Our new manager of e-learning, Paul Bell, and I are traveling today to San Diego for the ERE Expo 2009 recruiting conference. I've attended their excellent conferences before but this will be the first year that CollegeRecruiter.com will have a booth.

I'm really looking forward to the conference, for a number of reasons:

1. We're scheduled to get some snow starting this evening here in Minneapolis and I've had more than enough of this brutally long and cold winter. I moved here 20 years ago from Winnipeg for the weather. As odd as moving to Minneapolis for the weather sounds to most, those of us who have lived in Winnipeg and Minneapolis understand that as harsh as the winters can be in Minneapolis, they're much worse in Winnipeg.
2. There are a number of clients and potential clients who are attending the ERE conference so it will be a good chance to connect with them face-to-face. As great as email, instant messaging, phones, etc. can be, nothing substitutes for the ability to have an in-person conversation.
3. It will be a real treat to finally meet Paul. He and I first connected about a month ago and he just completed his second week with CollegeRecruiter.com. We've traded hundreds of emails and talked dozens of times, yet we've never really met.
4. Did I mention the weather?

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 30, 2009 at 11:21 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Before I got to know anyone at Monster, I couldn't stand the organization. They're an indirect competitor of ours but that wasn't it. It was the arrogance and the terrible stories that our clients would tell us about their condescending, sleazy, customer service. Then I met Neal Bruce at meetings of the International Association of Employment Web Sites and other recruiting conferences and I began to appreciate that not everyone who worked there was a scum bucket. In fact, most probably weren't. I actually found myself defending them and asking people to consider that Monster didn't deserve its bad reputation but got it from being Goliath in a world dominated by David-wannabees.

But today my attitude took a big u-turn. I was at the Minnesota Recruiters Unconference at the Best Buy world headquarters in Richfield, Minnesota. Josh Kahn, Paul DeBettignies, and I had the idea for this organization two years ago over two burritos and a bowl at Chipotle. Paul has by far been the driving force since then and thankfully so because he's done a masterful job. But all of Paul's great karma couldn't offset the disgusting performance of one of Monster's employees at the conference.

Monster was a sponsor and their money made it possible for the event to continue to be free so I had no problem with Paul giving them five to 10 minutes to pitch their wares to the 250 or so attendees. I heard no grumbling from anyone either so I suspect that the vast majority of the attendees agreed with me. But then the Red Bull drinking sales person got up and started lying. The worst was when she claimed, and I quote, "we invented digital recruiting." Really? Gee, I thought Monster was founded in 1994, about a decade after job postings became popular on Internet bulletin boards. I was shocked and exclaimed my shock slightly too loudly. The guy in front of me turned around and said, "They're so full of crap. This is exactly why we stopped buying anything from them years ago."

Monster: if you're so good, and I still think that you do a lot of good things from your clients, then why do you need to lie?

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 27, 2009 at 9:20 PM | Leave a Comment (1)

One of the knocks against microblogging site Twitter is that despite its 900 percent growth in traffic over the past year and millions of passionate users that it can't generate dime one in revenue. Recent events are lining up to prove those pundits correct about the incredible traffic growth but incorrect about Twitter's inability to generate revenue.

Want an example? ExecTweets launched a week ago and is already working with Twitter to compile posts (tweets) from business executives to make it easy to read what those executives are doing and thinking. Rather than signing up for a Twitter account and then manually searching out executives, following each one, and then receiving a steady stream of tweets with no prioritization or filtering other than by date and time of posting, ExecTweets allows you to sign up and follow every executive in a particular industry or just those that you care about. It has sorting tools, including voting options so the most popular tweets are the most prominent.

I was quite happy to hear that I am included as one of the executives that ExecTweets is following. The information that I post to Twitter will now receive added attention and that should be good for our ability to connect with our clients and other stakeholders. Is your organization fully satisfied with its connections to its clients and other stakeholders? Even if your leaders are using Twitter regularly, are they included in the list of executives on ExecTweets? If not, go to ExecTweets and recommend your leaders so that they'll receive the attention they deserve.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 26, 2009 at 8:09 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

We're in the process of launching a mobile version of CollegeRecruiter.com and, as part of that, I checked to make sure that we owned CollegeRecruiter.mobi, which is the mobile version of CollegeRecruiter.com. I was surprised when I saw that we had not reserved that domain name when the .mobi domains became available. I was even more surprised to find that someone else owned it.

