LinkedIn is about to make the CV redundant!

LinkedIn is About to Put Job Boards (and Resumes) Out of Business

Jun. 1 2011 - 6:45 pm | 9,610 views | 1 recommendation | 51 comments

By DAN SCHAWBEL

Job boards are becoming more irrelevant to the corporate recruitment process every single year. They are ineffective because of the sheer amount of competition on them and how they’re perceived by recruiters. Only lazy recruiters source candidates from them. The best recruiters build a strong network that they grow, nurture and tap into. Most companies hire based on referrals, and through their corporate websites, not job boards. They only use job boards in a last ditch effort to hire a candidate because the best people for the job are the one’s that aren’t looking (sometimes called “passive candidates”).
A study by Jobs2web Inc. shows that companies look through about 219 applications per job through a major job board before finding someone to hire. They only look at 33 applications per hire on their own corporate career site! Just as I said in my book Me 2.0, job boards are black holes. Stop submitting your resume to them and praying that a machine finds it and delivers it to a hiring manager. You should spend more time meeting people at companies you want to work for at networking events and through social networks.
Your traditional Microsoft Word resume is obsolete so create a LinkedIn profile and use their “Resume Builder” to turn your profile into your new digital resume.
LinkedIn’s big announcement today
LinkedIn just announced that they will be launching a button for employer career sites called “Apply With LinkedIn,” which will allow candidates to submit their LinkedIn profiles as resumes through their HR management systems. Companies will be able to take the LinkedIn API and integrate the button into their entire database of open jobs. The plugin uses applicants’ data to automatically sort candidates for the employer. In the submission process, companies can request a cover letter as well as additional fields. By launching this button, LinkedIn is training HR professionals and independent recruiters to use their technology and network grid instead of job boards. They are also making a bold statement saying that you don’t need a paper resume anymore; all you need a link to your LinkedIn profile.
[Update: LinkedIn just confirmed that they have not announced or confirmed such a plugin or product at this time.]
What this means for job seekers
I see more and more companies using this button on their career sites, while divesting in job board advertising. This is yet another step in the internet becoming the new global talent pool. HR databases are isolated in the confines of companies and can’t update fast enough to remain relevant in this fast paced world we live in. Now, more than ever before, job seekers have to create their own LinkedIn profiles and take them very seriously. You have to constantly managing your profile, revise it as you advance in your career, and use it to network as much as possible. Companies will expect you to be on LinkedIn and if you’re not, then you can’t apply for jobs! There are over one hundred million LinkedIn users and you will suffer if you keep submitting your Microsoft Word resume to job boards.
Job boards and traditional resumes are going to fade faster than I even predicted! I predicted ten years, but it might be much sooner than we all thought! Build your online presence now if you want to be able to compete in this ever growing marketplace.
Disclaimer: I own shares in LinkedIn stock, but I’ve been preaching about it’s effectiveness as a job search tool since 2006/7.

Time to retrain?

The top ten jobs identified by the Manpower survey as in short supply in the UK are: 1) engineers; 2) chefs/cooks; 3) managers/executives; 4) sales reps; 5) drivers; 6) technicians; 7) skilled tradespeople; 8) teachers; 9) accounting & finance staff; 10) IT staff.

According to the latest Global Talent Shortage Survey from ManpowerGroup, UK employers are currently experiencing more difficulty in filling their vacancies than at any time since 2007.

'Best talent wants out' say public sector leaders

Almost half of all public sector workers are facing redundancy or looking for work in the private sector, according to a survey by recruitment consultants Hays.

The Hays Public Services Survey 2011 revealed that 45% of workers are either facing redundancy or want to work for a private firm.
Around 60% of public sector employers believe voluntary redundancy and early retirement will result in the loss of some of their best talent, and more than 60% said they are concerned that the sector will struggle to attract the staff necessary to manage the change ahead.
The survey found that local government workers were the most concerned of all the public sector divisions about losing talented staff.
'With such a widespread exodus of staff, it is highly likely that frontline services will be affected,'said public services director, Andy Robling.
'The combination of pay scrutiny, fears around job security and critical media headlines means a stigma has started to develop around public sector careers.
'Many public sector workers are feeling demotivated,devalued and stuck in less challenging careers,' added Mr Robling.'The public sector needs to act now to address this before it is too late.'

More HR managers and recruiters use social media in recruitment...

Surveys chart job-seekers’ use of social media

Two recent surveys chart the utilisation of social media by today’s job-seekers.  One, from the Kelly Global Workforce Index, looks at the global scene, while the other, from graduate careers site WikiJob, focuses on the domestic graduate market.

