KCRecruiting

The Why of Local Recruiting

The goal of my local recruiting initiatives is to help build strong communities of local recruiters who understand the online world and use it for their own profit.

That's right, I said profit.  For me, recruiters should only blog if it will bring them more money than getting on the phone and calling prospects.  I believe this is the case, and I also think a strong online community helps recruiters connect with like-minded people.

Many people in our industry are only in it for themselves, and they burrow down into little holes, hiding information from each other in the hopes of gaining advantage.  Over time, I think that leads to a decay of both the mind and the soul, and I'd like to prove that keeping your head up and helping others is the best way to improve your company and your pocketbook.  Think about joining us, will you?

We'll be Back November 1st.

Uses of Recruiting Blogs

The Recruiting Blogosphere is a collection of about 200 bloggers who write on the topics of online employment and staffing.

In that list are many friends, noted speakers, columnists, managers, and line recruiters.

Here are two examples of how some people are using Recruiting Blogs to find candidates and improve their online profile:

1) But Less About Me...This Staffing blog is written by an Aquent employee, Tim Donnelly, and he's been covering a Rich Media conference he attended.  Rich Media as in Flash developers, Web Designers, and of course, multimedia experts.

Tim has fun with his blog, and uses it primarily for brand promotion.  Notice the links to the Aquent Staffing Sites.  Good for SEO and exposure.

2) MN Headhunter:  Paul DeBettignies is an independent recruiter in Minneapolis, MN, which is why MNHeadhunter.com is such a great name for his site.  He's been profiled in local magazines, has a good sense of the blogging community in Minnesota, and has made 3 1/2 placements from his blog. 

His blog is his website, a hybrid of a traditional site and several Typepad Blogs (We built it) that he uses to update content on his business, jobs he has available, and jobs for non-profits (his volunteer work).

His Google Page Rank is a 5, and he has over 100 people a day reading him.  Not bad for a one man shop without a marketing budget.

Using RSS to Post Your Jobs

I had the excellent opportunity to speak with Doug Burris of Intronic Solutions yesterday.  Doug heads a Kansas City Roundtable, but is really excited about the entry of KCRecruiting.com into the Kansas City market.

As for me, I'm pretty excited that companies out there are smart enough to put their jobs into RSS feeds.  are you ready for this?  Intronic Solutions posts their jobs as RSS.  What this means is that contractors who use RSS readers (and technology contractors tend to be early adopters), now can take the job feed and stay abreast of current positions every day.

That's right.  Intronic Solutions gets first crack at technology consultants and passive job-seekers because job-seekers can subscribe to the feed.  While your recruiter is preparing a call list, or looking up e-mail addresses, the job-seeker is reading the freshest jobs available.

Why isn't every company doing this?

As a bonus, I want to check out Dataserv Solutions, which uses blogging software to power the News Section of their website.  It's easily maintained, has its own RSS feed, and helps the SEO of the DataservSolution.com site.

Again, why isn't every company doing this?

Recruiter Salaries On The Rise

Sometimes being a Recruiter ain't all that bad.  A recent survey described ERE's Inside Recruiting says pay for Recruiters is rising faster than that of other industries.

According to the Bullhorn Survey - recruiter pay has risen 10% in the last two years.  Now for the money paragraph

While salaries varied greatly among survey participants, the average expected salary of staffing and recruiting professionals for 2006 was $82,000, excluding bonuses, according to the nearly 500 staffing and recruiting professionals from various industries in the United States and Canada who participated in the survey.

There's been a lot of talk disparaging the Talent War lately, but it seems the recruites on the front line are starting to see some benefits.

Of course, being experienced recruiters, I don't want any of you marching into your director's office demanding a raise.  You might send him or her an anonymous e-mail, though.