I contacted the owner, Heather Taracka of Sky Valley Ltd., and explained the situation. I offered to reimburse her for all of her costs in registering and transferring the domain. Without hesitation, she agreed to transfer it to us as she could see that we were the rightful owner given that College Recruiter is a federally registered mark and that if she tried to hold onto CollegeRecruiter.mobi that she would likely be considered a cyber squatter.

Transferring domains isn't an easy task. The registrars make it difficult, partly because they don't want domains hijacked and partly, I believe, because they don't want to lose the business. But Heather's efforts prevailed and last night the transfer was completed.

Heather's company does web site development and hosting for small businesses. If you're looking for a decent person to work with in those areas, start with Heather.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 25, 2009 at 9:06 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I recently wrote a blog article praising Jamie Varon's TwitterShouldHireMe.com project as being a great example of a candidate who does much more than just post a resume and wait for the phone to ring. Jamie's blog was proof, day after day, that she was extremely well qualified for the job that she was targeting and wasn't just trying to get hired in order to get a paycheck. Certainly getting a paycheck is important and just, but her blog was proof that her interest in working for start-up Twitter was much more than just getting a paycheck from Twitter.

Earlier today, Heather Huhman of Examiner.com posted an article in which she took the opposite side and criticized the approach. Unlike some writers, Heather takes care to think through her positions and explain them. She and I may disagree on whether Jamie's strategy is more helpful than harmful to Jamie's career prospects, but Heather makes some excellent points:

1. Jamie's blogs about why she wants to Twitter pigeonholes herself. What if Twitter doesn't hire her? What if someday she leaves Twitter? Her blog will likely turn off other employers.
2. Heather feels that Jamie comes off desperate rather than enthusiastic and passionate.
3. The blog is stereotypical Generation Y in that it makes Jamie appear to have a sense of entitlement. Cover letters and resumes should be about the company, not the candidate.
4. Some of her posts are unprofessional, such as, "Hello. Hey. Hi. How's it going? So, you want to know a little bit about me? Well, my name is Jamie Varon. I'm currently shackin' up with my parents right now, since I am unemployed."
5. Heather feels that Jamie being controversial is therefore a risk too big for employers to swallow. I disagree. Twitter is a start-up. They understand risk. Traditional employers may shy away from candidates like Jamie but that's okay. Jamie isn't interested in working for them.
6. Heather also felt that other candidates should not attempt to emulate Jamie because her idea is no longer original. News flash: I wrote about Carolynn Duncan of Provo, Utah employing (pun intended) a similar strategy almost two years ago. The strategy is unusual but not unique.

Is Jamie doing everything the best possible way? Of course not. No one ever does. But has she succeeded in creating a powerful personal brand for herself? Yes. Has she taken a huge step toward her goal of working for Twitter by landing a coveted interview with them? Yes. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out. Will Twitter hire her? If so, what work will she do and for how long will she remain in their employ? When she inevitably leaves Twitter and tries to find work with another organization, will her very public desire to work for Twitter do her more harm than good?

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 24, 2009 at 7:32 AM | Leave a Comment (2)

On March 19, 2009 we hosted the free webinar, How to Interview College Students and Recent Grads to Hire Winners, by Mel Kleiman of Humetrics.

Mel Kleiman is a nationally recognized authority on recruiting, selecting and retaining the best hourly employees. A noted author, professional speaker and consultant, Kleiman's unique insight to employment practices has guided thousands of companies and their managers to successful employment decisions. With more than 30 years of research and consulting work to his credit, Kleiman is known for delivering high impact, practical information and solutions that can immediately spark results and business success. He has appeared on CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and a variety of leading trade and general business publications. Kleiman is the author of Hire Tough, Manage Easy, a step-by-step guide to finding and hiring the best hourly employee. He is also the author of 267 Hire Tough Proven Interview Questions and 180 Ways to Build a Magnetic Company. A dynamic and entertaining speaker, Kleiman's presentations are informative, educational, and motivational. Kleiman delivers more than 70 seminars and keynote presentations each year. Kleiman is a Certified Speaking Professional by the National Speakers Association and a long-standing member of the Society of Human Resources Management. Kleiman is the president of Humetrics, Inc. and managing partner of the Hire Tough Group. Humetrics is a leading provider of automated hiring solutions for the hourly worker, offering customized solutions to increase applicant flow and deliver quality, pre-screened candidates. The Hire Tough Group provides consulting, training and speeches focused on the recruitment, selection and retention of quality hourly employees.

