Category: Jobs

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Career CV CV Database Job Site Jobs Recruitment Social Recruitment

Resumark: CV, Jobs, Free!!!

resumark_logoResumark brought in a nice new business model in the online recruitment industry. The concept is essentially borrowed from the Google AdWords – Google AdSense model. While Google pays the web site owners to show the Google AdSense on their sites and charges the Google AdWords clients to pay per click for those same adverts Resumark does the same with the CVs. Job hunters upload their CVs and get paid each time someone downloads the CV. Anyone can search the CV database for free, and gets a preview of the CV for free only. If you decide you would like the contact details as well – you pay to Resumark. Resumark in return pays the cut to the owner of the CV.

Just in case you did not get it, here is how Resumark explains their online recruitment and CV database business model:

Get Paid to Post Your Resume!

Post Resume or create it online using our free Resume Assistant. Make $1 every time an employer downloads your resume!

Search Jobs that match your profile and join the fastest growing Job 2.0 Network!

In today’s economy even job search monsters are not enough. Invite friends and earn money together when their resumes are downloaded.

And for the recruiters and employers:

Free Resume Search & Job Postings

Search Resumes for Free using Google™ search technology. We give you full access to the entire resume database.

Pay only for the resumes that you choose to download. Compare to other services.

Post Jobs for Free and have them automatically distributed to major jobs sites and networks reaching millions of job seekers

Regardless if the business will work or not, Resumark is a step from the usual recruitment jobs sites. Time will tell if it was a step in the right direction. But what needs to be applauded here is the courage and the innovation in the online recruitment industry.

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Career CV Database Internet Job Site Jobs Recruitment

Monster rethinking service offering

Monster is interested in what job seekers think of their jobs web site. Here is the mail sent to job hunters today:

SATISFIED?
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

Dear Job Seeker,

At Monster, we are committed to creating an online experience that advances your life and your career. To help us achieve this, we would like to invite you to provide some feedback on your experience using Monster.

Our Satisfaction Survey should only take around 12 -18 minutes to complete and all responses are confidential. Start the survey by clicking the link below. Your honest thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your participation.

Click here for the satisfaction survey »

Best wishes,

Jesse Harriot
Vice President of Research

2009 Monster – All Rights Reserved
Hillview House, 15D Gilford Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland

How about a iPhone raffle or something similar to get people to participate? Or is Monster not really interested in what people really think. Or not that much to give them the incentive to fill up the questionnaire?

Or Monster Marketing just didn’t think of it at all? :)

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Blogs Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency Twitter

NRF Recruitment Industry Awards 2009 Twitter #nrf2009

The National Recruitment Federation (NRF) Recruitment Industry Awards are only a week away!

The gala awards ceremony on Friday, 2nd October 2009 is at The Four Seasons Hotel. Get your dresses ready ladies, and have your suites pressed gentleman! Besides the NRF Annual Conference, this is the most important gathering of the recruitment industry professional in the calendar. Where the national conference is more as a presentations and the status check of the industry, the Gala Awards is where most of the recruiters will tell you – the real staff happens. The more relaxed evening atmosphere usually gets recruiters to ‘open up’ to each other. For Seasons Hotel is a great choice of the venue to build the atmosphere – Well done NRF!

In the run-up to the night, the general public (a.k.a. job seekers) can nominate an agency for the jobseekers choice category. A number of recruiters have tweeted about it already. I used the twitter hashtag #nrf2009 to bring them all together. Here it is so far:

Real-time results for #nrf2009

Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: RT @BarryVickers: #nrf2009 NRF Recruitment Industry Awards – vote for your favourite agency!: The NRF i.. http://trim.li/nk/iex about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck    

  • Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: RT @CPLMultilingual: #nrf2009 NRF Recruitment Industry Awards – vote for your favourite agency …: Last year.. http://bit.ly/17lixW about 23 hours ago from web    
  • Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: RT @nuparcdublin: PLEASE vote for Nuparc to win NRF Jobseeker’s Choice Award!! Every Vote Counts!! http://tiny.cc/KmMxz #nrf2009 about 24 hours ago from TweetDeck    
  • Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: RT @gcerasi: Will Logiskills win the NRF Jobseeker Award? Vote now and help us at http://bit.ly/ZyUtT #nrf2009 about 24 hours ago from TweetDeck    
  • Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: Hashtag – #nrf2009 = #NRF #Recruitment #Conference #Ireland #2009 about 24 hours ago from TweetDeck
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    Career CV Interview Job Site Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    How to prepare an electronic CV

