One of the great improvements in the job board industry since it came into being in the mid-1990's was the creation by Peter Weddle of the International Association of Employment Web Sites (IAEWS). It was at last November's IAEWS meeting in Orlando that I realized, as one of the owners of CollegeRecruiter.com, that we needed to stop selling access to our resume bank.

One of the biggest concerns shared by representatives from 80 of the biggest boards was the increasing frequency of illegitimate individuals and organizations using resume banks for the purpose of identity theft. Sometimes these entities use legitimate credit cards but download the data for illegitimate reasons. More times than not they're using stolen credit cards. But in either case, they're hoping that the job boards give them access and don't cut it off until after they've downloaded thousands and sometimes tens or even hundreds of thousands of resumes. Fortunately, to the best of our knowledge, we've identified all of these threats and blocked them from accessing our resume bank.

Another concern and much harder to guard against are legitimate organizations that purchase access but use the data for illegitimate purposes. For example, some financial services companies are purchasing resume bank access to identify potential clients using the information in their resumes. The companies then contact those potential clients and pitch their products and service to them. If a brand name financial services company buys resume searching using a valid credit card, how is a job board to know that they're not looking at the resume in order to hire the candidates but instead to solicit their business? The answer is that realistically the boards have no way of knowing how the resume data is being used and therefore no way of protecting the candidates who post their resumes to those boards. Unless the boards stop selling resume searching access.

We're re-launching CollegeRecruiter.com this weekend. We'll have an all new look-and-feel (think Google) and all new job search and resume database software. And we'll no longer allow anyone to search our resume bank, legitimate or otherwise. We're not the first board to stop selling resume searching but we'll be far from the last.

Our decision was hard as many employers are primarily and sometimes only interested in purchasing resume searching. But we looked long and hard at the risks to our candidates of the identity theft and then coupled that with their annoyance from the solicitations. We then weighed those problems against the revenues that we'll likely lose from terminating the resume searching product and the decision ended up being easier than I would have anticipated. Will we lose some revenues? Absolutely. But will we end up with safer and happier candidates who will be more likely to tell their friends about CollegeRecruiter.com? Also absolutely.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 16, 2008 at 4:24 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

One of the most frequent statements that we hear from frustrated job seekers is that employers are rejecting their applications because they lack experience. The job seekers typically wonder how it is that they can get experience if no one will hire them.

The answer to that conundrum is that the job seekers should get the experience they need outside of the job market. Instead of looking for someone to pay you and to give you the experience you need, instead look for someone who will only give you the experience you need. That's right, work for free. Volunteer.

But what about those who are employed and struggling to advance? Their paths are frequently blocked or at least delayed by their lack of experience. If their employer won't give them the experience they need in order to earn the sought after promotion, how can they obtain the promotion? Again, work for free. Volunteer.

A small but growing number of employers are encouraging their employees to volunteer occasionally or even full-time in an effort to inspire the employees, give back to the community, and shift the cost of training the employees to other organizations. But everyone wins in these arrangements so don't infer that I'm being critical of them. Far from it. I think they're fabulous.

Ernst & Young, for example, has allowed some of its accountants to volunteer for weeks and even months for non-profits. The firm covers transportation, food, and hotel expenses and even keeps the employees on its payroll so they don't suffer any loss of income. What they get back are employees who are far better qualified to do far more complicated work. Which means that E&Y has made a wise investment as it has essentially invested the costs associated with allowing its employees to volunteer their time for the non-profits and will quickly recoup that investment by being able to bill those employees out at much higher hourly rates to its clients.

And don't forget about the benefits these volunteer programs have when it comes time to recruit the next class of college students searching for internships or recent graduates hunting for entry level jobs and other career opportunities. A 2006 study by brand strategy and communications agency Cone Inc. found that 79 percent of Gen Y'ers want to work for organizations which care about how they affect or contribute to society. If your organization allows, encourages, or even pays for its employees to work for non-profits in a volunteer capacity then your organization's brand will skyrocket as you'll be demonstrating that you care about how you affect and contribute to society.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 16, 2008 at 7:18 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

We're in the process of re-launching CollegeRecruiter.com with all new job search and resume database software and a completely new look-and-feel. I've posted some screen captures for those whose curiosity can't be satisfied with a vague reference like that.

