The blogosphere is buzzing about Google's plans to enter into on-line classifieds and scan every book in the world, copyrighted or not. See Digital Rules By Rich Karlgaard.

Apparently Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, French President Jacques Chirac, and others see Google as both benevolent (they love its search engine) and evil (their publisher constituents are nervous that they might actually have to compete with the brains and capital at Google). CollegeRecruiter.com is impacted both as a publisher of books and as the seller of job postings, a type of on-line classified advertising. Are we nervous about Google's forays into two of our business areas? Sure. Are we excited about the potential because we see the potential for working with their systems in such a way that we are able to help level the playing field against some of our larger indirect competitors that are able to buy advertising on the Superbowl? Absolutely.

As a publisher, we have no problem with Google scanning our books and making excerpts available to potential buyers. In fact, we requested that they do so. We feel that our books provide excellent value to potential readers and believe that the more potential readers who are exposed to snippets of the content, the more will buy. That's known as a win-win.

As job board, the more candidates who see our postings on other sites such as Google and then click over to our site to apply to the positions the better as that will increase our traffic, increase the number of resumes in our database, and increase our value proposition to employers. The key is that we're a niche site. We're not Monster or Careerbuilder or HotJobs.

So are we afraid of Google? No. But we'll keep an eye on them while we continue to work with them. We see far more opportunities in their latest actions than threats.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 30, 2005 at 7:56 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Google recently announced the release of Google Base, an on-line classified advertising system that allows employers, job boards, and other organizations to post job openings. The release has been quite the topic of conversation in the recruitment world. See, for example, Google Enters Job Listings Fray | workforce.com.

While some of the highest traffic job boards view the entry by Google into recruitment advertising as a threat and have refused to cooperate, Careerbuilder, CollegeRecruiter.com and others view Google's move as an opportunity. Within weeks and certainly months, expect many and perhaps most premium job boards to follow our lead by crossposting some or all of their jobs to Google because doing so is good for the candidate, good for the employer, and therefore good for the job board.

Over time, perhaps months and perhaps a year or two, a significant number of candidates will begin their on-line job search at Google, much as many do now when they're searching for other information. When they do, they will soon find the largest number of job postings in any one place. But rather than posting their resume at Google, they will be directed to the employer's site or to the job board on which the posting appears. This direction of traffic from Google to sites such as CollegeRecruiter.com represents as huge opportunity for us because it helps to level the playing field between the few job boards which have the financial resources to buy Superbowl advertising for millions of dollars and the other 99.99 percent of job boards which provide excellent value to the candidates and employers, but which do not have that kind of money.

If CollegeRecruiter.com crossposts 10,000 jobs to Google Base and so does another job board (any other job board), then we should receive the same amount of traffic from Google as does the other job board regardless of the Superbowl advertising conducted by that other job board. So rather than spending a ton of resources of advertising, we're able to focus those resources of delivering better and better value to the candidates and employers using our site. We'll be able to provide better content, better service, and therefore a better experience.

Will Google Base chip away and perhaps even accelerate the loss of revenue from job postings? Absolutely. But to boards such as CollegeRecruiter.com, the loss of such a secondary revenue stream is more than offset by the increases in the revenue streams that will result from increased traffic. While I expect to lose some job posting revenues from employers with straightforward hiring needs (i.e., one entry level candidate without any required specialized skills), I am excited about the increase in business that we should see from employers with difficult hiring needs. With more traffic, we'll have even more resumes in our database. If we have more of the right candidates and can deliver those candidates effectively and efficiently, then we will increase both or revenues and net income.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 29, 2005 at 10:22 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Question from Candidate:

After 3.5 years working right after college, I decided to quit my job. Some people call it gap year, career break, sabbatical but I call it a sweet dream. In any sweet dream, one do have to wake up to reality. I was backpacking around Europe and also studied Chinese in China. But now, I have a problem trying to explain 3 years gap in my resume. Please help and give me some ideas how to...thanks

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 23, 2005 at 10:13 AM | Leave a Comment (4)

There's been a lot of buzz in my environment over the past several months. It has to do with pride. The pride that the community criticizes is that attributed to conceit, unmerited satisfaction and inflated status about something.

While the detractors scorn pride, they only recently stopped to consider the positive side of pride. This is being elated over doing something well and bringing positive credit to those who deserve it. Once reminded of this other aspect of being proud of something, the community admitted that there is the negative aspect of pride and the one that is positive. There are different dimensions to the one characteristic.

Now there is yet another perspective with regard to pride, or actually something we call self-confidence. It is possible to be confident, that is, have a belief in one's own abilities or being certain, having assurance. That can be expressed in various ways that one goes about doing or saying things. However, let's not get confidence mixed up with bullying.