    While many jobs can still be applied for in the traditional way, by sending a printed CV and covering letter by post to the organisation that is offering the position, an increasing number of employers now accept and even encourage the practice of sending of CVs via e-mail. There are a number of advantages to this approach – it’s almost instantaneous, it works out a lot cheaper, especially if you are applying for jobs abroad, and it reduces paper waste. In addition, some websites offer you the chance to post your CV online where it can be seen by thousands of potential employers without you having to lift a finger. An electronic CV is generally similar to a printed CV, however there are several key differences between the two forms that are important to bear in mind when producing the document.

    Perhaps most importantly, you have to ensure that your CV can be easily read on any computer, regardless of software and hardware differences. For this reason it is best to save your CV in ASCII or plain text format, as the recipient may not have the same word-processing software, or even the same version of a particular program, as you have typed the CV into. Keep the formatting as simple as possible, as indents, columns, page breaks and bullet points can all be interpreted differently by different computers and leave your CV looking like a mess on arrival.
    Although most paper CVs are lucky to receive anything other than a quick perusal, if anything an electronic CV will receive even less detailed attention. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that you keep it short and crisp. Summarise what you feel to be your strong points and avoid unnecessary detail. The primary function of an electronic CV is to grab the attention of the employer. If what they see intrigues them, then they will get in touch with you for more details.
    For the same reason it is important to make appropriate use of keywords to draw attention to the important things in your CV, especially if it’s posted on a jobs site. Given that the great majority of internet searches are keyword-based, it is important to use words and phrases that are likely to be searched for by potential employers. Use keywords that are specifically related to the industry and the type of job you wish to work in. Try to incorporate positive, descriptive terms into descriptions of your skills and experiences that you feel employers will be likely to search for. For example, an employer looking for clerical staff might search for terms such as ‘fast and accurate typist’ or ‘strong IT skills’.
    Finally, be sure to include your name, contact details and website, if you have one that you feel is worth showing to employers, along with a short profile of your career and achievements to date in reverse chronological order. If an employer is interested in your CV but finds it anything other than easy to find your contact details, chances are they won’t contact you at all.

    For jobs and career advice, visit employireland.ie.

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    Career CV CV Database Jobs Recruitment Social Networks

    How To: Make your CV look good

    Good presentation is key to producing a successful CV. In today’s crowded jobs market, making the right impression with your CV can make all the difference between getting an interview and being completely ignored. Given that your potential future employer may well have read through a pretty big pile of applications before even casting an eye over your application, a CV that can be quickly and easily read and summarised will stand at a great advantage over those that can’t. Also, a neat, concise CV and covering letter is bound to create a far more positive impression than a tatty, poorly presented document. While there are no specific rules regarding the presentation of a CV, you can’t go too far wrong if you stick to these guidelines:

    • Type up your CV on a computer using a word processing package or on a dedicated word processor. If you don’t have access to a computer at home, many public libraries offer computer use free of charge to their members and printing for a small fee.
    • Use good-quality paper that looks nice, feels fairly substantial and doesn’t get tatty easily.
    • Don’t go crazy with the formatting unless you’re applying for jobs where creative or artistic skills are required. In many lines of work, eccentricity is not regarded as a desirable asset. Stick with A4 paper in portrait mode, and use mainstream fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Helvetica at size 11 or 12.
    • Cut out unnecessary information, such as the dates of short courses or qualifications that have been superseded, to keep your CV concise and easy to read.
    • Full pages look good. Don’t have a full page followed by a quarter page – if necessary cut out less important information to bring it down to size, or put in extra information or spacing to bring a nearly full page up to size.
    • Use bullet points rather than paragraphs for the majority of your CV. Your personal statement or profile, however, may well benefit from the more conversational tone that paragraphs help to create.
    • Summarise the experiences and qualifications that you think are the most relevant to the job in question at the beginning of your CV. Use bold type to draw the eye of the reader towards them, and try to avoid repeating them later in the CV.

