LAST DAY TO SIGN UP FOR THE LONDON CONFERENCE

To support your industry simply visit www.rec-con.co.uk/conference to book your places.

10% discount for RCEURO members for individual bookings or book one place at £110.00 and receive 50% discount on a second place.

IT and Technology – Are you ready for the recruitment revolution?

Supported by RCEURO, this conference will answer the industry’s concerns about disintermediation, the rise of social media recruitment and what we can do regarding the growth of client-owned databases.

London March 11 2010 – Strand Palace Hotel

Manchester April 7 2010 – Hilton Deansgate Hotel

Speakers to discuss these hot topics are;

Felix Wetzel – Marketing Director, Jobsite

Alan Whitford – Owner, Abtech Partnership and co-founder RCEuro

Raymond Pennie – Commercial Director, Kamanchi, recruitment IT services

REGISTRATION
As a member of RCEURO you are entitled to a 50% discount when booking a
second conference place.

To take advantage of your membership and support your industry
simply visit www.rec-con.co.uk/conference to book your places.

Registration fee £110.00 per delegate.

10% discount for RCEURO members for individual bookings or book one
place at £110.00 and receive 50% discount on a second place.

For further information, venue updates and booking please visit
www.rec-con.co.uk/conference, call Gary King on 0845 094 8022 or by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it


BE READY BY BEING THERE!

At the end of last month, Jobsite were the Platinum Sponsor of TRULondon 2, an unconference in London for the recruitment industry. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it of Jobsite presents her opinions of the day, along with some links to other views of the event. Cherys' post first appeard on the Jobsite Insider pages, and is published here with her permission.

If an unconference means nothing to you then you’re not alone. It was certainly my first experience of one. Basically, as the name suggests, an unconference goes against all the usual conference rules. This means no speakers, no presentations, no pitches, no sales materials etc. Instead, you have ‘tracks’ run by 3 or 4 track leaders. These tracks covered some of the most interesting topics at the heart of the recruitment industry today. Examples included: social media circus, job board 2020, employer branding vs. employee branding, talent wars and technology shopping list.

The track leader’s job is to kick-start discussion and debate within the group and try to moderate so that everyone gets their say (sometimes easier said than done!)

The brains behind TRULondon; Bill Boorman, told me to expect organised chaos and he wasn’t lying! The tracks I attended were really interesting and their interactive nature left me feeling like I had gained more from them than having someone talk at you for an hour, like you often do at standard conferences. The debate sometimes got heated, but that just added to the fun!

Having so many like-minded people in one place provided fantastic learning opportunities, meaning that the break-times were just as beneficial as attending tracks. However, I think a valuable lesson was learned when the food was very late arriving on day 1 – recruiters don’t like to be hungry!

As part of our sponsorship, we were able to pick the brains of those attending and get invaluable feedback on the BETA version of a new CV search we’re launching soon. On Day 2 we sought suggestions for improvements we could make to our Jobs-by-Twitter service, so expect to see some updates to that in the near future.

We were also able to take some of the TRU London guests to a Pompey match on the Saturday, which became nicknamed TRU Pompey! For the American visitors in particular, this was a fantastic experience. Take a look at Steve Boese’s blog for a fantastic comparison between football and recruitment.

That’s one of the other great things about TRU London, because the majority of attendees are huge social media fans it means the event lives on through people’s blogs, tweets etc once the two days are over. It also means that those who couldn’t attend still get to be part of it and can catch up on the main outtakes, arguments, discussions, learnings etc.

If you want to get a better flavour take a look at:

The Twitter stream on TRU London

Matt Alder’s blog – takes you through the very good, the slightly bad and the tiny bit ugly

Peter Gold’s blog – looks at whether there was an ROI

Jon Ingham’s blog – a wrap up of a couple of sessions including Culture Clash, Employer vs. Employee Branding and HR Leadership

Michelle Fischer’s blog – focuses on the debate surrounding social media in recruitment

Mervyn Dinnen’s blog – sharing his thoughts on the Gen Y track

HR Zone – Charlie Duff, Editor of HR Zone, looks at the flaws in the Gen Y argument and argues why there is a need to communicate with various generations of workers differently

Andy Headworth’s blog – video post of Jim Stroud discussing where social media will be in recruitment in 2 years time

Michael Carty’s blog – looking at how TRU London was borne out of social media and the impact these same tools will have on the recruitment industry

Wendy Jacobs’s blog – summary of the unconference and post on TRU Source, TRU London’s little sister which was held the day before

Tristan Greaves’ blog – our very own ‘Head Geek’ talks you through his experiences of TRU London

Mike Taylor’s video – showcasing his TRU Pompey trip to the Pompey vs. Stoke match complete with fantastic rock soundtrack!

RCEuro provides a destination for visitors and members alike to share knowledge, information and experiences about trends, best practices, events and technology developments in recruitment and human reources across Europe and around the world. Use our multi-lingual translation feature to explore and enjoy content in your language of choice. Registration is free.

Explore the site at your leisure. An explanation of the various site features can be found in the About Us section, Exploring the Site.

What's on Today?

The Lead Article today:

Jobsite releases jobseekr behaviour research

TruLondon wrap up of day one

Latest RCEuro Blog Post(s):

Saleem Qureshi: Candidate-quality and placement rates

Simon Lewis: Who cares what candidates think?

Margo Rose: Compassionate HR

External Blogs: Today's selection includes feeds from:
Louise Triance of UKRecruiter
Elite Leaders programme

Bill Boorman's blog, Norton Folgate -The Recruiting Unblog
TruLondon Track schedule

Gordon Lokenberg: Social Media Circus, TruLondon

Paul Harrsion, Carve Consulting
Social Media in Recruitment

Matt Alder, Recruiting Futurology
The Job Cloud

Online Radio
The latest recordings from the past week of online radio shows on recruitment around the world can be accessed from Audio Video player on the home page below, or the archived shows can be accessed by visiting the Audio Video main menu.

Video
Video shows on recruitment around the world can be accessed from the home page Audio Video player below, or the archived shows can be accessed from the Audio Video main menu. The latest episodes from Bill Boorman and Alan Whitford, broadcasting to Austraila, UK/Europe and the USA.

Event Updates
Industry events can be viewed from the calendar on the right or by visiting the events section
Check out the latest listings for TruLondon, Madgex, Enhance Media, Mike Taylor and more

Around Europe
Featured article in Trends, in Dutch and English, from the Netherlands on Social Media use in recruitment

Rotterdam – Brussels, 26th of January 2010

A comprehensive White Paper has been releaed this week by Intelligence Group and The Network using analysis from The World’s Largest Candidate Behaviour Research to underpin an imminent recruitment rally on the international labour market. The White Paper, based on the Global Talent Mobility Research, which included 66,019 respondents from over 40 different countries around the world, discusses major trends affecting the global labour market and provides recommendations to firms with global recruitment strategies on how to win the rally.

Globalisation of local labour markets
Labor markets are globalising at a high pace. This is a result from both the fact that job boards have became smarter and developments in social media and search engines. This provides international candidates with a very wide mix of channels to find their job in the global labour market. In addition, general trends are seen as well which affect the globalness of labour markets. For instance the increased number of Generation Y candidates on total workforce, has resulted in a more positive attitude towards international mobility. A second trend shows that the better the economic situation in a country in terms of GDP growth, the higher the propensity that their residents will consider working abroad. This means that, with the prospected improvement of economies in 2010 an even wider part of the world’s workforce will have positive opinions towards international labour market mobility.