I learned earlier today that the transfer of job posting and resume related data from our old software has begun. No word yet on when it will be completed but I'm anticipating later today or, more likely, tomorrow. If all goes according to our evil plan, we'll then import the data into our new software over the weekend.

We expect that users of our site will experience some interruption of service as a result of the re-launch. The interruptions should minimal but no interruption of service is a good thing. We want to do what we can to ensure that our clients come away from this transfer period feeling positive about their choice to use CollegeRecruiter.com to help them recruit college students searching for internships and recent graduates looking for entry level jobs. So all employers with active job postings will automatically receive an equal number of free job postings as soon as we re-launch. For example, for employers with one active job posting, we will automatically credit to their accounts an additional posting for free. For employers with fifty active job postings, we will automatically credit to their accounts an additional fifty postings for free.

Until we re-launch, the sign-up page is at http://jobs.CollegeRecruiter.com/EMP/Form/SignUpForm.asp. Enjoy!

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 15, 2008 at 12:27 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

CNN just published a list of the 30 best job boards for candidates. There are more than 40,000 job boards in the U.S. and a similar number in other countries so being named to that list is quite an honor. Well, we're quite honored as we're on the list. We're even further honored as we're the only college job board on the list.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 14, 2008 at 2:33 PM | Leave a Comment (1)

One of the regrets that I have about the education that I received as a child and sought as a young adult was that I did not learn how to effectively communicate with the sight or hearing challenged. Having grown up in bilingual Canada, we were forced to take French through eight grade but I was terrible at it and dropped it as soon as I could. Through all my years of primary, secondary, post-secondary, and graduate school I never had the opportunity to learn Braille or sign language. That's a real pity because I rarely run into those who rely on their ability to converse in French yet I regularly run into far more people who are blind and use Braille or are deaf and use sign language.

Speaking of running into people, I had the pleasure of meeting Noorani Khan, the national recruitment manager for Manpower in Canada. She attended my presentation at the ACSESS conference last week in Toronto on how employers can and should use social and business networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn. Noorani handed me her business card after the presentation so that I could email a copy of the PowerPoint to her.

Now receiving a business card after a presentation is not a newsworthy event as I always receive a number of cards after presentations. What made this one special was her card. In addition to the typical corporate logo and printed contact information it had a whole lot of bumps all over it. Yes, Manpower is starting to print its business in Braille. Noorani said that she's the first but I sure hope that she's the first of many and that Manpower and other organizations transform the world of business cards from being friendly not only to the sighted but also to the blind.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 14, 2008 at 1:00 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Way back in the dot com era the talk in corporate boardrooms often centered on creating buzz as the solution to any business problem:

• Revenues of $1,000 and expenses of $1,000,000 per month? Solution: more buzz!
  
• Burn rate of $250,000 per month and $1.25 million left in the bank? Solution: more buzz!
  
• Crappy product and mass exodus of customers? Solution: more buzz!
  

You would think that we would have left those days behind us but apparently some dot coms have not. Our friends at the very good site, Careerbuilder, recently posted, hid, re-posted, and hid again a raunchy video that, well, seems to have created for the sole purpose of creating buzz.

What I just can't understand is how an organization owned by newspapers thinks that proclaiming that having sex with co-workers is okay and that the staff at Careerbuilder are doing great things for their clients because they're sleeping with everyone under the sun. I know that promiscuity was cool but then Reagan became President. Heck, Al Gore created the Internet 14 years after that so how could anyone at Careerbuilder possibly have thought that it would be a good idea to seriously consider let alone approve let alone produce let alone distribute a video that makes light of infidelity and promiscuity?

Maybe buzz?

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 13, 2008 at 10:58 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

We just completed the load testing of our servers and new job board software in preparation for the scheduled re-launch of CollegeRecruiter.com this weekend.