    For jobs and career advice, visit employireland.ie.

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    Career CV CV Database Job Site Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency Social Recruitment

    How to impress with your CV

    When it comes to applying for jobs, first impressions can count for a great deal. Very often, the very first thing a potential employer will know about you will be written on the CV that you included with your job application. Having a great CV can make all the difference between being asked for an interview and being rejected out of hand.

    When writing a CV, it is helpful to consider things from the employer’s point of view. They will be looking for those people who would seem, at least on paper, ideally suited to the position being offered. They may well have to read through a great number of CVs before they decide which candidates they wish to interview, so they will, naturally, be looking for the ones that really stand out from the crowd.

    While using the same CV for a variety of job applications, and changing only the covering letter, might seem a time-efficient way of applying for jobs, this approach has several drawbacks. Chiefly, it will decrease the chances that your CV is truly marketing you as a person well suited to the demands of the job in question. In addition, sending in a generic CV unmodified to the demands of a particular job, especially now in this digital age, smacks of laziness, incompetence, and a lack of desire for the job – hardly an image that you would want to project to a potential employer!

    By tailoring your CV to the job you are applying for, you can significantly increase your chances of being asked to come in for an interview. In order to do this successfully, you will need to do some research into the background of the organisation in question as well as judging the personal characteristics and qualifications that they would seem to be looking for in an applicant.

    Not only should your CV be tailor-made for each and every one of the jobs that you apply for, it should also be updated regularly to take account of any advances you have made in your education and career. It would probably be a good idea to keep a constantly updated ‘master’ CV file on your home computer, which can then be quickly customized to highlight the qualifications and personal attributes required by the jobs that you are applying for.

    For jobs and career advice, visit employireland.ie.

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    Career Interview Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    How to: Impress at the interview stage

    Applying for jobs can be a difficult business at the best of times, but for many people the most nerve-wracking and difficult part of the recruitment process is getting past the interview stage. After sifting through the various applications, the interview process offers a chance for employers to meet some of the more promising candidates for a particular job in person to try to form a more complete picture of their strengths and weaknesses. A candidate’s performance in a job interview can often be the decisive factor in the success or otherwise of their application, and as such it is important to prepare well.

    Before you attend the interview, make sure that you done your research and know something about the history and guiding philosophies of the organisation, as well as their current activities. Find out what the job entails so that you can present your qualifications, experiences, previous jobs, and personal attributes in such a way that you appear to be an ideal candidate for the position. Be sure to brush up on your descriptions and knowledge of all of these things, as an inconsistency between the facts as presented in your CV and your interview could make you seem dishonest. You also need to be prepared to answer stock interview questions such as ‘why do you want this job?’ or ‘what would you say were your strengths and weaknesses?’. It can be both beneficial and reassuring to rehearse an interview situation with a friend or relative, especially if they have any experience in hiring people themselves.

    When you turn up to the interview, it’s important that you appear clean, neat and tidy, in attire appropriate to the tone of the organisation, and that you do not smoke or chew gum. It’s better to be a bit early than a bit late, so make sure to set for the interview in plenty of time and plan your route well in advance.
    During the interview itself, learn your interviewers name and shake their hand firmly (within reason!) upon meeting them. Be well mannered and polite with everyone you meet, and speak clearly without the use of slang words. Don’t slouch or avoid eye contact, as this can be interpreted as a lack of confidence, or even worse, a lack of interest! Make sure to use body language to demonstrate your interest in what the interviewer is saying, and try to appear confident and enthusiastic without being overbearing. Ask questions of the interviewer about the job and the organisation, but avoid questions that could be answered by looking on the company website as this will smack of a lack of preparation and thoroughness. At the end of the interview, thank the interviewer and be sure to shake hands with them again before you leave.

    For jobs and career advice, visit employireland.ie.