Get ready for the international recruitment rally
The paper discusses these and other major trends and their impact on the global labour market. In addition, five key aspects are highlighted that hiring firms must keep in mind in order to win the rally and be successful on the global labour market. One of these aspects concerns the importance of knowing your target group. The more specifically the target group is defined, the more effective communication with them will be. Knowledge of a particular target group influences the information communicated and the best channel to use. Other trends affecting labor markets and the remaining four things firms should keep in mind are presented in the paper.

"Get ready for the international recruitment rally" by dowloading the full report from the Intellience Group or from The Network or by sending an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

About The Network
StepStone, totaljobs.com and jobs.ch created The Network in October 2002 to provide international recruiters with unrivalled access to online recruitment services through a network of leading local sites. The Network covers more than 100 countries and has a combined traffic of more than 47,000,000 unique visitors (Comscore, May '09). Recruiters can benefit from Network services through a single point of contact.

About Intelligence Group
Intelligence Group is a Dutch research- and consultancy agency with regard to recruitment marketing and recruitment. On the basis of innovative research methods, recruitment problems are analysed and solved. This can range from research reports and consultancy to all-encompassing solutions to recruitment, recruitment marketing and Employer Branding problems on both national and international level. Intelligence Group is a trendsetting partner of nearly all important employers and recruitment-related parties in The Netherlands and beyond the borders.

Jobsite has released preliminary findings from its Online Recruitment Quarterly Market Tracker. Insights from about 500 consumers and 200 recruiters are gathered each quarter.

As a major sponsor of TruLondon II this week, Jobsite's Felix Wetzel will be available to discuss the findings in more detail.

Some of the key findings from the Snapshot:

The split between active and passive jobseekers is about 50/50, with active defined as those who are likely or very likely to switch jobs within the next 12 months.

43% of job seekers only use 1 job board but the number of people using 5 or more has increased since the last research in Nov 09, with 25% registered on 5 boards and 24% registered on 3-5 job boards.

Surprisingly, only 2/3 of those registered on job boards state that browsing for job offers is their main reason for being there and just less than half are storing their CV on the job board database.

The number of people using online job boards to get career advice and research different industries or companies is increasing, while those signing up for job alerts is decreasing.

The number of people getting an interview from applying for a job online is down slightly year on year (75% in Nov 08 to 71% Nov 09) but the number then going on to get the job has increased (73% in Nov 08 to 77% in Nov 09)

What about the employers?
Recruiting via ads in newspapers and trade publications has increased between the last two waves of research (Sept-Nov 09) to 58% in total.

Use of recruitment agencies is consistently held at 27%. Surprisingly, online job boards and personal networks are listed at about the same level as a recruitment method as agencies.

Social media channels are still one of the least used options for recruiting, with the same number of employers using job fairs as use social media channels.

The Business Climate
Almost 50% more small businesses (employing under 49 people) were looking to fill vacancies in Nov 09 than Sept 09

The level of recruiting in large organisations has remained pretty consistent throughout Aug 08-Nov 09 with the exception of a noticeable dip in Feb 09 – perhaps an indication of when the economic climate really hit home

Businesses who see online recruitment as the most cost effective option is at it’s highest level, although only 45% of respondents have that attitude.

As an indicator of how far we still have to go, only 25% 'couldn't imagine recruitment without the internet', slightly lower than in August 2008.

The full research will be available from jobsite after 15 March.

The REC monthly employer tracking survey, released today, shows positve news for Q4 2009, leading to hopes for a positve growth for the industry in 2010.

Highlights from the REC Confidence Barometer and Monthly Employer Tracking Survey, released in January 2010

• Employers gave the recruitment industry a strongly positive verdict for Q4 2009
• 91% were satisfied with the service they received from employment agencies
• The REC Confidence Barometer lifted a further point in December
• Employers remain committed to growing their permanent workforce in 2009
• Redundancies increased in December, although claimant numbers and the rate of increase in unemployment declined in the previous quarter
• Every employer surveyed thought the economy had an impact on their workforce

Employers' attitudes towards workforce changes in 2010

• 20% of employers plan to reduce temporary workers in 2010
• 20% of employers expect to add permanent staff in 2010

Skills and capabilities urgently needed in 2010 for Permanent Staff

• Communication and interpersonal skills
• Job related tools and equipment
• Business understanding
• New technology

About JobsOutlook
Jobs Outlook is based on a monthly survey of employers undertaken by independent market research agency Market Shape on behalf of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Analysis and commentary is provided by the Cordoba Group a consultancy specialising in HR, Recruitment and organisation management.

Results are based on a sample of 200 employers each month and presented on a three month rolling basis (600 responses), The survey is structured to reflect representation across all sectors and size of organisation that use agencies to meet their temporary, contract and permanent staffing needs.

This time of year is always one for reflection. It's doubly so now, as not only are we coming to the end of one year and beginning of another, we are also on the brink of a new decade.

The good news for our readers: we are not going to get into the prediction game, which has been practised by soothsayers and sages for centuries - generally all with the same degree of accuracy. Remember the Millenium Bug and how the world technology infrastructure was going to crash the first minute of the year 2000?

Yet, as RCEURO comes to the close of its first full year, with all the trials and tribulations of a media and community start up in the midst of one of the worst economic times for decades, we will put down a few of our thoughts, hopes and questions for our members and visitors.

To start with, what happened to the 'Noughties' decade? It whizzed by like a Dr. Who challenge with the TimeLords.

We are really excited and curious to know what will happen in the next decade.

What types of technology advances will we see and use? What will be the next iPhone or Twitter?

Will medical science make the breakthroughs we all hope for?

What kind of music will we be listening to (and how?)

Can (put in your country of choice) win the World Cup in South Africa?


For our industry, we hope that companies begin to invest in their 'most important asset' - employees; unemployment numbers go down; and that job seekers, intermediaries and employers alike meet and communicate on common ground, with each party getting what they hope for.

As we move into 2010, we pledge to meet more of you, on and off line. RCEURO will continue to evolve to meet your needs and interests.

We wish for you joy, good health and a wealth of happiness.

Happy New Year!!

Online Recruitment Activity Stays Level in December, Reports Monster Employment Index Europe

The Monster Employment Index Europe is a monthly analysis of millions of online job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of corporate career sites and job boards across the European Union, including Monster individual country sites. Highlights of activity in Europe, the UK, the Netherlands, France and Germany follow. The full reports for all countries covered individually can be accessed from the main Monster Employment Index site.

December 2009 Europe Index Highlights:

• The Monster Employment Index Europe was unchanged in December, with offerings down 24 percent year-on-year, a much slower rate of contraction than reported in November
• The UK saw the biggest jump in online worker demand in December, extending its growth trend to a third consecutive month, whilst the Netherlands and Sweden also noted a mild uptick in worker demand

Summary Overview
Online recruitment activity held steady at the end of 2009, as businesses maintained their recruitment levels during the busy holiday season. Despite the flat reading, the Index noted three percent growth over the last quarter of 2009. In addition, the annual rate of decline slowed in December; offerings were down 24 percent compared to year earlier figures, a more modest rate than seen in November. These factors combined suggest that the Index has reached a bottom, providing a positive sign for job seekers as we head into 2010.