The load testing was successful. The servers are great and the software is in good shape. The testing mimicked our site being used by hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of users simultaneously in order to identify problem areas. The testing pointed out some areas where the software could be improved in order to make the site run as quickly as possible at all times for all of our users. Fortunately, we anticipated that those areas could be problematic and will be able to make the necessary modifications well before we re-launch.

Looking good!

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 12, 2008 at 3:32 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

1. You are the most educated generation to enter the workforce, but you are also viewed as the least prepared. Don't be blind-sided by your generation's professional reality.
2. The other generations in the workforce don't have much compassion for your situation. You are being incorrectly perceived as lazy, entitled and arrogant. Don't validate these beliefs by ignoring their concerns, instead, work to overcome them.
3. DON'T road trip, backpack or 'take a year off' without thinking about your career first. Those who delay to play, often pay!
4. More degrees don't mean more money! If you aren't sure what to do next, the LAST thing you should do is stay in school.
5. Don't succumb to Cinderella Syndrome. The sooner you break your addiction to acceptance, praise, grades, rewards and other bribes, the sooner you'll find personally satisfying work that is professionally rewarding.
6. Got a compelling Career Story that you use to market your employability? If not, then plan on a longer, more stressful job search.
7. Spray-and-pray job searches (sending out a hundred resumes and hoping for a call) are for people who are willing to settle for what's available. Get active, create a network, and you'll get access to the hot jobs nobody else knows about.
8. A great mentor is worth a lot more than a good job.
9. Want to quantum leap your career? Then learn to deal with the 3 C's (conflict, criticism and causing disappointment) ...now!
10. Embrace the equation used by the most professionally satisfied people in the world: EXPERIENCE = LEARN = GROW

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 9, 2008 at 6:42 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

CollegeRecruiter.com went live in 1996 and has had a handful of major software updates since that time. We're scheduled to re-launch with our newest update the weekend of Saturday, May 17th and we're very excited.

To celebrate our impending re-launch, we'll automatically add to all employer accounts as many free job posting ad credits as they have active postings on the date that we re-launch. So if an employer has five active job postings on our re-launch date, we'll add five additional postings to their account at no charge! To buy your two-for-one postings, go to our registration page if you're a new client or our login page if you've previously registered with us.

The new look of our site will be VERY clean to help candidates and employers better navigate our site and focus on only the most critical issues to them rather than being distracted by a lot of secondary opportunities. Although we're still making some tweaks here and there, this is a screen capture of what our new home page will look like (click the image to see it at full size):

Here's a screen capture of what a typical interior page will look like, in this case the main product information and pricing page for employers:

When job seekers run a search (in this case for sales positions in New York), they'll see a job search results page like this:

And when job seekers click on a job title to go to the job detail page to read the posting and apply, they'll see a page that looks like this:

I hope that you like this as much as we do. We're a bit nervous but mostly excited.

Again, to buy your two-for-one postings, go to our registration page if you're a new client or our login page if you've previously registered with us. Questions? Contact Mike Palmquist, national account executive, at Mike@CollegeRecruiter.com or 800-835-4989 x702.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 8, 2008 at 12:15 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I graduated from college way, way back in 1988. Yup, I'm 42 years old. That makes me ancient to virtually every student on a college campus. Back in my day, we walked 12 miles to school, through eight feet of snow, with no shoes, it was uphill in both directions, and we loved it. Oops. That was in the days of my grandparents. But I digress.

Very few Gen X'ers like me had internships. Those of us who graduated with any work experience tended to have jobs that had little to nothing to do with our career aspirations. Those going into accounting waited tables or stocked shelves, for example. Gen Y'ers are completely different. They understand that in order to have a reasonable chance of finding a good job upon graduation that they must complete at least one and preferably multiple internships. And employers are catching on too. Some 50 percent of employers expect a college graduate to have completed at least one internship. Indeed, 20 percent of employers expect a college graduate to have completed two internships. How times change.