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    Career CV Interview Jobs Recruitment

    How to gloss over gaps in your CV

    If you have a large gap in your job history, an employer may well ask you to explain what you were doing during this time. Gaps left unexplained in your CV can show you in a less than positive light, as they can lead the employer to draw their own, quite possibly unfavourable, conclusions about your character and work ethic. Writing your employment history in yearly, rather than monthly, instalments can easily erase a gap of only a few months and help to keep your CV short and concise. Longer gaps are harder to gloss over, but that’s not to say that it’s impossible to do so.

    If you left a job to pursue further or higher education, especially if it is relevant to the job you are applying for, be sure to let the employer know, as this will most likely be seen as a positive step. Likewise, if you had to leave your job to have or care for a child, be sure to make this clear. However, if you were just plain old out-of-work during this period, try to think of positive projects you were involved with. Perhaps you helped a friend or family member to set up their business during this time, or you were involved with a local charity of some description. You have to be prepared to back up these stories with details, so be sure to prepare thoroughly for the interview, so that you don’t have to make anything up on the spot, making you seem disorganised, dishonest, or both! If you kept yourself afloat during this period by doing odd jobs unconnected with your chosen career, list these jobs in your CV and be prepared to talk about them if questioned.

    If you were fired from a previous job, it would be a good idea to avoid mentioning this in your CV or interview if at all possible. However, if you are unable to provide a believable reason for leaving the job, or it is likely that your story will be contradicted by a reference, it is possible to say that you were fired without losing too much credibility. If you were fired as part of a downsizing or cost-cutting operation, then say so, as this does not reflect nearly as badly upon you as if you were fired for poor performance or a lack of discipline. If you have to say that you were fired for personal or performance reasons, explain the situation truthfully and without bitterness, and highlight what you have learned from the situation and how it has changed your awareness and, if necessary, your attitude, for the better.

    For jobs and career advice, visit employireland.ie.

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    Career CV Interview Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    Interview: Peter Cosgrove

    Peter Cosgrove of the NRF will hold a talk for job seekers on September 30th in the Grand Canal Hotel for up to 100 people. To register please email director@nrf.ie.

    This is a pilot test free jobseekers workshop by NRF. The presenter Peter Cosgrove agreed to meet me over a coffee and we had a short chat about the upcoming event.

    Interview with Peter Cosgrove

    What is Free Jobseekers Workshop?
    The National Recruitment Federation (NRF) felt that it would be of great value to the members if we were able to help recruitment consultants in a very difficult period. Given the amount of candidates on the marketplace it is inevitable that recruiters are spending more time speaking with candidates but often therefore not getting enough time to talk with clients. This job seekers initiative is to help recruiters put candidates in touch with a free event that they will benefit, as well as giving recruiters more time to focus on speaking to clients to get new assignments for their candidates.

    Why has the NRF decided to run this event now?
    I think there is a lot of negative press out there and unfortunately recruitment consultants are getting some of this even though they are often just the messengers. This is something they can do for their candidates that they will hopefully appreciate and improve the overall brand of the NRF recruitment agencies.

    What does the event cover?
    The event is designed for all levels of candidates and is to highlight that the market is completely different and your cv and approach to finding a job has to be also. Specifically it will cover:

    • Writing a world class cv
    • Where to find the next job
    • Advice on dealing with recruitment agencies
    • Improving interview skills and techniques
    • Networking skills
    • Negotiating salaries

    Where and when is it happening and how do you register?
    The job seekers workshop will run on September 30th from 6PM to 7.30PM at the Grand Canal Hotel, Dublin 4 and will be presented by NRF Committee member, Peter Cosgrove. A cv clinic will follow the event so bring a cv. To register please email your name and contact details to director@nrf.ie but remember places are limited.

    Give one good reason why candidates should attend?
    Everyone will learn something from this event and if you are proactively looking for a job there will be tips in this presentation that I guarantee will help every job seeker get their next job!

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    Career CV Interview Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    Free Jobseekers Workshop

    The workshop will run for 90 minutes and will cover:
    • Writing a world class CV
    • Where to find the next job
    • Advice on dealing with recruitment agencies
    • Improving interview skills and techniques
    • Networking skills
    • Negotiating salaries

    The goal is to provide insight and support to candidates who are currently in a difficult job market. Free Jobseekers Workshop is targeted at all levels of candidate, from junior through to senior management.