December saw significantly increased demand for workers in the legal sector. Service and sales workers noted the largest monthly gain among occupational groups, largely due to seasonal recruitment trends during the Christmas period.

UK Online Recruitment December Ends the Year on a High

December 2009 UK Online Index Highlights:

• The Monster Employment Index UK rose by four points (three percent), ending the year at a twelve-month high
• HR, manufacturing, legal and finance all reported increased opportunities in December, while demand for technically skilled workers in architecture, construction and engineering remained muted
• Wales saw the best upturn in job demand, with Scotland and London also seeing improvements

Summary Overview
Online recruitment opportunities in the UK rose four points (three percent) in December, ending the year at a level unseen over the prior 11 months. Year on year the Index was down 15 percent, the smallest since December 2008 and well below the overall EU level, suggesting the UK labour market is emerging somewhat ahead of its continental counterpart.

Among occupational groups, opportunities have risen the most for clerical support workers, many of whom are employed in temporary positions, suggesting the worst of the corporate freeze is over.

Netherlands Online Recruitment Activity Increases Slightly in December

December 2009 Netherlands Index Highlights:

• The Monster Employment Index Netherlands climbed two points (two percent) in December following a slight decline in November, as opportunities remained low
• Research and development opportunities increased for the third consecutive month and rocketed in December, whilst legal offerings also rose
• All regions noted increased offerings on a monthly basis, but continued to report fewer opportunities year-on-year

Summary Overview
The Index rose three percent over the final quarter of 2009, the first quarterly rise since the first quarter of 2008, suggesting that the Dutch labour market may have reached a bottom and is beginning to stabilise. Furthermore, whilst offerings are down 39 percent compared to December 2008, the annual rate of contraction has slowed significantly, and is now at its lowest rate since January 2008.

France Online Job Opportunities Dip Slightly Due to Seasonal Recruitment Trends

December 2009 France Index Highlights

• The Monster Employment Index France dipped two points (two percent) in December, marking a second consecutive monthly drop; year-on-year the Index was down 17 points (13 percent)
• Opportunities in the legal sector continued to soar at the end of the fourth quarter, while hiring for healthcare and social workers accelerated further
• Ile de France was the only region to report sustained gains in December

Summary Overview
The slight dip in online job opportunities during the final month of 2009 was largely due to seasonal factors, as organisations slowed down their recruitment activity leading up to the busy Christmas and New Year period. Whilst the Index dipped in December, overall online worker demand increased 13 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009. This suggests businesses are preparing for recovery as we head into 2010.

Online Job Demand Across Germany Remains Steady in December

December 2009 Germany Index Highlights:

• The Monster Employment Index Germany showed no overall change in December as online recruitment activity remained largely unchanged at the end of 2009. On an annual basis, the Index was down 26 percent
• Job availability in the HR sector rose for the fourth time in five months, reflecting a bounce back in demand for those involved in workforce planning and training
• Hessen led all regions on the month while Mecklenburg-Vorpommern saw the most moderate fall year-on-year

Summary Overview
Although the level of online worker demand across Germany remained at a low level in December, the annual decline was its smallest for six months, falling just 26 percent suggesting the longer term trend is improving. Despite positive annual growth in the
education, healthcare and finance sectors, steep yearly declines in engineering, manufacturing and transport and logistics counterbalanced these positives.

Rotterdam, 3 december 2009

Rotterdam, 3 december 2009 - Social media spelen een steeds grotere rol in het oriënteren op een baan of werkgever. Ruim een zesde van de beroepsbevolking bekijkt een werkgever eerst op LinkedIn of Hyves alvorens te solliciteren. Een kwart van de kandidaten die op gesprek gaan wint bovendien informatie in over de recruiter of P&O-er waar ze mee gaan spreken. Social media ontwikkelen zich meer en meer als een plaats waar werkgevers zich kunnen presenteren. Dit blijkt uit het Arbeidsmarkt GedragsOnderzoek (AGO) van Intelligence Group.

Intelligence Group ondervroeg, ter voorbereiding op een uitgebreid onderzoek naar social media dat binnenkort van start gaat, 552 personen naar hun oriëntatiegedrag. Uit de cijfers blijkt dat Google en het eigen netwerk nog altijd de belangrijkste bronnen van informatie zijn indien men overweegt om bij een organisatie te solliciteren. Toch moet de impact van social media niet onderschat worden. Van de totale beroepsbevolking kijkt 19% op LinkedIn. Onder WO-opgeleiden ligt dat percentage op 31%. Voor Hyves geldt het omgekeerde. Van de laag- en middelbaar opgeleiden kijkt ongeveer 1 op de 5 of de werkgever een bedrijfshyve heeft.

De impact van social media beperkt zich niet tot Hyves en LinkedIn. Ook ratingsites en discussiefora worden regelmatig bekeken om zich een beeld te vormen van een organisatie. Vooral de leeftijdscategorie 35 tot en met 44 jaar lijkt hier gevoelig voor te zijn. 20 Procent van deze groep bekijkt de beoordelingen op ratingsites. Een kwart zoekt op discussiefora naar relevante informatie. Verder is Youtube voor de jeugd een relatief belangrijke bron van informatie. Binnen de leeftijdsgroep 15 tot en met 24 jaar geeft 17% aan te zoeken naar filmpjes van de betreffende werkgever op Youtube.

De cijfers geven aan dat social media de rol van recruitmentsites voor een deel lijken over te nemen. Een belangrijk aspect daarbij is geloofwaardigheid. Onderzoeker Hans Hoekstra zegt daarover: “In een verkennend onderzoek over dit onderwerp hebben we enkele interessante groepsdiscussies gehad. Daaruit kwam onder meer naar voren dat gestuurde communicatie niet altijd geloofd wordt. Men weet dat recruitmentsites door communicatiebureaus gemaakt worden die er een mooie gelikte site van maken. Een deel van de, vooral jonge, mensen gaat daarom liever op social media informatie zoeken”. Intelligence Group start binnenkort met een uitgebreid kwantitatief onderzoek op het gebied van social media.

Technische verantwoording:
De cijfers in dit bericht zijn afkomstig van het Arbeidsmarkt GedragsOnderzoek (AGO), uitgevoerd in november 2009. Aan respondenten die behoren tot de beroepsbevolking van Nederland (N=552) is een aantal stellingen voorgelegd die betrekking hebben op hun oriëntatiegedrag indien zij overwegen om bij een organisatie te solliciteren. Voor meer informatie over dit persbericht kunt u contact opnemen met Hans Hoekstra by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Rotterdam, December 2009

Social media is becoming more important as a tool for research and information in the labour market in the Netherlands. . A sixth of the working population looks up an employer via LinkedIn or Hyves, before applying for a job. In addition, a quarter of the candidates invited for an interview research the recruiter online. Social media is becoming a platform for employers to present themselves. These are some of the results from the Arbeidsmarkt GedragsOnderzoek (AGO) of Intelligence Group, the Netherlands based labour market research company.

As a prelude to a more detailed research project on social media, 552 people were asked about their jobseeking behavior by Intelligence Group. Figures show that Google and a person's network are the most important sources of information when considering applying for a job. However, the impact of social media should not be underestimated. 19% of the working population conducts research on LinkedIn. This is even more among respondents of higher (masters degree) educational level (30%). Hyves shows the opposite trend. One out of five respondents of primary and secondary educational level look for a company profile on Hyves.

