I ran across TalentSpring some months ago and have been scratching my head ever since… Now, I understand the concept because TalentSpring smartly hired Common Craft to explain their product through videos In Plain English. Where I get lost is TalentSpring’s Secret Sauce “matching technology” and how it could provide employers quality candidates…

Secret Sauce?
TalentSpring’s secret sauce is a peer voting system which, in a sense, forces users to score peer resumes upon upload or change of their own resume.

The questions…
Why would job seekers sit around and rate their peers? What’s their motivation? And if they are rating resumes who says they have a good enough understanding of their specific industry to do so? Are they really qualified enough to rate me? Are users going to take the time to seriously review and vote on their peers? And finally…. Does a social scoring system really make sense here?

TalentSpring’s videos also talk about the real problems inherent in the online recruiting space, which makes me even more anxious to see if this social driven job matching system provides answers to them.

Personally, I like the social or peer matching concept although I’m still struggling with practicality or what I like to call the “WILL IT WORK?” factor…

Notable: I believe TalentSpring is the first “matching system” that didn’t compare themselves to eHarmony…

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Is anyone else sick of all the “job matching” companies positioning themselves as the “eHarmony for jobs“? I mean are there really only 29 dimensions of a person that can be categorized and matched or are we following the same carrot on the end of a different stick?

Seriously, if you need help mining resumes, finding talent, give Shally or Jim Stroud a call and stop trying to make a love connection with your openings…

Really, 29 dimensions? Geeesh!?!

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I am very happy to announce DirectEmployers and JobCentral’s newest partnership with Disaboom, the first online community for people living with or directly affected by disabilities or functional limitations.

After just one conversation with Disaboom leadership I was extremely impressed by their embodiment of the “LIVE FORWARD” slogan. They are providing exceptional stay healthy information, pertinent articles, jobs, classifieds and best of all they have created an inspiring online community for everyone touched by a disability.

From our friends at Disaboom:
“We are very pleased to have DirectEmployers as the flagship partner in our Career Center. Approximately 15 years after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the unemployment rate of people living with disabilities remains between 60% and 65%+. Disaboom’s Career Center and DirectEmployers’ disability channel will be excellent vehicles to provide employment opportunities, resources and services to our respective members and users,” stated John Walpuck, President and CFO of Disaboom.

John refers to “JobCentral’s disability channel” which will be one of many meaningful additions to the National Labor Exchange in 2008.

Stay Tuned….

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I’ve always enjoyed listening to the Rock band 3 Doors Down but only after seeing the video for their song “When I’m Gone” did I consider myself a fan. Why? Simple, the video and lyrics dedicated to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces evoked emotion and truly resonated within me.

THAT MY FRIENDS IS THE POWER OF VIDEO!

The song itself was good, but the marriage of the message and the video created more emotion than the lyrics by itself. Video can achieve this where mere text, job postings, job fairs, newspaper ads, or even cool employment branding taglines fail miserably.

Where does recruitment fit into this?
The Army National Guard has effectively used video in the past to recruit, but it looks as if they are taking this method to the next level by sponsoring one of the newest 3 Doors Down singles called Citizen Soldier, below. The video carries the Army National Guard watermark, in the lower right corner, and logo at the end of the video while co-promoting the 3 Doors Down album release in 2008. This type of recruitment brand co-advertising not only uses mainstream video, but combines powerful lyrics relevant to the Army National Guard recruitment message.

Are you kidding? Buy a band?
Why not? Select local talent to provide community flavor to your branding campaign. For years companies have purchased songs, lyrics, bands, athletes & movie stars through endorsements just to brand and sell their products and services. Why not use the same type of sales and/or motivating techniques to attract the people who actually create or offer those services for your company? If the talent is not in the seat, you have no product or service to sing about!

Chicken or Egg? Talent or Product? The answer seems pretty simple to me..

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It’s been a little over a week since we wrapped up the 2007 DirectEmployers Annual Meeting and I wanted to say…

THANK YOU!

I personally appreciate all of the member, special guest, staff, and speaker support in making DirectEmployers’ 2007 Annual Meeting an outstanding success. This event produced the best member participation, since it’s inception in 2001, coupled by incredible statistics and real world case studies provided by our speakers.

What to look forward to next year?

DirectEmployers Annual Meeting ‘08 will provide more of the same… Innovation and hard work all wrapped in industry intelligence, statsitics, and your case studies!

Thanks to our speakers:

Angel Dominguez, Merck, & Doug Berg, Jobs2Web, who shared SEO and hiring case study information during their “Supercharge Your Career Site” presentation.

Doug Ries, Arbita, who shared proprietary information about the job board market during his “Gambling on Job Boards?” presentation.

Brian Jensen, McGraw-Hill, & Paul Forster, Indeed, who shared personal experiences and hiring information revolving around Job Search Engine marketing during their “Flexible Cost-Effective Recruitment Marketing” presentation.

Kurt Ronn, HR Works, who helped our members better understand the ever-changing compliance landscape during his “Aggressive Compliance, Be Proactive, Be Compliant” presentation.

Joel Cheesman, Cheezhead, shared his thoughts on the impact of blogging on your recruitment during his “It’s raining cats and blogs” presentation.

Carmen Carter, MultiCultural Women’s Council, who shared her views on how our members can create a more diverse working environment during her “Do-It-Yourself Diversity” presentation.

Shally Steckerl, JobMachine, shared his sourcing vision and advanced search techniques during his “Super Sourcing” Presentation.

and last but not least…..

Thanks to Alexis Herman who captivated the entire audience with her experiences and knowledge of the U.S. Talent Market. Her superb insight and vision were a lesson to everyone in the room.

This year will be hard to beat…

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