RSS v's Multi-Posting

There is a really good debate on the recruitment blogs started by Peter Gold and responded to by Dan McGuire, regarding RSS and its potential impact on the multi-posting industry.

I have blatantly jumped on the bandwagon because I have a very strong view on the subject.

I treat most things by definition and the term Wikipedia use for RSS 2.0 is Really ‘Simple’ Syndication (I emphasise the word ‘Simple’).

I expect RSS could be used to bulk post jobs to job boards, however, surely the only boards that could draw benefit from creating an RSS feed of client vacancies to their site are the free to post ones; e.g. reed.co.uk and Job Warehouse from Jobcentre Plus.

I say this because recruiters and employers will quite happily load all of their vacancies onto free sites but when it comes to having to pay, they are much more selective and to my knowledge RSS cannot anticipate which vacancies to post and which not, in a real time, commercial environment. The cost of posting everything to all job boards with the meter running, is simply not practical and will wipe annual agency/employer advertising budgets out in a few short months.

The day RSS or any technology can read the minds of recruiters and employers, watch your backs for Arnold Schwarzenegger running around trying to terminate Terminator’s, because it’s also the day the machines take over the world.

In addition, why would job vendors want to set up and manage multiple feeds to the ever increasing range of job boards. Surely a technology with a single interface with the ability to multi-post to all job boards would be a much better creation!

Hang on hasn’t this already been perfected by the multi-posting industry?

I think multi-posting technology is safe for a good few years to come and RSS only has the opportunity to rival bulk feeds like XML.

Websites - Feature Rich or Fluff?

I have to admit there are some fantastic feature rich traditional and online recruitment websites out there, however, is the focus on increased functionality enhancing the candidate/client experience?

The answer is of course yes if users engage with and benefit from the functionality provided, however, I wonder if in the traditional and online recruitment industry, the candidate/client experience is compromised at the expense of sites being made to jump through hoops to win technological development awards and stroke the ego's of developers/operators.

There is of course only one way to build a website that will endear itself to a target market and that's to ask users what they want it to do for them.

I have heard/read far too much critisism in the last three years about recruitment agencies and job boards not providing an acceptable online candidate/client experience and using the internet to support the numbers game.

If candidates and clients demand additional features from your site to aid their employment aspirations; bring it on. If not; keep it simple and aim for quality not quantity!

REC Putting Technology on the Agenda!

It appears one of my final triumphs before leaving The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) in November 06 is gaining momentum and support.

When hosting a meeting of the ORMC in October 06 and presenting the impact self hiring technologies could have on the traditional and online recruitment industries, I urged both industries to work closely together to ensure continued mutual prosperity and operational synergy. I also took the opportunity, given the audience of online recruiters, to suggest the re-introduction of an REC online sector group.

At the time, some of the majors pledged their support immediately and in the latest edition of Recruiter magazine (21st March), Rob Brouwer, chief executive, Monster UK/Ireland confirmed they will be supporting the new sector group. I am thrilled with the momentum behind this important step because, more than ever, job boards need recruiter's content and recruiters need job board's traffic and access to their talent pool databases.

The introduction of an independent authority to facilitate high level communication, regulation and development activity must be welcomed and supported by all. Contact REC for more details.

So You Don't Think Technology Could be a Threat!

I find it difficult to understand, given the amount of research, reports and announcements regarding employers investing in technological recruitment solutions and ideology, why many recruiters won't consider the argument that technology could have a negative impact on their businesses.

CIPD view, Cranfield view and feedback from 'Talent Pool' using recruiters view, all seem to support the view that employers are attempting to bypass recruiters, and at the same time suppliers of candidate accrual, management and deployment technologies to employers are claiming record breaking sales figures and performances; StepStone and Jobpartners to name just a few.

I would support the claim that the UK recruitment industry in general is dynamic and innovative, however, with increasing evidence that employers are engaging with technology to reduce reliance on recruitment companies, I do hope more recruiters will join the technology debate and engage with more online solutions and innovations.