Table 1 Research Results Intelligence Group Survey

The original article in Dutch can be found below.

Stephe O'Donnel of Alljobsuk.com announces latest figures from the Alljobsuk.com Recruitment Index

Every week, since August 2000, the volume of vacancies advertised on Britain’s most popular job boards has been monitored by AlljobsUK.com. We now have data for these websites for the past 480 weeks. Because we monitor a range of of websites, we are able to more accurately reflect the state of the UK online recruitment sector. Whilst the Monster recruitment index will tell you the experience of only one job board, we are able to track the ebb and flow of the market as a whole. The effects of the current recession are all the more dramatic, when seen in visual form.

As you can see in the chart below, the index was still around our datum point of 1,000 in January 2001. It actually dropped in 2002, and again in 2003, as a result of the “DotCom Bubble” bursting, and then rose steadily, as business confidence grew. Confidence in online recruiting also grew rapidly, until late 2007, when the Northern Rock crisis shook the commercial world. They say that a rising tide lifts all boats, but the dramatically falling tide of 2008 exposed traditional newspaper recruitment advertising, and all its inefficiencies. So whilst the overall volume of advertised vacancies has plummeted, the newspaper share of the market has been decimated. We can see here the seasonal shifts which occur each year, and how vacancy volumes compare year-on-year. The most remarkable year is clearly 2008, when the index seems to fall off a cliff. 2009, whilst steadily bumping along the bottom, has at least halted the decline. Modest falls and rises throughout the year have been seized upon as signs of either recovery or further gloom. It is true that since August we have seen slight growth, but far less than is usual for this time of year, and now the Christmas dip has started a little early. We always see the New Year as the very lowest point of the year, when the fewest vacancies are advertised, and this year should be no exception.

In the year ahead, we are expecting public sector recruitment to take the brunt of the current crisis. Whilst it is the private sector that makes most use of online recruitment, we expect the AlljobsUK.com Online Recruitment Index to remain flat for at least the first half of 2010.

Websites monitored in the AlljobsUK.com Online Recruitment Index: CV-Library, Fish4jobs, Jobserve, The IT Job Board, Jobsite, Jobsearch, Monster, Reed, Totaljobs, Just Engineers.

Jobs search engine AllTheTopBananas.com have today released new figures that analyse their job data for the month of November. AllTheTopBananas revealed that the overall job volume has decreased since October, seeing the advertised number of vacancies fall, by 12%. The drop is in line with seasonal expectations, illustrating a stable market after the previous months of growth.

AllTheTopBananas.com has previously reported positive upward trends in the number of jobs advertised for both September and October. Although the job volume has decreased for the month of November, this is an expected seasonal trend, with the Christmas period altering conventional patterns in recruitment. The site will continue to observe the changes seen in the jobs market over the coming months and document the results.

Dave Martin, MD of AllTheTopBananas.com states: "Although the figures analysed for November do show a decrease in the overall job volumes of the data analysed, this should not be seen as a worry. This trend is usual for this time of year. What is important to note is that this decrease is identical to that of the same period last year, and is not a drastic drop in the overall job volumes; in fact, it is significantly less than month on month losses seen earlier in the year. The job volume for November is still higher than 6 out of the 10 previous months of 2009, which is also a very positive sign that we are slowly recouping the losses incurred by recession."

Positive signs are continuing within the recruitment industry, as reports released from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG show. Their report highlights that November has seen the fastest rise in permanent vacancies for 28 months. Kevin Green, the REC's Chief Executive, stated in a press release that: "Employers in nearly all sectors are lifting recruitment freezes and starting to hire again."

AllTheTopBananas will continue to measure the changes to the job count for the end of 2009 into 2010, and regularly publish these figures so that others within the industry can compare their own data and monitor changes within the results.

A survey of hiring and firing trends in key employment markets around the world

Global employment survey finds job markets improving around the world

The Antal International ‘Global Snapshot’ is a regular survey of hiring (and firing) trends in some of the world’s most important employment markets and in those likely to join this group over the coming decade. This fourth report in the series is based upon material sourced from over 7000 businesses in commerce, industry and the financial services sector in 34 key countries on five continents.

The survey found job prospects for professionals and managers improving for the first time since the autumn of 2008.

The ‘Global Snapshot’ survey asked 7397 companies in major markets such as western and eastern Europe, Africa, India, China and the USA whether they were currently hiring at professional and managerial level. It then asked whether they planned to do so in the coming quarter and whether they were currently letting staff go or were planning to do so in the next three months.

Current hiring across the globe was up from 46% of respondents in the spring to 50% now. And the percentage of organisations intending to hire in the coming quarter was up from 44% to 48%. At the same time the percentage of organisations intending to shed staff had fallen from 35% in the spring to 25% now.

Western Europe
The highest current hiring levels amongst the larger economies were in France (54%), UK (50%) Belgium (50%) and Germany (46%). The lowest level of hiring was in Switzerland at 35% of businesses surveyed, reflecting the economy’s reliance on the financial sector.

Eastern Europe and Eurasia
The highest recruiting levels in this region were in Russia (62%), the Czech Republic (60%), Poland (53%) and Bulgaria (54%).. Hungary’s well-documented economic problems meant that it had the lowest level of hiring in the region with only 26% of businesses questioned actively seeking new managers or professionals.

Africa and the Middle East
After a dip in demand for staff in the spring, hiring in Egypt had rebounded to make it the most vibrant job market in the region with a hiring level of 61%. Despite the evident end of the ‘boom’ market in the Gulf, hiring levels in the UAE were still relatively robust at 46% and looked set to rise to 49% in the coming quarter.

Asia
After a substantial dip in hiring levels at the start of 2009, confidence has definitely returned to the Chinese jobs market with hiring levels up to 74%.The picture in India is a similar one to that in China with the professional jobs market making a substantive recovery after a major loss of confidence at the start of 2009. Current India hiring levels are up to 51% from 29%.

The Americas
Although the economic picture in the USA is decidedly mixed the latest Snapshot suggests a definite improvement in the professional and managerial jobs market. The percentage of organisations hiring has risen to 55% from 43% in April and of those intending to hire in the coming quarter to 56% from 34%. Furthermore firing levels are down, albeit marginally from 38% to 34%.

Conclusions
“We would be very brave, or possibly very foolhardy, to assert that the economic crisis that has assailed the world is over,” says Antal’s CEO, Tony Goodwin, “but there is little doubt that the results of this edition of Global Snapshot give cause for some optimism. The hiring and firing of staff is one of the most effective measures of business confidence and there is no denying that, with a few exceptions, the jobs market for professionals and managers is improving all around the world.”

“Of course there may still be unforeseen troubles waiting around the corner – the W-shaped recession or the ‘dead cat bounce’, for example, so beloved by the more apocalyptic commentators. But what may save us even if they are lying in ambush is an underlying sense of confidence that appears to be returning for the first time in nearly two long and difficult years.”

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Bill Boorman and Alan Whitford, founder of RCEuro, discussed the Antal Survey and the general state of global recruitment, rising markets, recruitment practices and challenges in a special broadcast of the weekly Ready for Lift Off online radio series on Thursday 10 December. The full recording of the hour long show can be heard in the Blog Talk Radio player below.