Bullying can look like extreme confidence. It can seem to have the appearance of leadership traits. Bullying is definitely not being a leader. In fact, two different dictionaries contained very similar definitions of the word. Intimidation, aggressiveness, overbearing, oppression of the weak or small were descriptions of "bullying." (See Dictionary.com)

There is a significant difference between being confident, being a leader, and being a bully. Although the bully may speak softly during the interview, say all of the right things and appear humble, their true nature tends to come out in different ways. Sometimes that true nature becomes apparent during the interview; at other times, it is not readily discernible until after the candidate has become an employee.

The bully can be a terror. They wreak apathy, inertia, malcontent, internal destruction, and lost profits and customers, in addition to positive workforce. In fact, one definition makes reference to the bully as a tyrant, their reign is one of tyranny. There are remedies for this aside from firing the horror from hell. But it takes training and behavior modification -- lots of it over a long period of time. It also takes showing the person how to develop something called emotional maturity.

When analyzed, the bully is actually someone who has very little confidence in themselves, extremely low self-esteem, and in many cases has little training. The way they got to their position was via bombastic plowing through the ranks, bellowing as they went, pounding tables on a regular basis and throwing various forms of tantrums on a routine basis. They missed the maturation process. Unfortunately, all of the truculence got them rewarded by reaching positions of authority. No doubt the pinnacles were won at the price of conceding to threats. Nevertheless, there were rewards that spurred the bully to push the envelope even further.

The other remedy to the bully syndrome is to stop rewarding it. Stop understanding it. Start rejecting the results gained at the behest of any form of bullying conduct.

While it may appear that the bully is confident and therefore management material, they are not. The company that passes on this personality is wise for they are saving many hiring and retraining dollars, not to mention saving itself from lost profits, morale and customer goodwill.

The company that passes on the covert bully candidate is a company that should be sought out by those looking for a good corporate culture in which they can either survive by doing the best job of what they do for the company or growing their workskill sets in order to develop into the most that they can be in that environment.

There's a significant difference between being a bully, being prideful, being confident, and being emotionally mature and successful.

Posted by Yvonne LaRose, CollegeRecruiter.com - Career Coach on November 20, 2005 at 5:27 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Great news out of the yesterday's Senate confirmation hearings for Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman to-be. In prepared his prepared remarks Bernanke vowed to stay focused on both inflation and jobs as he understands that it is "low income people who suffer most from recession [and] low-income people who suffer most from a high level of inflation."

So why are his comments so important to those of us who help others find the best jobs available? Because many economists and economist-wanna-be's consider battling inflation and high employment rates to be opposing forces. That is, when inflation is high, the Federal Reserve has traditionally put the brakes on the econony to try to bring down the rate of inflation. When they do that, employees are laid off as orders for new goods and services declines. Or so the traditional thinking has gone. Bernanke, while not providing any specifics, seemed to support Alan Greenspan's approach that it is better to maintain a low to moderate rate of inflation that provides certainty in the economy. More than anything else, it is uncertainty that causes employers to hold off on hiring new employees or investing in new facilities. If they know that inflation will be three percent, they can budget for that and make the appropriate investment decisions. If inflation will be six percent, or nine, or twelve, they can budget for that and make the appropriate decisions. But when inflation bounces around, there is terrible uncertainty in the marketplace and many employers are forced to be pessimistic in their outlooks in order to ensure that they will remain in business. And it is that pessimism that leads to layoffs of employees, especially entry level and other low income employees, and the lack of new hiring, especially of entry level and other low income employees.

So a toast to Ben Bernanke and his recognition that battling inflation is not necessarily bad for employment. The key is to stay ahead of the curve and to continue the Federal Reserve's practice of trying to maintain low to moderate inflation rather than to succumb to those who favor rapid growth in the economy, which would inevitably lead to high inflation, high interest rates, and eventually high unemployment.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 16, 2005 at 6:25 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I think that there's a cliche out there about always a bridesmaid and never a bride. While that wouldn't quite apply to me (I am a guy, after all), I could, as Bill Clinton used to say, feel their pain. For years I've looked forward to being one of the speakers at the National Association of Colleges and Employers National Meetings. These are, without question, the premiere conferences for those involved in college hiring. Most of the attendees are college career service office professionals, but there are also hundreds of employers and vendors. Last year's National Meeting in Milwaukee attracted thousands of attendees. Next spring's meeting in Anaheim, home of Mickey, should be even bigger. And I'll be one of the speakers.

