Viewing All Posts Tagged ‘Monster’

Revolutions are Uncomfortable Things

After hearing that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ceased operations yesterday to become the 12th major newspaper to shutter its doors I began looking into this momentous change we are experiencing.

On the website “Newspaper Death Watch” (http://www.newspaperdeathwatch.com/) (yes, I don’t like the name either) an article sums up the situation for newspapers:

The game is over for newspapers. Nothing can save the business, so it’s pointless to try. We’re in the middle of a revolution and revolutions are uncomfortable things because “The old stuff gets broken faster than the new stuff is put in its place.”

The newspaper industry, like the automotive industry and the financial industry, is an institution in the United States.  Even 5 years ago no one would have imagined that we could be facing a time when major cities were “newspaperless”.  So what is happening?

Web sites like Craigslist have been to classified ads what the internal combustion engine was to horse-drawn buggies. The stock prices of most newspaper publishers have dropped more than 90 percent from their peaks.  Couple this with an amazing amount of debt taken on in the last 10 years as major publishers bought up smaller competitors and viola’ – the death of an industry.  Maybe.

Monster and Careerbuilderbattled over who would run the newspapers’ employment sections and traded the honor witheach other but for what?  It seems that even with big board names behind the employment sections, people were relying on them less and less.  While people were running from classified employment ads, they were running TO Linkedin and other ‘new’ ways to find work.  Revolutions are uncomfortable things.

I believe this is the next “revolution” we’ll see.  At least I’m hopeful that we will.  Just like no one wants newspapers to completely disappear (after all it IS where most of the serious reporting and reporters still reside) I’m not advocating that the big boards  disappear.  But like the newspapers, the days of “post and pray” recruiting would be a desired victim of a job board revolution.  The big boards have their place in an overall strategy but for too many recruiting departments that place takes up too much precious budget money to prove truly valuable.  Remember that a large percentage of Recruiters report getting a LOT of candidates from big boards but less than 20% of all employees actually report finding employment through the big boards.

If Craigslist can automate, facilitate and communicate better than your old classified, is it not too far fetched to imagine that a technology is coming that can do the same to “post and pray” recruiters?

It is all a question of “value” and who can provide the value faster, easier and with less cost.  If the road from consumer (Hiring Manager) to product (candidate) can be streamlined by taking out the middle person who adds little to no value to the process then the “revolution” is for the better.

The only way to reduce the discomfort of revolution is to find a way to add value to a process.  As we are seeing with the newspaper industry, if you are not adding value, you are not going to survive.

Monster.com – Wrong end of the Moose

Many of you are aware that, for the second time in 18 months, Monster’s database was compromised.  This time the personal information of 1.2 million job seekers was stolen, in 2007 it was the username and passwords of legitimate Recruiters. 

According to the dictionary;

Hack; to damage or injure by crude, harsh, or insensitive treatment; mutilate; mangle:

Using this definition of HACK; we can safely say that Monster’s inability to secure the sensitive data of jobs seekers and paying customers has created the “follow on” hacks below: 

They hacked the confidence of millions of job seekers and paying customers world wide

They hacked the job board industry by creating distrust in eRecruitment

They hacked the hopes and dreams of millions of job seekers who will now get phishing emails instead of bona fide communications for employment

They hacked a percentage of these job seekers lives because they will naively give personal information to criminals who call or email them based on this stolen data

They hacked  customers in 2007 when they used the breach of their database as the reason to squeeze hundreds of thousands of additional license revenue out of us, saying that it was OUR fault for sharing passwords!

 And finally, another definition of HACK from the dictionary – this time in reference to the person who made the decision to spend $3 Million on a Superbowl ad instead of on additional security measures:

Hack
Noun;
1. A person who engages in an activity without talent or skills

Enjoy the humor, marvel at the irony!

The “New” Monster?

Monster.com unveiled its new and improved site claiming;

Monster’s new job search is easier than ever! To apply for the job is 65% faster than before!

I know Monster has a crush of cubicles staffed with Product Managers who no doubt spent hundreds of man (or woman) hours talking to job seekers to develop their “new and improved” hyper-speed application process but Monster, did you also spend that time on the Recruiter side?  You know, that side that pays your fees and determines your future?  It seems that the New Monster is simply speeding up a problem created by the Old Monster.

After spending 15 years at a recruiting desk and having been a Monster, Careerbuilder et al user since their inception I can unequivocally tell you that allowing candidates to apply for the wrong jobs 65% faster is NOT what your paying customers want!  Monster added questionnaires, pre-screening tools etc to try to mitigate this issue but the facts are that a majority of candidates apply for a job they are not qualified to do.  This creates the millions of excess applications for jobs every year to Corporate America.

Proof that Monster didn’t do the due diligence on the Recruiter side is evident in this sales pitch to employers from their new site;

For employers, a faster, easier search process for seekers means more candidates than ever will make time to apply to your Job Posting.

I don’t know of 1 Recruiter who is looking for MORE candidates to apply to their postings.  As a matter of fact I would estimate that over 90% of Monster’s employers are looking for ways to streamline that number, not increase it.  By increasing the number of people who can now, faster than ever, apply for your jobs Monster is exacerbating the job posting issue for employers, not solving it.  The steps in the process are:

Job seekers search for postings that match what they want to do.  Maybe what they have actually done but certainly what they want to do even if they aren’t qualified. (no one applies for jobs they don’t want to do right?  Just see all the postings on Monster stating. “stay home, make millions” – the process appeals to the WANTS of a job seeker, not the qualifications of one)

Job seeker hits “apply now” button on Monster job posting which traditionally takes them to the employers career site where they actually apply for the job in the employers ATS.

Recruiter sifts through the first 20-25 applications until a viable pool of candidates is found (5-7) and then begins the interview process.

Recruiter rarely if ever reviews any applications that come in after interview process has started (#26 +) THUS creating the black hole of recruitment.

I know of Recruiters who get between 100-250 applications for every job they post (multiply times 30 open positions and you can see why “More” is not “better”)

If Monster was listening to the people who pay their bills (hefty bills with the Super Bowl ads to come this year) they would be focused on making it slower and more thoughtful to apply for a job not 65% faster and easier. 

New year, same Monster.