Follow up show with the US Audience,

Co-hosted by Alan and Bill
Callers included Jerry Albright, Steve Levy, Margo Rose, Keith Robinson, Doug Bugie of Antal

Down Under Recruiting

The third installment of the Global Recruiting radio series with Bill Boorman and Alan Whitford. Broadcast 12 December, 01:00 GMT, Noon in Sydney.

Last Chance ot sign up for: A New Year Networking Event from EngageFirst, MetaShift and MindCombat.

Why should you venture out in the snow?

We know that it is really cold, and slippy and this slush isn't great for your trouser bottoms but inside Adam Street will be warm, wine will be flowing (although it is a cash bar so please go to the cash point before hand) and the bravest (risking the journey), most passionate recruiters will be waiting to learn a little from each of our speakers and network to lay a grheat foundation for 2010.

What can you expect?

We have 3 great speakers lined up for this event - presentations wiil last about 20 minutes each and will be fairly relaxed (no power points or microphones - I might even have to stop to blow my nose!).

Charlotte Hogg (Founding Director of www.engagefirst.co.uk) will Review 2009 looking at what has affected the recruitment industry and how and share her viewpoints on how the industry is looking as we move into 2010.

Khody Demastani (Business Change expert, author of Stuck! and Founder of www.mindcombat.co.uk) will share his unique formula for business change explaining how to be best prepared for changes that lie ahead in the New Year

Matt Alder (all round recruitment Legend, Founding Director of www.metashift.co.uk and Recruiting Futurologist) will share his recruitment predictions for 2010.

Who will be there?

There will be opportunity to network with the agencies account handlers and media buyers, recruitment consultants, recruitment media and direct clients who will be coming to the event.

Click here for Registration or Pay on the Door, but plesae please please let us know if you are planning on coming - we need to put your name on a guest list by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Social Media is the hot topic in Recruiting across the world.

Continuing our series of republishing interviews of key thought leaders in the US from Jennifer Jones, we feature Meg Toland of Boston based staffing firm Hollister. Meg also writes regularly for the blog Boston HIring, including a terrific piece on GenY needs and priorities. Recruiting is an industry that needs more edgy marketing. Having worked with some recruiters over the years, Jennifer was curious to learn from Hollister about social media techniques they have employed. Meg Toland of Hollister spoke about new ideas they are using including Twitter, Facebook and other tools.

Jennifer Jones & Partners is a marketing firm providing strategic counsel and communications implementation. JJ&P’s clients include the nation's renowned venture capital and private equity firms, law firms, investment banks, technology, and healthcare companies. Founder and President, Jennifer Jones is also the creator and host of a successful weekly podcast called Marketing Voices. This podcast gives thoughtful insight regarding how social media is impacting strategic marketing today for businesses worldwide.

On Monday 29th June specialist business consultant to the recruitment industry, Bill Boorman, is launching a new radio talk show.

Airing live at 12 noon (GMT), and again at 6pm (GMT) for the US market, this first edition “Ready for Lift Off” will discuss what recruiters should be doing to plan for the economic recovery. The show promises to be the first of many interesting, controversial and thought-provoking discussions about the recruitment market, so join Bill plus special guests by calling the dial in numbers below or listen online at www.blogtalkradio.com

The caller dial in number for the 12:00 GMT show is +1-646-727-3988
The international show at 18:00 GMT number has been changed to +1-347-838-9882

You can also reach Bill by email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Participants will include recruiters, technology experts, social networking commentators and European recruitment commentators.

Audio files of the broadcast will be made available via the RCEURO site later on this week.

Many recruiters are now finding increased volumes of badly written CV’s. CVCO believes that there is still a gap in the market that needs to be filled in today’s turbulent times. 
 
“There is a dearth of high quality professionally written CV’s” according to Gerard Brayley Sales Director of CVCO. “The CV is the foremost selling document candidates have – a well written CV increases the probability of interviews, a badly  written CV will not attract interest and therefore reduces the chances of that all important interview”.  

Brayley continues “Despite an abundance of CV writing companies, candidates have experienced many organisations offering CV layout/copy typing expertise rather than a consultative approach, often college/university graduates looking to bolster their earnings in between jobs and write freelance for CV companies. CVCO only hires experienced business people, often ex recruiters, who absolutely know what should go where and how to expertly craft a CV that stands out for all the right reasons. We speak to our clients in conjunction with a completed personal profile document. What this means is that we always hit that sweet spot and give our clients a personal service to ensure that they get the CV they want, so it’s not surprising that they also get more interviews”
 
CVCO provides professional CV writing services that create interest and help people get the interviews that they want.

CVCO Professional CV Writers
Gerard can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Work:   (  +44 (0) 203 151 0 747
Mobile:  (  +44 (0) 7915 109 383 (preferred)

On Monday 29th June specialist business consultant to the recruitment industry, Bill Boorman, is launching a new radio talk show.

Airing live at 12 noon (GMT), and again at 6pm (GMT) for the US market, this first edition “Ready for Lift Off” will discuss what recruiters should be doing to plan for the economic recovery. The show promises to be the first of many interesting, controversial and thought-provoking discussions about the recruitment market, so join Bill plus special guests by calling +1 646 727 3988 or listen online at www.blogtalkradio.com

You can also reach Bill by email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Participants will include recruiters, technology experts, social networking commentators and European recruitment commentators.

Audio files of the broadcast will be made available via the RCEURO site later on this week.

Neil Wilson, Managing Director at recruitment consultancy Badenoch & Clark, recently delivered a report, Recruitment in Challenging Times, which looked at some key tips for moving your business and candidate marketing efforts forward as we come out of the downturn.

These tips work for both the inhouse recruiter and the external provider of staffing services.How do you unearth the right talent and position your organisation to take advantage of the wealth of candidates on the market?

The top ten tips, with one key thought for each follows. To download the full report, please visit the Badenoch and Clark website.

Don’t feel compelled to recruit someone if they don’t have the right skill set for your organisation

Spot the difference between enthusiasm and someone whose long-held aspirations fit with your organisation

Position your organisation as a more interesting prospect than others by keeping yourself visible and accessible.

Get in front of the right people and make sure they know what your organisation has to offer

Don’t be tempted to oversell your organisation and what it offers to new recruits

6. Look beyond the tried and tested

Don’t just recruit from the tried and tested routes

Get the cultural fit right and make the most of the skills and experiences available from other industries

Build relationships now, and when opportunities do arise, you will get the best talent quickly

Take advantage of your recruitment partners and get full use of their services

Consider your company’s vision, where you want to be and whether you already have the skills and talent to get you there

Seth Godin’s blog has a very simple guide on how to send a personal email. Yes, we know this is all common sense BUT how often today with all that is going on around us do we forget to do the simple things well.

Seth’s starting point is avoiding being seen as a spammer or worse still having your emails deleted before being read or just plain ignored. Something of course we don’t want to happen with our personal emails or with our “business related messages.”

“The thing is” as Seth points out “email reduces friction. Greedy, lazy organizations have embraced this and tried to figure out how to blast as many emails as they can as cheaply as they can, relying on the law of large numbers. The real law of large numbers is, "using large numbers is against the law."

Seth suggests that we “add some fiction back into our communication”.  He also points out that “to be seen as being personal, the best strategy is to be personal, which is slow and expensive.”

After reading his tips (see below), our thought is that although he is discussing email, much of this advice could apply to our communications and messaging to candidates. Whether it is your response to a candidate email application or the messaging on your career site or even how you use email signature file, Seth’s advice is both a good call to action and a good recruiting mantra.