“These results are evidence of the way in which graduates may have an advantage as the employment landscape changes,” says WikiJob co-founder Ed Mellett.  “HR managers and recruiters generally agree that using social media can be an extremely fruitful job-seeking method.  More and more employers are utilising social media to find out more about applicants before the interview process.
“Networking online will give graduates access to an otherwise hidden job market, and the results from our user poll indicate it is likely that a large proportion of graduates are already actively pursuing these opportunities.  Maintaining a professional presence on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook will give graduate job-seekers a major advantage.”

According to the Kelly survey, the most popular channel for finding work is job-boards, used by 26% of the 97,000 people surveyed in 30 countries worldwide to find their most recent job.  The use of job-boards is most pronounced in the APAC region, where they’re used by one in three (33%); elsewhere, it’s closer to one in four (EMEA 25%; Americas 24%).  However direct approaches from employers account for significantly more positions in EMEA than elsewhere, while the use of recruitment firms is highest in APAC.
Again, roughly one in four people (24%) look for jobs on social networking sites (although only 1% succeeded in securing their most recent job via this route).  The proportions remain remarkably consistent across generations (baby-boomers 24%, Gen X 24%, Gen Y 23%) and geographies (EMEA 25%, Americas23%, APAC 22%).  The UK-specific figure is, however, slightly below average at 20%.
For those who do search for jobs on social networking sites, the favourites are Facebook and LinkedIn, preferred by 33% and 32% respectively.  However there’s a clear generation split here, with 39% of baby-boomers liking LinkedIn (compared to 23% of Gen Y), but 40% of Gen Y preferring Facebook (compared to 22% of baby-boomers).
There are some significant regional variations, too: LinkedIn is the overwhelming choice for job-seekers in the Americas, preferred by 40%, with Facebook on 28%, while the position is reversed in EMEA with 35% choosing Facebook as against 30% for LinkedIn.
Looking at other social media, only 3% use Twitter for job-seeking, while more than twice as many people in APAC use blogs to find work than anywhere else.
The poll by WikiJob revealed that 63% of respondents were on LinkedIn, suggesting that graduates – who tend to be more familiar with social media – are more willing to use it as a job-seeking tool.  Graduates, it’s suggested, may be more aware of the potential of social media, both as a form of self-advertisement and as a way of networking with employers.
“These results are evidence of the way in which graduates may have an advantage as the employment landscape changes,” says WikiJob co-founder Ed Mellett.  “HR managers and recruiters generally agree that using social media can be an extremely fruitful job-seeking method.  More and more employers are utilising social media to find out more about applicants before the interview process.
“Networking online will give graduates access to an otherwise hidden job market, and the results from our user poll indicate it is likely that a large proportion of graduates are already actively pursuing these opportunities.  Maintaining a professional presence on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook will give graduate job-seekers a major advantage.”
Thanks to Ri5 for the intell.

Private sector are stereotypical and old fashioned in views?

The private sector’s view that public sector workers are not equipped to work in the commercial sector are “stereotypical and old-fashioned” and not based on reality, according to the head of Hays Careers Transition Service.
Mark Staniland, a divisional director of Hays, told Recruiter: “Private sector employers’ initial response is that public sector workers are not equipped or able to make the move to the private sector, but our experience is they are able to make that transfer.
“The professionals that we meet from the public sector are extremely capable and able people, and the majority are capable of making that transfer.”
Staniland’s comments are at variance with the results of a survey of 500 UK companies published in February.
The survey by the Financial Times and Barclays Corporate revealed that 52% of private sector companies in the UK said they were are not interested in hiring people, who have lost their jobs in the public sector
Staniland said that 72% of ex-public sector employees that had been through Hays’ Career Transition Service in the last six months had found employment, either with the help of Hays consultants or off their own bat.

8 things to consider about being self employed...