So what should a college student to ensure a successful internship?

1. Understand that employers do not participate in internships programs because they're socially conscious or charitable. They do so because internship programs are one of the best recruiting tools available. Internships are like temp-to-perm relationships. You get to try out them to see if you want to work there and they get to try out you to see if they want to hire you. If both sides are happy, there's a match and you'll likely be offered a full-time, permanent position upon graduation. Employers should extend offers to at least 75 percent of their internships if they want to have a successful internship program.

2. Don't follow the herd. If your fellow interns come late, leave early, or otherwise slack off, don't follow their example. Your goal is to convert your internship into a full-time, permanent position upon graduation. To do that, everything that you do must be for the benefit of your employer. Coming late and leaving early are for your benefit, not your employer's, so don't.

3. Expect to pay your dues by handling work assignments which you feel are beneath your level of expertise. Understand that the work needs to be done and that you're the lowest on the totem pole so it is only logical that the grunt work is assigned to you. As you gain experience and prove yourself, you'll see less of that work. But you need to prove yourself first.

4. Dress for success. Many employers have a lax dress code so a lot of employees show up in jeans and t-shirts. But look around at those who in positions of authority and those who are being promoted into those positions. It is pretty unlikely that they dress that way. If you want to succeed, dress for the part.

5. Don't be afraid to admit that you don't understand how to get the job done. Ask for help, guidance, and training. Employers expect interns to be less than fully productive. It is part of the bargain. Be proactive and ask for help you need as early as possible so that you don't turn in work that is late or of poor quality. Late or poor quality work will reflect poorly upon you. Asking for help won't.

6. Network like crazy. Go to lunch with your co-workers at most once a week. Every other day go to lunch with someone who is at least a year and preferably five or more years ahead of you. Seek out people in different departments or areas of the organization. Get as many people to know you as possible. Your employer may love the work you did but not have an opportunity for you in the area for which you interned but there may be an opportunity in a different area. If the manager of that area knows you, who do you think she's going to want to hire first?
   

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 8, 2008 at 10:34 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Most job boards seem to operate under a typical 80-20 rule for revenue generation: about 80 percent of their revenues are generated from the sale to their employer clients of job posting ads and resume searching. The other 20 percent are miscellaneous items such as banner advertising, sponsorships, lead generation, and targeted emails.

CollegeRecruiter.com also operates under an 80-20 rule for revenue generation but for us about 80 percent of our revenues are generated from the sale to our employer clients of targeted email campaigns, cell phone text messaging, and other such non-traditional products. We generate revenue from the sale of job posting ads and for a very limited period of time will also from resume searching, but we've learned over the years how to effectively and efficiently target tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of candidates via double opt-in email and cell phone text messaging.

But enough of the self-serving blather. Where is this blog article going? Well, I read with great interest a blog article posted yesterday by Derrick Moe of sales recruiting firm Select Metrix about what makes for a terrible subject line for targeted email campaigns. Derrick's blog article includes some great tips:

• Don't discount the importance of the From field. Use your company name and not an individual's name or drawn-out term.
• Keep your company name out of the subject line: It's redundant as you already have it in the From field.
• Do not use all caps in a subject line. OK? (Unless it's "OK.") Seriously, all caps in email is akin to screaming. You don't want to scream at your potential candidates.
• Write a compelling subject line that won't deceive people. If people aren't opening it, that's okay as they weren't interested. You're paying to recruit candidates, not to get people to click through to your web site. And forget the argument that if you can just get them to your web site that you'll be able to recruit them. Wrong. Your web site may be nice, but no web site is that nice. Web sites help with sourcing. People recruit.
• Most important, have fun with your subject lines! If you're struggling that much with how to talk to your audience in a single-sentence format, give it to someone else to write.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 7, 2008 at 6:40 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

Monster founder Jeff Taylor just announced that he's spinning off the obituary classifieds section of Eons, his social networking site for Baby Boomers. The obituary site, Tribute, is intended to aggregate obituary listings placed by funeral homes much like Monster was one of the first job boards to aggregate job listings placed by employers.

