The Two-Headed Monster
by Bob Maher Friday, February 19, 2010
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Specific to recruitment and placement activity and the Career Services Profession that provides support to both using groups, technology has long provided a siren song of improvements in quality and efficiency. After all, isn’t that exactly what technology represents...a tool for us to use?
Here's where technology has really created a two-headed monster (with a small "m"). In my opinion, the largest, most utilized Internet "job banks and resume banks" have created wonderful traffic for online marketers, but only negligible positive results for Corporate recruiters (more resumes do not equal better resume flow) and job seekers (concentrated and numerically huge competition, therefore increased rejection ratio). At an International Conference of the Association of Career Professionals International in Boston, Massachusetts-USA in 2006, the folks from Monster (with a capital “M”) enlightened us with much relevant data...
Their statistical evidence was entirely based on traffic (in over-simplification, a marketing term) through their website, including statistics of posted jobs and resumes available to Corporations (their true customers and vendors, alike)...they spoke of revenue streams (more marketing language)...never once did they produce empirical evidence of improved placement activity from either the job seeker or corporate recruitment perspectives! Bigger and faster has not necessarily produced BETTER.
In fact, the smaller, more monitored niche’ Job Boards, with their more tightly targeted audiences, often produce cleaner, higher quality opportunities from which both job seekers and corporate recruitment efforts benefit.
My point? While there is little doubt that we are using technology more and more each day, there is precious little tangible evidence, after more than fifteen years of Internet usage under a wide variety of economic circumstances, that the Internet recruitment sites, themselves, have had much significant impact on mobility within the “jobmarket.”
What HAS improved dramatically is our access to and use of career-oriented information, in support of our most human, career transition efforts at all levels.
The second head of the monster is that professionals have gotten so into Corporate and personal email culture, texting, twitter, etc that they have begun to lose sight (and use) of the telephone and other, more personal contact! Technology is, indeed, a siren song!
Technology is at its best in replacing and upgrading the speed at which we mere mortals process all the data flow required in career decision-making, career development, and actual career transitions of all descriptions. Quite honestly, ANY factual, empirically correct, process oriented information is best handled by using technology as a tool...
Technology is the tool that allows us to leverage our time and consideration of all of the SUBJECTIVE information and decision-making that are critical components of an individual's career within the incredibly complex system we call the job market.
High technology can not be expected to replace the complexities of the human spirit and will; Therefore, in my view, our Profession must continue to embrace a "high tech-high touch" philosophy that embraces and balances BOTH realities. I close with my favorite thought...
NETWORKING is a personal contact sport!
Here's where technology has really created a two-headed monster (with a small "m"). In my opinion, the largest, most utilized Internet "job banks and resume banks" have created wonderful traffic for online marketers, but only negligible positive results for Corporate recruiters (more resumes do not equal better resume flow) and job seekers (concentrated and numerically huge competition, therefore increased rejection ratio). At an International Conference of the Association of Career Professionals International in Boston, Massachusetts-USA in 2006, the folks from Monster (with a capital “M”) enlightened us with much relevant data...
Their statistical evidence was entirely based on traffic (in over-simplification, a marketing term) through their website, including statistics of posted jobs and resumes available to Corporations (their true customers and vendors, alike)...they spoke of revenue streams (more marketing language)...never once did they produce empirical evidence of improved placement activity from either the job seeker or corporate recruitment perspectives! Bigger and faster has not necessarily produced BETTER.
In fact, the smaller, more monitored niche’ Job Boards, with their more tightly targeted audiences, often produce cleaner, higher quality opportunities from which both job seekers and corporate recruitment efforts benefit.
My point? While there is little doubt that we are using technology more and more each day, there is precious little tangible evidence, after more than fifteen years of Internet usage under a wide variety of economic circumstances, that the Internet recruitment sites, themselves, have had much significant impact on mobility within the “jobmarket.”
What HAS improved dramatically is our access to and use of career-oriented information, in support of our most human, career transition efforts at all levels.
The second head of the monster is that professionals have gotten so into Corporate and personal email culture, texting, twitter, etc that they have begun to lose sight (and use) of the telephone and other, more personal contact! Technology is, indeed, a siren song!
Technology is at its best in replacing and upgrading the speed at which we mere mortals process all the data flow required in career decision-making, career development, and actual career transitions of all descriptions. Quite honestly, ANY factual, empirically correct, process oriented information is best handled by using technology as a tool...
Technology is the tool that allows us to leverage our time and consideration of all of the SUBJECTIVE information and decision-making that are critical components of an individual's career within the incredibly complex system we call the job market.
High technology can not be expected to replace the complexities of the human spirit and will; Therefore, in my view, our Profession must continue to embrace a "high tech-high touch" philosophy that embraces and balances BOTH realities. I close with my favorite thought...
NETWORKING is a personal contact sport!
