by their nature have old information.  A resume is obsolete shortly after we enter it, which is why TalentFilter is focused on external sources.

Job boards are important because they work.  They've transformed the staffing industry and corporate human resources and made it easier for candidates and hiring companies to find each other.  There may be other problems in the employment process that include filtering, interviews, and offers, but from a supply/demand standpoint, job boards hold up their end of the bargain. 

Granted, top notch recruiters don't need job boards.  Fantastic, social media savvy candidates who read Seth Godin can go out and find their own jobs.  What about those of us who aren't best-selling authors?  We go to job boards, and we put in our resume, and we wait to be contacted by companies looking for the most recent information and availability.

And it works.