In this presentation, Mel discussed how the people you hire today will determine the organization that you'll be tomorrow. There are proven systems you can use to increase the odds that your next hire will be your next superstar. Join us for a 60-minute webinar where you and your hiring managers will discover:

• The key questions to ask before the recruiting process begins
• How your culture can increase the flow of high-quality candidates
• Quick and effective ways to separate A-players from the duds
• Tough questions that get the critical information you need

To watch the webinar, hit the play button in the video box below:

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 23, 2009 at 4:28 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Why does such a high percentage of job seekers use job boards when you keep seeing stories that the vast majority of job openings go unadvertised and that only a small percentage of job seekers find jobs through job boards like CollegeRecruiter.com? Could it be that those stories are wrong?

"Job boards work," writes career expert Peter Weddle. "Not as a substitute for all of the other things you must do to find employment today, but as a critically important complement. Said another way, you ignore job boards at your own peril." How can Peter make such a claim? Unlike a lot of other pundits, he's actually done his research. WEDDLE's has been polling job seekers since 1996 on what strategies work best in a job search. Last year, almost 2,000 people responded to the poll. Here are the top five ways they found their last job:

• 35.4 percent applied to a job posting or posted their resume on a job board;
• 8.5 percent got a tip from a friend;
• 6.8 percent received a call from a headhunter;
• 6.6 percent replied to an ad in a newspaper; and
• 4.9 percent were referred by a friend who was an employee of the company.

There are 50,000 job boards in the U.S. and another 50,000 in other countries. No one should use more than a handful or two of job boards in their search so everyone needs help in greatly narrowing that list. I recommend to college students and recent graduates that they use CollegeRecruiter.com and perhaps one other college job board, two boards which focus on their geographic niche, two boards which focus on their occupational niche, and the three, big general boards of Monster, Careerbuilder, and HotJobs. You can find the niche boards by typing into Google your desired niche, such as jobs in Nevada or engineering jobs and then using the sites which come up high in the search results. Another way is to pick up a copy of Peter's 2009/10 Guide to Employment Sites on the Internet.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 23, 2009 at 6:32 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Joel Cheesman has again put his money where his mouth is. Joel is one of the greatest proponents of job boards, corporate employment sites, and other career-related sites adding mobile versions.

Joel and I definitely see eye-to-eye on this issue. If you want to see the future of the web, pull your cell phone out of your pocket or holster because it is right there. And the next time you do so, head over to Cheezhead.com as Joel's fantastic recruiting blog site is right there. Think of it is the wonderful future of the Internet right now on your phone and therefore in your hand. Or think of it is as another smart investment by Joel. Or think of the dwindling number of reasons for why your organization has yet to go mobile.

By the way, if you're struggling with how to go mobile, Joel's mjob.com can definitely help. He's taking job boards, corporate employment-sites, and likely some others from the computer to the mobile screen at very reasonable rates.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 21, 2009 at 3:07 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Employers are cutting the number of college students they will offer internship opportunities to by nearly 21 percent. Employers taking part in the National Association of Colleges and Employer's 2009 Experiential Education Survey cited budget cuts, decreased workloads, and company downsizing and restructuring as among the top reasons for bringing in 20.7 percent fewer interns this year than last year.

"The drop-off in internship opportunities mirrors what we're seeing in terms of full-time hiring for new college graduates," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.

In February, NACE released a report showing employers expected to cut new college graduate hires by nearly 22 percent compared to last year.

Despite the cutbacks in internship opportunities, the new NACE report includes some positive news, says Mackes.

"Most of the employers responding to our survey say they are committed to their internship programs and plan to continue with them," she says. "They report that they are reducing--not eliminating--their internship opportunities."