I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Jeff at a recent International Association of Employment Web Sites conference. He sat on a panel and was a vocal participant in a number of issues where his experience and advice was invaluable to many members in the room. Other than some warm fuzzies, it is unlikely that he got nearly as much out of the meeting as most of the other attendees but he didn't seem to mind. If Jeff's new venture is half as successful as the industry that Monster helped spawn then this is yet another blow to the viability of newspapers.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 6, 2008 at 9:22 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

I recently completed watching Battle 360, a multi-part series on the History Channel about the famed World War II carrier, the U.S.S. Enterprise. Our primary contact at client Enterprise Rent-a-Car gave me the heads-up about the series and am I ever glad that she did. It was fabulous.

Enterprise Rent-a-Car was founded in 1957 by Enterprise by Jack Crawford Taylor, father of current CEO, Andy Taylor. Jack served as a fighter pilot on the U.S.S. Enterprise during World War II. The History Channel series did a very nice job of tying the men and women of Enterprise Rent-a-Car together with the proud legacy of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

For history buffs, Battle 360 was a fabulous trip back in time with plenty of computer generated graphics, historic film footage, and recent interviews of veterans. For those of us fortunate enough never to have been in such circumstances, the show was an important reminder of the incredible sacrifices made by an incredible generation. Over and over again you hear these men and women state that they weren't heroes; they were just doing their jobs. Well, they were heroes and because they did their jobs as well as anyone could ever hope we enjoy liberty.

The men and women of Enterprise Rent-a-Car give the world of college recruiting great gift after great gift. They are always there for us as sponsors, organizers, and more. They also gave the country a great gift by helping us to remember the U.S.S. Enterprise and its vital role in our history.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 5, 2008 at 3:07 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Many including me predicted that the U.S. economy was in a recession during the first quarter. Turns out that news of the economy's ill health was greatly exaggerated. The economy actually grew during the first quarter of 2008, albeit barely. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the country's economic growth from January through March was 0.6 percent. Hardly great, but definitely a lot better than many feared.

Not to toot our own horn, well, maybe a little, but our revenues were up during the first quarter of 2008. Our revenues increased by 22.4 percent in the first quarter in 2008 as compared to the same period a year earlier. That's off from the roughly 75 percent growth we saw from 2006 to 2007 but given the recession economy's only slight growth, we're feeling pretty good.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 1, 2008 at 4:23 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I recently accepted the Human Capital Institute's invitation to join their Expert Advisory Panel for Recruitment Advertising and Communications. The Human Capital Institute (HCI) is a global professional association and educator that is advancing the science of strategic talent management.

The panel meets on quarterly conference calls and collaborates through on-line technology to discuss trends, uncover leading-edge thinking and ideas, provide real examples and advice, guide HCI research and webcasts, and help push the industry forward in general by discussing what works and what doesn't. More specifically, Expert Advisors help HCI Community Leaders identify track topics for webcast and research development, identify leading speakers for webcasts, identify industry best practices and tools for the track, and help attract others interested in the track topics to help promote the track offerings. Expert Advisors also contribute to articles, research, webcasts and educational initiatives at HCI. Quotes from members of the panel may also occasionally be used in HCI content.

Other members of the Advisory Panel are:

• Matthew Adam, Vice President Talent Strategist at NAS Recruitment Communications;
  
• Joel Cheesman, President at HRSEO;
  
• Ryan Estis, Chief Talent Strategist at NAS;
  
• Jennifer Henley, Business Development of Business Development at NAS;
  
• Matt Lasecki, HR Director at University of Maryland Medical Center;
  
• Kristine Rhodes, Executive Director of Talent Strategy at NAS;
  
• John Stepien, Chairman and Chief Revenue Officer at NAS;
  
• Sandra Stratton, Assistant Manager of Talent Management at Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America; and
  
• Zach Thomas, Senior Analyst at Forrester Research.
  

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 1, 2008 at 4:00 PM | Leave a Comment (0)