According to a recent report on the state of job hunting on the Web, traditional job search sites (think CareerBuilder and Monster) are going the way of the dinosaur, offering both job seekers and employers more problems than advantages:
Job-seekers lament the lack of relevant jobs that turn up in searches, vague job
descriptions that don't identify the employer, a user-unfriendly process, and the black-hole experience of
posting a resume or applying to a job board's job posting. They also worry about the security of sensitive
information they submit -- with good reason. Big job boards like Monster have been hacked before,
and Monster, even after an early-2009 major site overhaul, was hacked again just before this report went to
press, according to ZDNet. Meanwhile, hiring decision-makers fume over bombardment with vast numbers
of resumes from unqualified candidates. One of the job-board features that initially made them so attractive --
ease of applying for jobs -- has made them a significant nightmare for employers.
In their wake comes a new breed of site that offers better matching capabilities, more advanced service options and lots of social networking links and opportunities. They include:
- Jobfox, which offers a "Mutual Suitability System,"
using an in-depth question-and-answer format to learn about job-seekers' experience, wants, and needs. Jobfox then
presents candidates with only the opportunities that match. "Since employers using Jobfox participate in this same
process,"the Jobfox site states, "you can be assured that they know you are well qualified for their position.
- Itzbig, where matching candidates to jobs also is the
centerpiece. Itzbig calls itself a "real-time interactive recruiting network, providing a way for job seekers and recruiters
to come together online." The site uses "profile matching technology" to provide "a filtered set of qualified candidates
to the recruiter and a filtered set of job matches to the candidate."
- QuietAgent, which claims to "evaluate every job,
every day, so you don't have to." The site notes that with QuietAgent, "recruiters use rich toolsets to get two-way private
connections with quality candidates."
- Climber.com,
which helps job-seekers "understand yourself and reveal what types of
jobs/companies you will best fit." The Climber.com site states that it
is "for people who are not necessarily actively looking for a new job,
but rather who are open to recruitment by companies." The site enables
seekers to "connect anonymously to recruiters, research companies and
salary information, and refer jobs to trusted co-workers and friends."
- My Perfect Gig, "a members-only, private career network
for engineering professionals where companies and talented individuals speak a 'common language.'"
- Vitruva, "a
second-generation career website powered by an artificial intelligence
job-matching engine." The Vitruva site says it "connect[s] talented
professionals with highly qualified job opportunities instantly – in
real-time."
- Jobzerk, which bills itself as the "world's first community and
socially driven job site."
- OneWire, a
site for finance professionals that "allows individuals to quickly and
precisely map their experiences -- education, work, and life -- and
distinguish themselves from their peers." The site goes on to note that
"firms use the same system to create a search for their ideal
candidate. This mirroring of profile and search criteria allows for the
precise matching of individual to opportunity."
This is the kind of thing that both job seekers and employers will be coming to expect from the online recruitment experience, so definitely worth getting familiar with these sites and how they operate.
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