That commitment, says Mackes, is a reflection of the strategic importance of internship programs: For many organizations, the internship program is a key "feeder" for full-time hiring.

"Employers tell us that these programs are an effective means for identifying potential employees. Many organizations look first to their interns when they have full-time openings," says Mackes.

In fact, responding employers reported that more than one-third of the new college graduates they hired in 2008 came from their internship programs.

In addition, the report shows that salaries for interns at the undergraduate level will increase. Employers expect to offer their 2008-09 undergraduate interns an average hourly wage of $17.13, a 4.9 percent increase over the average $16.33 hourly wage earned by 2007-08 interns.

"Nearly all of the organizations that took part in our survey pay their interns, and the increase is perhaps another indication of the value employers see in these programs," says Mackes.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 20, 2009 at 10:51 AM | Leave a Comment (3)

One of my favorite tactics for college students hunting for internships or recent graduates searching for entry-level jobs is for them to create a blog or other type of web site about why a particular employer should hire them.

Many and perhaps most large organizations now have Google Alerts set up to email them whenever a new web page is posted that includes a reference to the organization, so if you're targeting a web savvy organization then your web site will quickly come to their attention and if what you've written on that site is compelling then you'll pretty much force them to hire you -- which is good for you and them.

Want an example? Jamie Varon is the poster child for this tactic. She wants to work for Twitter so created a site all about that. Rather than just talking about how great Twitter is and how much she wants to work for them, she explains in some detail why hiring him makes tremendous business sense for Twitter. The result? She scored an interview and I'll be shocked if she doesn't get hired.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 20, 2009 at 9:49 AM | Leave a Comment (2)

Our friends over at Graduate Degree Blog recently put together an excellent list of the 100 best web sites for job seekers.

Some of the sites recommended should be of no surprise. Those included LinkedIn, Twitter, Indeed, SimplyHired, Careerbuilder, and Monster. Some of the sites listed aren't as well known. Those include NetParty, Ryze, and Peekface. And some were just plain nice for me to see. Those included CollegeRecruiter.com.

Thanks, Graduate Degree Blog!

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 19, 2009 at 5:28 PM | Leave a Comment (1)

Seniors who have a job offer lined up, use the break to thank everyone who helped you. If your prospective employer gave you a book list or other tips on how to prepare, start tackling that.
Seniors who don't yet have an offer, you still have three months before graduation, plenty of time to execute a proactive search. Spend the break identifying your preferred industries, companies, and functional areas so you can hit the ground running when you're back at school.

Juniors, you still have three months to land a summer internship, and this is a critical internship. Your competitiveness in senior year recruiting is very dependent on how strong this junior summer internship is. So take the same care of seniors looking for full-time. Spend the break identifying your target areas and be prepared to launch an aggressive search when you get back to school.

Freshman and sophomores, many (but definitely not all) internships are exclusive to juniors. You will need to be more creative and find companies that are open to underclassmen or who might have less ability to attract the juniors (perhaps smaller companies as opposed to brand names). If you intend on doing your internship at home rather than at school, the break is a perfect time to scout out companies that may have summer needs. You can be the first to inquire. If you will work where you go to school, then at least identify these companies by name so you can start calling on them after break.

All class levels should also plan for logistics such as where they will live and what financial resources their parents will provide. For interns whose home geography is dramatically different from their school geography, this could mean a dramatic difference in the choices available. If the support isn't what you planned, you can start planning for alternatives. For seniors, you can start budgeting and may decide to save your holiday cash gifts, depending on prospects for after you graduate.

-- By Caroline Ceniza-Levine, co-founder of SixFigureStart, a career coaching firm that specializes in working with Gen Y young professionals. Formerly in corporate HR and retained search, Caroline most recently headed campus recruiting for Time Inc and has also recruited for Accenture, Citibank, Disney ABC, and others.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 18, 2009 at 12:24 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

It appears from some conversations occurring on a college recruiting discussion list to which I subscribe that about 40 percent of college seniors have not yet begun to search for a job to go to upon graduation. That's a very similar percentage to what we saw last year, but the world has clearly changed since last year.