NACE accepted my proposal to speak about podcasting, a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I am very excited about the potential for moving web-based, text content off of computer screens and into portable devices such as iPods that will allow job seekers and others to access the content that they want when they want it and how they want it. We've made a significant effort to be a leader in the field with our podcasting content, and I plan to share our experiences with the attendees in Anaheim.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 14, 2005 at 5:44 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I learned today about Steven Sinofsky's Microsoft TechTalk, a blog for college grads interested in learning about careers at Microsoft. While some may criticize Microsoft for being "the evil empire," an opinion to which I've never subscribed, there can be little doubt that Microsoft has grown over the past couple of decades into a very large company.

Blogs such as Steven's and the excellent employment page that Microsoft has go a long way to personalizing this quality employer. During the presentations that I make at HR conferences and trade shows, I consistently cite Microsoft as one of the organizations that does a very good job with communicating to candidates what it is like to work at Microsoft and what their job would entail. Far too many organizations only post requirements and then are surprised when they receive and underwhelming number of applications from a group of candidates whose quality is also underwhelming.

If employers want to hire the stars, then they need to understand that stars can work just about anywhere. They have choices, so employers need to do everything that they can to encourage stars to choose to work for their organizations while, at the same time, doing everything that they can to dissuade unqualified candidates from applying. The name of the game isn't to maximize the quantity of applications. The name of the game is to maximize the quality of your workforce.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 14, 2005 at 12:04 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

As the President and Founder of CollegeRecruiter.com, I speak at a number of HR conferences. Some are general and some are specifically geared to college or Internet recruiting issues. It never ceases to amaze me that I've never run into a candidate at these conferences, other than the HR people who are looking for new HR positions. College students and recent graduates should attend college recruiting conferences. Diverse candidates should attend diversity recruiting conferences. They'll be surrounded by dozens and even hundreds of senior human resource professionals and hiring managers. What could be a better investment?

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 11, 2005 at 8:26 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Question from Candidate:

I have an enormous problem in choosing my place of higher education because of my desired fields. First off, my anticipated majors are sports medicine (hopefully pre-med.), international business, or history. I have been accepted to the University of Illinois and United States Military Academy. At West Point I am limited to only business and history major due to the absence of courses offered. My decision lies in which will further my job placement upon graduation. Incidentally, I do not plan to attend the University of Illinois for all four years but hope to study abroad or transfer out east. At West Point, I have the obligation of five year upon my graduation. So in essence, my question is what will look better on my resume? Any sort of guidance would help. Thank you.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 10, 2005 at 7:29 PM | Leave a Comment (2)

Just in case there was any doubt about the effect of the rebounding economy on starting salaries, it was reported today that the compensation for recent business school graduates from Harvard, Dartmouth, and Stanford rose at least 9.5 percent from a year earlier. See Dallas Morning News.

Most of the growth, as can be expected, was driven by sharply higher salaries being offered by investment banking firms. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., for example, paid members of its class of 2004 about $85,000. This year's group should be treating last year's group to steak dinners. The class of 2005 is being paid about $140,000, an astounding one year increase of 35 percent.

Will this increase in salaries to MBA grads from top schools trickle down, or is it only an anomoly? I'm betting on the trickle down effect, although I certainly can't see too many groups of employees reaping 35 percent gains in salary from one year to the next.

During the dot com boom, talent starved tech firms (in that era, saying that was both redundant and repetitive) were actually recruiting students for six year salary starting incomes well before the graduated...from high school. That's right. Seventeen year old juniors with web development skills were being recruited by dot com firms who were in a race to go public, be bought, or vanish under the weight of their own manic spending.

Hopefully we don't see a return to such an irrational marketplace. While a few made out well, paying six figure starting salaries to 17 year olds, or giving 35 salary increases from one class to the next, is simply not healthy for the economy as a whole. It points to desperation by the employer, and what customer or client would want to hire a firm that desperate to recruit entry level candidates, regardless of their smarts and long-term potential?

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 8, 2005 at 10:07 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

CollegeRecruiter.com plans to allow a few employers and recruiters to get some great added exposure and develop a real rapport with the job seekers and others who use our site. How? By allowing those organizations to designate one or more of their staff to post regular entries to our blog.

If you're willing to post diary-type entries at least two or three times a week, then I want to talk with you. I'm looking for employers to really pull back the curtains and allow candidates to gain some real insight into the hiring process, what it is like to work at your organization, etc. Insights about what candidates are doing well and not doing well would be great. I wouldn't want you to use any names about specific candidates or otherwise identify them in any way, but writing about specific situations would be great.

Interested? Contact me directly at Steven@CollegeRecruiter.com or 800-835-4989.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on November 2, 2005 at 7:24 PM | Leave a Comment (0)