We will be digging out our very sensible list of “things to do to improve your recruitment communications”  as a follow up to this article.  Why? Do help us all remember that doing as many of the basics as possible delivers a real ROI on our investment in candidate communications.

Seth’s 14 tips are:

1.    Don't send the same email to large numbers of people.
2.    If you have more than a few people to contact, you'll be tempted to copy and paste or mail merge. Don't. You'll get caught. It shows. If it's important enough for someone to read, it's important enough for you to rewrite.
3.    Careful with the salutation. Don't write, "Dear Claudia," if you don't usually write "Dear" at the beginning of all your emails.
4.    Don't mush the salutation together with the rest of the note. If I had a dollar for every email that started, "Joe, When experts come together..." That's not personal. That's lazy merging. See rule 1.
5.    Don't send HTML or pictures. Personal email doesn't, why are you?
6.    Don't talk like a press release. Talk like a person. A person is reading this, so why are you talking like that?
7.    Be short. The purpose of an email is not to sell the person on anything other than writing back. If you don't have a personal, interesting way to start a conversation, don't write.
8.    Don't send an email only when you really need something. That's not personal, that's selfish.
9.    Do you have a sig with a phone number in it? Your phone number? If you don't trust me enough to give me your real phone number, I don't trust you enough to read your mail.
10.    Don't mark your email urgent. Urgent to you is not urgent to me.
11.    Don't lie in your subject line, and don't be cute. You're not clever enough to be cute. Just be honest.
12.    Following up on an impersonal spam email is twice as dumb as sending the first one. Invest the time to do it right the first time.
13.    Anticipated, personal and relevant permission mail will always dramatically outperform greedy short-term spam. I promise.
14.    Just because you have someone's email address doesn't mean you have the right to email them.

CONFERENCE SESSION VIDEOS

During the GRC 2008 conference, we took the bold step of streaming our main session presentations live to the world. Our speakers presented to the 100+ delegates at the conference and using direct video capture and the ustream.tv platform, to over 400 viewers on the ERE.net and Recruitment Community Europe sites.

To extend that reach, we are providing the links to the videos captured via the Ustream site. In addition to the speaker sessions, we have one-on-one interviews of some of our sponsors and speakers

Our thanks to David Manaster of ERE.net for his support and for lending us Brendan Shields (and his video equipment) who did an outstanding job of capturing the event over the 3 days.

USTREAM VIDEO LINKS
The main link for all sessions.

With the ‘war for talent’ set to resume and accelerate in 2010, corporate recruiters and HR teams within the Pharmaceutical industry face a daunting task – how do you reduce cost per hire and unearth the best talent? This unique one day conference will show you how.

Based on feedback from some of Europe’s top Pharmaceutical corporate recruiters, Shane Hicks and Trevor Day have produced a unique one day event designed not only to give executives a meaningful strategic overview of world class direct sourcing within Pharma but also crucially to empower your Recruitment team with the skills and knowledge to drive down your cost per hire immediately after attendance.

Delegates will be involved in Talent Acquisition, Resourcing, Recruitment, HR, Staffing and Manpower Procurement. Regular updates and registration for the event on the dedicated website.

Held at the Holiday Inn Kensinton Forum on 24 February 2010, the event features a strong lineup of Industry thought leaders including:

• Alan Whitford, RCEuro
• Roisin Corrigan, Taleo
• Giles Guest, Enhance Media
• Emma Lippett, LInkedIn Corporate Solutions
• Diane Newell, Jericho Partners
• Steve Lewis, The Network
• Laura Stoker, Airs/Right Thing
• Tim Hodder, eSocialMedia.co.uk
• Derek Pilcher, The Ladders.co.uk

Booking for the event is still available here.

The full agenda can be downloaded here.

Australia based This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Intetnational CEO of Aquent, continuously delivers thought provoking content on his blog, The Savage Truth. We are posting his latest article, please follow the links in the title to read more from this beacon in the industry.

Have YOU been swimming naked?

Small glimpses of a recovery for both the Australian and UK recruitment industry may be coming into view, but times remain tight and recruiters have to scrap for every client, every order. One thing the recession has done, is highlight the paucity of true consulting skills across our profession. Years of talent shortages and desperate clients have allowed ‘résumé shufflers’ to succeed, even thrive, and the ability to actually connect with clients, service them as “trusted advisors” has been lost in many cases.

But as the saying goes, ‘on a rising tide, everybody floats. When the tide goes out you can see who has been swimming naked”. So I think its time for every recruiter to ask themselves a question. And you have to be totally honest when you answer.

Are you transactional or are you consultative?

In other words, do you provide resumes or do you provide expertise?Because your survival depends on your ability to provide something your clients currently lack. And with hundreds of competitors referring candidates indiscriminately, cheap job boards, and the emergence of social media as a talent source –resumes is one thing your clients do not.

In other words, do you provide resumes or do you provide expertise?Because your survival depends on your ability to provide something your clients currently lack. And with hundreds of competitors referring candidates indiscriminately, cheap job boards, and the emergence of social media as a talent source –resumes is one thing your clients do not.

If you are not sure whether you do provide additional value or expertise to your clients, try this hypothetical exercise.

Say you picked up the phone to your client today and said ’Bob, I no longer actually provide candidates. I want you to remain my client on the basis of the other aspects of value you get from dealing with me’.

What response do you predict?

Now this is a powerful exercise because it makes you face up to whether your clients do in fact value the consultative aspect of your offering. This is actually the real stuff behind that well worn cliché ‘value add’.

Does your client value your counsel in hiring trends, interview techniques and candidate specific questions for upcoming interviews?

You must differentiate your offer through your fresh approach to this business. Becoming a ’subject matter expert’ is what your clients (and talent) will be expecting of you going forward.

Sure, its true, clients want us to deliver quality candidates, and that’s what they pay for. But they want it bundled up in “trusted advisor” wrapping paper.

So you have to be the recruiter who can advise on such issues as:

* Skill set availability – what skills are hot in the market and who has them
* Industry demand – which sectors are competing for the best talent
* Project “sex appeal” – what do the best talent like to work on
* Required turn round times –how quickly can we access key hires
* Salaries and benefits and trends in reward and compensation
* Retention and staff development strategies
* Corporate perceptions – of your client. In other words what can your client do to be a more attractive employer
* Hiring and retention ratios. What is staff turnovers like in their industry
* New techniques and tactics emerging – what are their competitors doing to attract staff? To retain people? To reward staff?

I believe that the role of the skilled recruiter who is trusted to provide knowledge, advice and guidance will become more valued by employers – not less valued.

But to get to that stage we need to be sophisticated in our selling, consultative in our approach and very clearly be able to point to how we add value through the process.

TruLondon II Day One on Thursday came to a close with the TruCurry tweetup dinner sponsored by Paul Stuurman of Knollenstein.

We closed the day in the Incisive Media board room, with Steve Boese and his #HRHappyHour Blog Talk radio show, 20 people in the room, doing a wrap up of the day.

What a day this has been. Over 100 people in the the sessions, the second Recruiting Unconference organised and hosted by Bill Boorman and Geoff Webb. What is an Unconference? The best description is organised chaos, with tracks (think of break out sessions at a typical conference) led by practitioners of blogging, social media, technology, HR and recruitment practitioners. The tracks are by definition inclusive, with the participants asking and answering the questions, driving the debate.