Why is the Class of 2009 choosing to behave like the Class of 2008? I haven't seen any surveys explaining the motivations for the late start by those who graduated this year versus the motivations for those graduating this year, but I suspect their motivations are quite different. Last year's job market was pretty strong, so many students graduating then knew they could wait and did. This year's job market is terribly weak, so many students graduating this year are paralyzed or so pessimistic about their employment opportunities that they've given up before they've even started.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 17, 2009 at 12:54 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

There is no way to ensure that you are hired by any employer or even hired at all, but there are many steps that you can take to maximize your chances:

1. Calculate how long it will take you to do everything you need to do in order to land a job and then count backwards from the time you need that job. Chances are that you'll discover that you need to start that process now and can't put it off for any longer.
2. Focus on one industry, one job, one geographic area, and a handful or two of employers. Hunt with a rifle, not a shotgun.
3. Act like your job search is a job. Don't work part-time or occasionally. Be full-time and regular. Understand that it is productivity that matters, not effort or hours.
4. Enlist the help of your professors or advisors. They know you better than anyone else who can help you connect with employers who are hiring students from your school.
5. Enlist the help of your parents and network. You'll be surprised how many people they know and how many people those people know. You have a network of hundreds of well connected people if these people help you.
6. Make an appointment with a career counselor in your career service office and come to that meeting well prepared with your resume and career objectives. Then listen to them and do what they recommend.
7. Use the job boards and then go away. Use your school's job board, which is probably available through its career service office web site, one or two college job boards like CollegeRecruiter.com, a couple of niche boards which focus on your industry, a couple of niche boards which focus on your geographic area, and a couple of general job boards. Post your resume to them, apply to the jobs which are advertised for which you are qualified and in which you are interested, and set up alerts/agents. Then go away and don't come back unless you receive one of those alerts and the position looks like a good fit. Far too many candidates spend far too much time hiding behind their computer screens.
8. Be prepared for an interview in case you land one tomorrow. If you don't land one, no harm. If you do, you'll nail it.
9. Be organized. Keep track of jobs to which you have applied and folllow-up with those employers. Use your network including Facebook, LinkedIn, parents, friends, and other contacts. Make sure that everyone knows your competencies, interests, and values and that you find ways to help them further their goals. If you do, they'll find ways to help you further yours.
10. Be optimistic. Employers and anyone else who is buying smell pessimism from a mile away. Don't be cocky or arrogant as that turns people off as well, but if you don't believe in yourself then why should they believe in you?

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 13, 2009 at 2:03 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Jeff Horwich of Minnesota Public Radio led a roundtable discussion with a group of 10 college seniors to better understand their thoughts on what it is like to graduate into the worst job market since the Great Depression. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the discussion when the show was recorded yesterday evening.

Almost all of the students were pessimistic about their job opportunities but apparently their views were not representative of the views of many other students at campuses from around the state. Want to learn more? You'll need to listen to the show.

The edited version will be broadcast tomorrow at noon Central on Midday with Gary Eichten. For those outside of the MPR listening area, listen on-line.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 12, 2009 at 4:05 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

John Buettner of Stevenson University, was quoted in an Examiner.com article about how college seniors can land a job in a down economy. John provided 10 great tips for the article. I've taken those tips and adapted some of them to better suit the needs of the students and recent graduates who use CollegeRecruiter.com to help them find a great internship or entry-level job:

1. Get real - If you have not yet done so, think about how much time you need to secure a job upon graduation and make sure you get your job hunt under way before then. If you have not yet started, you're already starting too late. But you can catch-up by following these steps.

2. Identify your targets - Focus on one industry, occupational job, and geographical area. Don't get distracted by looking at too many options.

3. Focus - Your daily schedule must include a serious job search arrangement. Be organized. Find a job search partner so you can hold each other accountable.
   
   
4. Meet with your advisor or faculty member - Meet with your campus advisor or a faculty member who knows you and talk with them about your career interests. They will help you identify possible employers, business contacts, and give you guidance on your job or industry interest.

5. Talk to your parents and network - Have the same type of conversation with your parents. They will be more likely to provide you with good advice and help. Keeping them informed about your progress shows your appreciation.

6. Connect with your Career Services Office - Make an appointment with a career services office staff member at your school. They will help you refine your resume or cover letter, prepare you for interviews, point to job postings, and all the job fairs in town and more.
   