    Where & When?
    September 30th from 6PM to 7.30PM at the Grand Canal Hotel, Dublin 4 and will be presented by NRF Committee member Peter Cosgrove.

    Register
    To register a candidate for the NRF Jobseekers Workshop or offer your services for the CV Clinic please contact the NRF office on 01-8161754 or email name and contact details to director@nrf.ie

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    Blogs Career CV Jobs Recruitment

    Less jobs and far less candidates in 2009

    The recruitment in Ireland is changing, and changing a lot in this recession. We all know there are far less jobs advertised. All the metrics point to it like the Irish Employment Monitor by Premier. The Unemployment is growing as companies are reducing their staff levels or closing and leaving Ireland due to its un-competitiveness. The problem is that the skillset of the people being made redundant, in most cases does not fit the jobs advertised. The jobs advertised therefore cannot be filled by the unemployed people.

    Passive Candidate is Cautious

    Who will fill the jobs then? What about people that have jobs already? Are they interested in the career move? Well most of them again, in this market, would still prefer to stay with the existing employer. At least they will collect a redundancy package if they get fired. Leaving a job for a better one with the new employer is not on the cards of most people in the current market.

    Tough Recruitment

    This shortage of jobs combined with the current un-predictive economy actually created a shortage of the qualified candidates. Employers are hoping of hiring the top skilled staff for less then what they had to pay for a year ago. In most industries, that is just not happening to them. To make the things worse there is a whole lot of CV’s to browse trough for every job advertised, and it takes time…

    Recruitment is tough today

    Then again there are jobs that can be filled today that could not be filled 12 months ago at all. There are also cool new skills emerging, and new jobs demanding those skills. Who was hiring Search Engine Optimization Consultants, and Pay Per Click Specialists 12 months ago? Not to mention Bloggers, Social Networking Professionals, Online Branding Managers and whatever you will need in the coming months?

    Required skills are changing. Jobs are changing. The same workforce should fill those places and do those jobs. That is one of the core problems in the recruitment for the current jobs advertised in Ireland.

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    Career CV Database Job Site Jobs Recruitment

    FÁS

    I write a lot about the job boards and there is one I was avoiding so far, but the time has come – Let’s talk about FÁS!

    FÁS as the organisation was in the media a lot for many months now. When the 1bn budget FÁS has reached the media, earlier this year, FÁS made it as the Story of the Week, in the most national print and TV channels.

    To put this story in the perspective, only a handful Irish job boards reach 1 million revenue. In the same time all the job boards are very profitable. OK we all know FAS is more than just a job board, but to anyone in the recruitment industry 1bn budget sounds simply astronomical.

    Comptroller - FASDepartment of Enterprise, Trade and Employment – Comptroller and Auditor General John Buckley published a Special Report titled: Advertising and Promotion in FÁS for presentation to Dáil Éireann.

    In the summary of Findings one can read that: Over the period 2002 to 2008, FÁS spent over €48 million on advertising, promotion and related activities including jobs fairs and activities to promote science.

    In other words €48.2 mil advertising budget for 7 years. That is well over a half a million a month! €573.810 to be precise.

    How did FAS manage to spend half a million a month for seven years? Well not very creatively: Print 62%, TV%, Radio 13% and Outdoor 13%. Did you notice something missing? Well no online advertising budget? Half a million advertising every month and not a cent in online?! Well come on FÁS…

    Comptroller - John BuckleyThe full report is actually quite interesting read. It is full of over a half a million (or more) here, half a million there, for stuff that was either not used or not even delivered. My personal favourite is the car purchased and paid for in full, but never delivered.

    The FÁS report is a very good reed. I can highly recommend it, and many thanks to John Buckley for putting it together. Here is a full PDF download.

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    Career Job Site Jobs LinkedIN Recruitment Social Networks Social Recruitment

    Find a Worker

    find-a-workerFind a Worker is a jobs site and a business directory with a little bit of the social networking as well.

    Find a worker is a job site. You can post a job for free.

    Find a Worker is a business directory web site. You can promote your business here. Like the Golden Pages.