We started with TruSource yesterday, over 40 people in two rooms learning from the true gurus of candidate sourcing. Today, from the 09:00 start to now at 18:35, has been non-stop. Debate on GenY, Job boards, employment branding, sourcing, technology and more. Read the article with the tracks to get a sense.

Fish and Chips for lunch, tomorrow pizza. How 'unconference' can you get? Some more great tracks lined up: Sourceology, Mobile recruiting, LinkedIn for recruiters, Talent Puddle, Social media, and bloggers, to name but a few. There may even be a new 'secred track' featuring the Bald Recruiters.

The close of the Unconference radio show on Friday, at 17:30 GMT, RCEURO thought leaders, hosted by Alan Whitford, featuring TruLondon II organisers Bill Boorman and Geoff Webb, with selected track leaders and participants.

A ahort clip of Steve's show. The full audio of his show and the Talking HR show from Jon Ingham, hosted Friday morning at 07:30 can be heard in our Audio/Video section below.

As we come up to Christmas 2009, we thought we might take a tongue in cheek look at the hiring challenges facing a temporary business, based in an unpopular location with little transportation infrastructure or connectivity to the outside world, other than a brief 24 hour window. Working conditions are 24x7 leading up to the annual close of the business when all staff are made redundant until the following season; other than management staff, who are able to take a long summer vacation.

How would Santa Claus actually go about recruiting his manufacturing design staff?

• Update his corporate Career Site on Santaclausjobs.com
• Post a job on northpolejobs.com
• Use generic job boards
• Run a Twitter posting
• Explore his LinkedIn group (Santa's Little Elves)
• Create a Facebook Fan Page (Working for St. Nick)

Perhaps his Job Post would look a bit like this:

Fulfilling Childhood Dreams - Delivering Joy and Happiness

Global Toy Manufacturer and Distribution Business is seeking energetic and dedicated workers to join this thriving business which specialises in delivering Holiday Cheer to millions of children around the world. Manufacturing toys and presents in our state-of-the-art workshop at the North Pole, we offer a dynamic work environment that has been evolving for over 400 years.

Specialists in distribution management, we utilise our 'Naughty or Nice' CRM system to ensure that we identify our target customers effectively for a 24 hour delivery window.

We depend on our unique and purpose built delivery vehicle, with the transportation team comprised of a team of 8 locally hired reindeer.

If you are interested in working in this life changing business on a seasonal basis, visit our career page or contact our Hiring Manager, Mrs S. Claus by email, enclosing your CV and references. Initial interviews will be conducted by Video conference.

All of us at RCEURO wish you a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Bill Boorman's Recruiting Unconference TruLondon II announces Track schedule and Track Leaders. Details updated regularly on his Recruiting Unblog.

Regular postings from the event will be carried live on RCEURO.com, along with streaming video and online radio broadcasts.

The Lineup - as of Sunday 14 February.
Tracks run concurrently, with attendees free to roam around and change tracks at will. Conversation and Debate rule the day.

Thursday 18th Feb

9.30 – 10.00
Registration, opening and outline for the day

10.00 – 11.00
Track 1:
The social media circus featuring ring masters Matt Alder, Paul Harrison & Jim Stroud

Track 2:
Gen Why and how featuring Sarah White (Im so Sarah) and Lucian Tarnowski

Track 3:
Who cares what the candidates think featuring Mervyn Dinnen, Keith Robinson, Simon Lewis and Michelle Fischer

11.00 – 12.00
Track 4
Job Board 2020 featuring Keith Robinson, Simon Lewis, Alan Whitford, Felix Wetzel

Track 5
Recruiter Big Brother featuring Lisa Scales, Nick Price, Rob Wescott, Mike Taylor

Track 6
Social Learning featuring Dee Allan

Lunch: 12.00 – 1.00: Fish and Chips

1.00 – 2.00
Track 6A
Live Lab featuring Paul Harrison and a cast of 1000’s in the twitter stream

Track 7
H.R.Evolution featuring Trish McFarlane, Laurie Ruettimann and Steve Boese

Track 8
Employer Branding v Employee Branding featuring Nick Price, Sarah White, Michelle Fischer and Jon Ingham

2.00 – 3.00
Track 9
Technology Shopping List featuring Steve Boese, Sarah White, Shane McCusker

Track 10
New Tools, Old Rules featuring Bill Boorman, Matt Alder, Paul Harrison and Jim Stroud

Track 11
The Talent Wars featuring Trish McFarlane, Peter Gold, Michelle Fischer and Jon Ingham

3.00 – 4.00
Track 12
Community Building featuring Jason Davis, Craig Fisher and Lisa Scales

Track 13
Leadership Questions featuring Peter Gold, Steve Boese and Lucian Tarnowski

Track 14
H.R. Gen Z featuring Trish McFarlane, Jon Ingham and Laurie Ruettimann

4.00 – 5.00
Track 15
Battle of the bloggers featuring Laurie Ruettimann, Andy Headworth, Peter Gold, Jason Davis and Trish McFarlane

Track 16
Twitter Automation – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly featuring Gregg Dourgarian (Tempworks)

5.00 – 5.30
Day wrap up and learning points

Day One is followed by the #truCurrytweetup 7.30 – 1.00am

Friday 19th

9.30 – 10.00

All tracks: Day One Learning

10.00 – 10.30
Video track from Deloitte’s NZ – Facebook live event featuring Richard Long and the social recruiting champions from Auckland

10.30 – 11.30
Track 17
Culture Clash featuring Joanne Davies (A.M.S.), Jon Ingham, Laurie Ruettimann, Alan Whitford, Jacco Valkenburg

Track 18
Return On Investment featuring Rayanne Thorne (Broadbean)

Track 19
Endangered Species featuring Peter Gold, Jon Ingham and Steve Boese

11.30 – 12.30
Track 20
Sourceology – The Dark Arts featuring Jim Stroud, Geoff Webb, Katharine Robinson, Irina Shamaeva and Laura Stoker (AIRS)

Track 21 (Extra Track By Popular demand)
Taking Recruiting Mobile featuring Gordon Lokenberg

Track 22
Phoenix Recruiting featuring Bill Boorman, Andy Headworth and Alan Whitford

12.30 – 1.30: Lunch (Pizza)

1.30 – 2.30
Track 23
The Live Lab featuring Paul Harrison and a cast of 1000’s

Track 24
U.K. Sourcery featuring Katharine Robinson, Jim Stroud, Geoff Webb, Irina Shamaeva and Laura Stoker

Track 25
The Future for Recruiters featuring Matt Burney and Mervyn Dinnen

2.30 – 3.30

Track 26
Linking In featuring Mark Williams and Jacco Valkenburg

Track 27
The Talent Puddle featuring Alan Whitford and Shane McCusker

Track 28
Social Media Circus featuring Matt Alder, Paul Harrison and Jim Stroud

3.30 – 4.30

Track 29
Battle of the Bloggers featuring Andy Headworth, Laurie Ruettimann, Jon Ingham, Jason Davis, Peter Gold and Trish McFarlane

Track 30
Secret Track

4.30 – 5.00
Learning points and Close

JUST THREE DAYS TO GO

Yes, there are only 3 days to go to the recruitment event that traditionally sets the scene for the year, to be held at the Royal Geographic Society in London on 28 January 2010.