   
7. Use the job boards - Most schools have a job posting service through the career service office web site. Use those as they as they contain postings from employers who want to hire students like you from your school. Many of the services also offer additional features like interview simulations. Also use the college job boards like CollegeRecruiter.com, a couple of niche boards which focus on your industry, a couple of niche boards which focus on your desired geographic location, and a couple of the general boards.
   
   
8. Be prepared - If you were to be called today for an interview tomorrow, would you be all ready? If not, get ready now so that you're prepared.

9. Manage your job search - Be organized using a system, whether it is an on-line tool or something off-line like a well organized notepad. Use your network, including Facebook friends, LinkedIn connections, parents, friends, and other contacts.

10. Check-up from the neck up - Have a positive attitude. Hundreds of thousands of graduates are entering the labor market this spring and thousands are looking for positions similar to what you are. You'll likely face dozens and perhaps even hundreds of competitors for each position you apply to. You'll win out if you are more persistent and positive than they are.
    

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 12, 2009 at 8:10 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

Other than Ben Stein, is there an economist in the world who is smart, witty, and in movies such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off? So you know that when he talks, you need to listen. And when he writes, you need to read.

Ben just wrote a great article in which he gave three great tips to college seniors who are approaching graduation in a very, very difficult job market:

1. Learn a Genuinely Useful Skill - Learn practical skills that will generate income so you can find a position in fields such as healthcare, accounting, engineering, and any kind of work connected to the criminal justice system.
2. Learn who is hiring - Right now, most of the job openings are in healthcare, education in urban and extremely rural schools, and above all, government. Then tailor your education and your skills to where the hiring is.
3. Be the best at what you do - Even in the depths of the Great Depression, there was a shortage of top flight people in almost every field.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 11, 2009 at 2:45 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Our sales team had a great strategic planning meeting earlier today with our management consultant, Keith Thorndyke of Remergenz Management. We've done this a couple of times now but the every time we all walk away feeling enlightened and invigorated.

Keith has a gift for listening well and encouraging every participant to, well, participate. Most meetings with half a dozen or more people tend to be dominated by extroverts but Keith's meetings are always well balanced. Every member of the team gives ideas and feedback in a positive environment. What is really awesome is how easy Keith makes it all seem. That's the mark of a real star: when they make the work they do look simple.

Our meeting started off with an update from each of us about issues and concerns that they wanted to bring to the attention of the group, get help on, advice, whatever. We then went into Keith's portion where we each envisioned where we'd like to be six months from now and then broke those goals down into more detailed and prioritized tasks so we could clearly see what needed to happen and when in order to reach those goals.

We've done some great stuff together. What is even more exciting from my perspective is that we've got even greater stuff coming. And Keith's help has been instrumental in helping us navigate our way from an organization with serious impediments to its growth to an organization that is well equipped to both weather this recession and emerge from it both strong and vibrant.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 10, 2009 at 5:45 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

One of the greatest thought leaders in the recruitment space is Shally Steckerl of JobMachine. Shally recently wrote a great article about why recruiters need to be using cell phone text messaging and other types of mobile marketing to connect with the best candidates. His article helps to dispel some of the myths surrounding mobile marketing but what I loved most about it was this great top 10 list:

1. Your prospects use the web on their mobile phones privately while waiting in line, going to lunch, taking a coffee break, where their employers can't watch them!
2. Mobile phones are portable, well-connected, relatively inexpensive computers providing the primary or sole Internet connection to a majority of the people across the world.
3. You'll be left behind if you don't go mobile. PEW Internet states the mobile device will be the primary connection tool to the internet for most people in the world in 2020.
4. By 2020 work and play will be seemles. Well-connected knowledge workers will eliminate the industrial-age boundaries between work and personal time.
5. Nielsen Mobile reports that...
   1. Text messaging (sending & receiving) is up 450%, in the past two years. In the USA, 262 million subscribers send over 75 billion text messages a month.
   2. Mobile Internet extends audience reach of leading sites by average of 13% over PC traffic alone.
   3. 87 million U.S. mobile users subscribe to mobile Internet services, more than 1 in 10 (13.7%) actively uses mobile Internet each month.
6. IT Facts says that there will likely be 100 million mobile VoIP (voice over IP) users by 2011.
7. Mobile more ubiquitous than the PC. GSM World and the CTIA confirm there are 4 billion mobile phone subscriptions on the planet, vs. just 1 billion PC owners.
   1. 53% of US cell phone subscriber base (or 138 million people) use text messaging.
   2. If you are reading this on your mobile, so are your candidates! More than 76% of consumers aged 18-24 communicate via this medium.
   3. The bag is open, the cats are everywhere! Mobile subscribers now represent 60% of the world's population and quickly growing.
   4. Today's teens text more than they talk. Those teens are tomorrow's interns and salespeople and managers and CEO's.
8. Highly relevant content snacks get passed around, this is viral marketing at its best!
   1. The average response rate to a mobile call to action is 12%, versus 2% for traditional media.
   2. Open rates for messages are three times that of email (over 90% of text messages are read by the recipient).
   3. Click through rates can be up to 25 times higher than email, and the average time to open a mobile marketing message is 30 minutes while email's average is 24 hours.
   4. Most forms of advertising will decline in... but not Mobile! JackMyers.com reports traditional media will go down 15% in 2009 but mobile up 15% + another 30% by 2010.
   5. Mobile rich media advertising to near $2.8 Billion by 2012. Where there's money there's candidates!
9. 12% of US households have abandoned fixed landlines and moved to mobile phones only.
10. Google is now reporting that it is seeing a rapid increase in mobile Internet search and usage.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 6, 2009 at 7:46 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

One of the best bloggers to emerge over the past year or two is Willy Franzen of One Day, One Job. Last June he posted a blog article that listed the 10 blogs which, in his opinion, are the best written by college career service office professionals.

Like Willy, we here at CollegeRecruiter.com want to see more blogs written by those in career services because we know that they have tremendous wisdom to share with their students but also with students, recent graduates, and alumni from all schools. In an effort to make it easier to follow what is being written about at all of the career service office blogs, staff writer William Frierson compiled and recently updated our blog of blogs: the CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Career Services Experts Blog.

Is your school's blog on our list? If not, let William know. We'll be happy to add them right away!

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 5, 2009 at 4:27 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Employers expect to hire 22 percent fewer new grads from the college Class of 2009 than they actually hired from the Class of 2008. The new projections in the National Association of Colleges and Employer's Job Outlook 2009 Spring Update override those employers made back in the fall, when hiring projections looked flat.

"Earlier, employers indicated that they expected to keep their new college graduate hiring levels even with last year," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director. "Our current survey shows that college hiring is as affected by the economy as other types of hiring."

Not surprisingly, the anticipated drop off in hiring was prompted by the deteriorating economic situation. "More than two-thirds of employers said the economic situation forced them to reevaluate their college hiring plans, and nearly all of those said they have decreased their planned number of hires," says Mackes.

In the immediate future, the projected drop means a sharp decline in employer activity on campus this spring, with 66 percent of employers responding to the survey reporting plans to lower or eliminate spring hiring.

NACE's study also ends a string of positive hiring reports for new college graduates dating back to 2004. Students graduating in the early part of the millennium experienced significant drops at the hands of the dot.com bust and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Hiring fell off 36 percent for the Class of 2002 but steadied for the Class of 2003 before rebounding in 2004.

Nor do employers appear to be especially optimistic about the near future. More than 46 percent said they are unsure about their hiring plans for fall 2009, and 17 percent are already reporting that they expect to trim further their college hiring.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 4, 2009 at 8:10 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

One of the greatest attributes that Gen Y'ers bring to the workplace is their enthusiasm. This generation is savvy enough to know that when they're looking for a job that they should look not just for jobs which match up with their competencies but also their values and interests. So when they come into your workplace, Gen Y'ers as likely as Baby Boomers to be good at their jobs (competency) but Gen Y'ers are more likely than Baby Boomers to value their work and be interested in it. So it shouldn't be any surprise that they're more enthusiastic about the accomplishments of themselves and their team members. And they shouldn't be criticized for that enthusiasm by their older co-workers, even when those co-workers are NHL hockey legends such as Don Cherry.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 3, 2009 at 11:11 AM | Leave a Comment (0)