    Find a worker is a personal branding site. You can advertise your own skills for free. Like LinkedIN.

    What is missing on Find a Worker? Of course, and iPhone application to grasp all that data.

    As a side offer, you can also purchase web sites on Find a Worker. They will also make sure that: “… your site is added to google with the appropriate keywords and meta tags…”.

    Irish online recruitment scene is changing. There is more and more sites with innovative ideas like Find a Worker. Hundreds if not thousands will finish where they started, but one day one new idea and a site like this will change the way we do recruitment completely. It is the right time for the change!

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    Career Job Site Jobs LinkedIN Social Networks Social Recruitment

    Social Networks Vs Online Job Boards…

    Here are just two facts first:
    1. Revenues of online job boards are falling
    2. Social networks are (still!) gaining popularity

    Why are job boards in trouble all of the sudden after being profitable for more than 10 years?

    The troubled world economy that hit the recession in the second half of the 2008 and continued well into most of the 2009 (is it over yet???!!!) resulted in the first dip of the volume of the internet traffic. First ever actually. It is the first time since the Internet exists that the volume of the activity on the internet was smaller compared with the same month a year ago. All the iPhones and all kind of internet enabled devices did not help here. There have been far less people working (and surfing in their breaks), and far less people had time to surf during their work.

    The combination of the large reduction of the job advertisements (that generate the revenue for the job boards, and also the drop in web site traffic in general – the figures of a job boards in 2009 do not look so rosy!

    Social networks are a long term threat to the job boards.

    The number of people spending time, and the sheer amount of time people spend on the social networking sites does not really leave much time to search the job boards. Compared to the job boards, the social networking sites are actually extremely boring. There is 0 interaction on the site really. As a job hunter you apply for a job or jobs you like, and what you get back in 99% of the cases is an automated response in the email. The confirmation of the job application. Impersonal and sterile. The social networks on the other side let you publish the content for other users (or anyone on internet) to read and see. Social networks let you say what you think (that your spouse doesn’t!). Social networks encourage you to comment pretty much anything!

    You can meet new people. You can catch up with old school mates. You can check the last summer holiday photos of your cousins. You can upload your fancy wedding photos, with all the family in strange dresses in the background! You can grade photos and comment them. You can upload video from your car racing weekend. Your greatest fishing catch.

    Social network is like a pub. People are talking. Social network is like a ‘Corso’, the main street boardwalk where you hang out with your friends and their friends. You can also do some business with all this people there if you feel like it. But do not really have to, since you can check how your mates commented the game yesterday. And tell them how YOU think your home club should have played.

    After you got used to the way of communication that the social networks or let you by broadcasting YOUR message to the masses, the idea of browsing boring listings of the jobs on the job sites simply isn’t that appealing any more.

    Social Recruitment is born simply because people are far more active on the social networks than on job boards. If Twitter wouldn’t have that many visitors and users it would be impossible to hire staff there. But the sheer volume of users on Twitter makes it a platform where you really can hire staff with the most crazy restriction anyone have ever imposed on the recruitment process – communication limited to 140 characters (spaces included!!!). Facebook is probably the platform with the largest number of useless, and distracting applications but the fact that the number of active users is larger than most of the countries in the world – makes it a perfect sourcing application for a large number or positions. LinkedIN is specialising for the recruitment itself – the social network of professionals. Even their Jobs section isn’t visited as much as all the others since it is simply boring. Visitors expect more from the social networks then the boring jobs listings. They want to contribute. They want to read other peoples contribution. They way to confirm their decisions by getting the independent views from other people with similar conclusions.

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    Career CV Internet Jobs Recruitment Social Recruitment

    2009 Jobvite Social Recruitment Survey Results

    2009-recruitment-survey-resultsDo you or your company use social media networking or social media to support recruitment efforts?
    76% plan to invest in employee referrals
    72% plan to increase their use of social networks
    66% have successfully hired a candidate identified or introduced through an online social network

    Jobvite also asked employers to list the social networks and here is how they rank against each other.

    social-recruiting-survey-2009-results

    95% or recruiters use LinkedIN to find candidates(!). Do you?