8 things to think about if you’re considering self-employment

Is self employment for you?  Perhaps you’ve lost your job or you’re facing redundancy and think self-employment is the answer.  Or maybe you just woke up on a grey, cold Monday morning and thought “why don’t I give it all up and work for myself?”
If you are considering self-employment, you’re not alone.  Around 300,000 people are likely to take the plunge and turn self-employed in the UK this year, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.
Sadly, figures also show that three out of five of those businesses are likely to fail within the first three years.   So how can you be sure that self-employment is for you and that if you take the plunge, you will be one of the people whose business succeeds?
Obviously there are the usual considerations that appear on any self-employment checklist – factors such as writing a business plan, choosing an accountant, deciding whether you should be a limited company or a sole trader etc.
But I’m talking about some of the more fundamental psychological considerations that make the difference between success and failure.  When I made my own transition to self-employment three years ago I was lucky enough to benefit from a unique research project carried out by a psychologist called Cathy Brown in conjunction with Birkbeck College, University London.  Cathy looked at those who had already successfully made the transition to self-employment and identified that there are 8 key factors that are important to focus on in order to make that transition easier and more successful:

1. Is there enough of a push to move you from your current situation? People who move successfully into self employment have a degree of restlessness with their current situation.  In other words, you’re likely to be frustrated with how things are right now, enough to motivate you to want to change and set up your business.
2. Do you have a passion, not only for the work you do but for turning it into a business? If you’re passionate about what you do you’ll find it easier to ride the waves of change and keep going when starting out.  You’ll also find that others will be attracted to your passion and will be more likely to help you make your business a success.
3. Do you have a clear vision for what you want to achieve both commercially and personally? In answering this question you need to think through the commercial aspects of your business proposition i.e. what the business is going to offer, to which customer groups and to which geographical markets.  But you also need to think about what success look like for you as an individual.  Is it about earning a certain amount of revenue, having independence and autonomy, working certain hours or days of the week, all of the above or something completely different?
4. How well do you know yourself and how to manage your energy levels and emotions? You need to know yourself well enough to know what you can do to stay motivated and energised.  For example, do you like working on your own or do you prefer to have lots of people around.  If you’re an extraverted gregarious type you may find days of working alone at home sap your energy and motivation so you may need to develop strategies (such as meeting a friend for lunch) to keep your energy and motivation high so that you are set up for success.
5. Do you believe in yourself?  Are you confident in your own abilities? To move successfully into self-employment you need to believe in yourself, your capability and your ability to make things happen.  In essence, you need to know you can make it a success whatever happens.
6. How much personal drive do you have to keep going even when things get tough? Research shows that people who move successfully into self-employment are focused on continually improving what they do and learning how things could be better; resilient when the going gets tough and personally driven to keep going at all times
7. What about your financial buoyancy?  Do you have plans in place to guarantee some form of a positive cash flow or income stream during your transition? This could be achieved through a range of means e.g. savings, redundancy payment, financial support from a partner, part-time job etc.  A general rule of thumb is that people feel that they need a financial lump sum that covered six months of living expenses.
8. How good is your support network? To make a success of self-employment you need a well-established network of contacts that can provide different types of support at different times.  People typically need three types of support – (1) Practical support such as child-care, help with household chores etc (2) Technical support in areas outside of your expertise such as IT, finance or some other discipline that is an absolute necessity but a complete mystery to you and (3) Emotional support from people close to you who can help you through the tough times.

Recruitment agencies see decline in temp business to public sector.. good thing?

Two speed jobs market emerging?

A split is forming in the labour market as employment "radically" slows in the public sector and continues to grow in the private sector, according to the recruitment and employment confederation (REC) as reported by recruitment agencies.
The REC's claim is based on its "Report on jobs", produced in partnership with professional services firm KPMG, which found that demand for some permanent public sector roles, such as nursing, medical and social care, had reduced, while demand grew for permanent private sector roles, such as those in engineering and construction.
However, the data did not directly compare demand for the public and private sectors and some areas that saw growth, such as IT and clerical roles, were likely to be made up of workers from both sectors. In future, the report will gather data on the difference in demand for jobs between public and private companies.
Overall, demand for permanent staff grew at a "strong and accelerated" rate, but the growth of temporary appointments eased to the lowest rate so far in 2011.
Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, commented: "Public sector employment is radically slowing while there is growth in the private sector, confirming that we are now in a two-speed jobs market.
"A number of permanent hires made in IT, construction and engineering suggest that employer confidence on the whole is improving but temporary employment is slowing. This month's figures for temporary jobs are the worst we've seen for four months and are likely to be caused by employer caution over the impending Agency Workers Regulations."

Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG, said: "The fundamental issue facing the UK's 'twin-track' job market is whether the private sector can create enough jobs to offset the expected job losses in the public sector.

"If the Government encourages greater private sector engagement in the provision of public services, this would not only support creation of private sector jobs in the UK, but provide a platform for those business service providers to export their skills, as governments around the world grapple with how to reduce their deficits and transform public services."

The report looked at 400 responses from UK recruitment and employment consultancies, but of course that is based on the business going through them.. not all jobs...

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