Online Recruitment 2010: The Year Ahead Conference is billed as the UK's largest annual online recruitment conference. This year's event will address the key issues in direct sourcing and online recruitment for 2010. An excellent speaker lineup will be covering topics including reducing costs, saving time and finding better candidates online.

A world first will see Google and Microsoft Bing on stage together, along with Monster and TimesOnline, talking about the future of search engines in online recruitment.

Steve Newson of Capita, who hire 30,000 people a year, claiming that the job board is dead and the future is social media.

Mike Pilcher of LinkedIn will talk about business networking in online recruitment.

Simon Conroy of Madgex on the future of job boards and online technology

Robbie Cowling, the founder of Jobserve, talking about his new business Jobg8 that could change the job board industry forever

Adrian Marlowe of Lawspeed will talk about the legalities of hiring and firing using Facebook & social media

Giles Guest of Enhance Media giving results from the latest NORAS research.

You can download the full programme here, and the registration document here. Please put 'RCEuro referral' in the 'any other information' box on the registration form.

With the ‘war for talent’ set to resume and accelerate in 2010, corporate recruiters and HR teams within the Pharmaceutical industry face a daunting task – how do you reduce cost per hire and unearth the best talent? This unique one day conference will show you how.

Based on feedback from some of Europe’s top Pharmaceutical corporate recruiters, Shane Hicks and Trevor Day have produced a unique one day event designed not only to give executives a meaningful strategic overview of world class direct sourcing within Pharma but also crucially to empower your Recruitment team with the skills and knowledge to drive down your cost per hire immediately after attendance.

Delegates will be involved in Talent Acquisition, Resourcing, Recruitment, HR, Staffing and Manpower Procurement. Regular updates and registration for the event on the dedicated website.

Held at the Barbican in London on 24 February 2010, the event features a strong lineup of Industry thought leaders including:

• Alan Whitford, RCEuro
• Giles Guest, Enhance Media
• Emma Lippett, LInkedIn Corporate Solutions
• Diane Newell, Jericho Partners
• Steve Lewis, The Network
• Laura Stoker, Airs/Right Thing
• Colm Hannon, eSocialMedia.co.uk
• Derek Pilcher, The Ladders.co.uk

The full agenda can be downloaded here.

Both Google and LinkedIn have been confirmed as speakers for the UK’s second Social Media in Recruitment Conference on the 22nd April 2010 at the British Library in London.

“We are delighted to have both Google and LinkedIn speaking at the Conference” said Mike Taylor from Web Based Recruitment, organisers of the conference. “LinkedIn has been a major player in the dramatic growth of social networking over the last few years and Google continues to innovate with Social Media related products and services.

Having organised the UK’s first Social Media in Recruitment Conference in July 2009, Taylor is looking forward to another successful conference to help Corporate Recruiters, Recruitment Agencies, Recruitment Advertising Agencies, Job Boards and Recruitment Industry suppliers get the most from using Social Media in Recruitment.

“There were over 150 people at the first Conference which was a clear indication in the interest in Social Media. The 2010 Conference will include speakers (with case studies) as well as an interactive discussion panel where delegates can ask questions to our specially selected industry experts.

The first conference quickly established itself as the leading event covering Social Media in Recruitment in the UK. Recruiters who equip themselves with up to date knowledge about social media by attending the 2010 Conference will not only give themselves a competitive advantage, but will also be in a far better position when the current economic climate improves and companies start to recruit more people.”

Conference Programme

The subject areas to be covered at the Conference will include:

• Strategies for using LinkedIn as part of your online recruitment plans.
• Insights from Google to help you recruit using social media.
• How to maximise the use of Facebook pages as a recruitment tool for your company.
• Key strategies for using Twitter effectively in recruitment, including the use of automated tools.
• How online communities can play a part in your social media recruiting strategies.
• The legal issues surrounding social media and employment.
• Social media strategies for Generation Y job seekers.

2009 Success Stories

There will also be contributions from delegates who attended the July 2009 Conference. They will share what social media strategies they have implemented since attending the first Social Media in Recruitment Conference.

Full details of the conference can be found at www.SocialMediaInRecruitment.com (Twitter Hashtag - #SMIR) including how to save £100 by booking before the 31st December 2009.

Contact: Mike Taylor
Tel: +44 (0) 1962 883754
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it :

The UK's first Recruiting Unconference kicked off on Thursday with about 100 participants at the Atrium on the 30th floor of Barclays Tower at Canary Wharf in London.

Hosted by Bill Boorman (and with outstandig organisation by Fran Boorman), the tracks were filled with eager participants,The 'pods' active with questions, discussions and debate throughout the day, with the Buzz carrying on outside the pods and during the breaks.

Amazingly, there were few tweets during the event, as eveyone was actively engaged in discussion and did not have time to turn on those Blackberrys, iPhones or netbooks.

JIll Elswick flew in from Virginia and provided a steady stream of Tweets as the official event Twitterer, which can be followed on: #Trulondon. She also has taken photos which will be available later on.

Comments and suggestions on Twitter and by email came in from North America, Australia, the UK and the rest of Europe.

We closed the event with a live Blog Talk Radio show, RCEuro Recruitment Leaders, which featured organiser and host, Bill Boorman, Radical Recruiter and track leader Geoff Webb from Toronto, 1ntlelligence founder and track leader from Ireland Shane McCusker and RCEuro founder and track leader Alan Whitford. Joining in the call was Margo Rose from the US. The full session can be heard in the Blog Talk Radio player below, on the Audio and Visual player on the RCEuro home page or on the Blog Talk Radio site (where it can also be downloaded).

A selection of photos from the morning sessions. Further video and photos will be posted during the coming days.

Recruiter Big Brother, how to use video, Mike Taylor, Lisa Scales and Justin Hillier

Sourceology, Geoof Webb and Katherine Robinson

Social Media Circus, Matt Alder, Paul Harrison, Wendy Jacobs

Blogging for Business, Andy Headworth

Mike Taylor and Helen Reynolds from event sponsor HB RIDA
View from the 30th floor Atrium Window

The Recruiting Unconference, organised by Bill Boorman was held at Barclays Bank Tower in Canary Wharf on Thursday 19 November

Andy and Sarah Headworth, of Sirona Consulting, have published the first video of the day, essentially a bird's eye view of some of the sessions. Music backing track as the actual audio from the sessions did not record well.

Goeff Webb, Radical Recruitment, had prepared an introductory video for the day. Unfortunately, the video screen lacked speakers, so we could not use the video to its full advantage. Here it is.

The Recruiting Unconference, organised by Bill Boorman and held at Barclays Bank Tower in Canary Wharf on Thursday 19 November will close with a one hour online radio broadcast from the venue, carried on Blog Talk Radio.

RCEuro founder Alan Whiford will host the show, with radio expert Bill also at the helm. Bill moderates three regular shows on Mondays in his Ready for LIft Off and Down Under Recruiting series.

Guests will include Session Track leaders from the UK and North America, delegates from the Unconference and callers from around the world.

RCEuro RECRUITMENT LEADERS SHOW DETAILS

• Show Time: Thursday 19 Nov, 17:00 GMT
• Listeners/participants can join the show via the web link Show Address
• By dialing in to a US number via telephone, Skype or other VOIP methods
• Listener dial-in number: +1 347 857-1109
• Or by clicking on the Blog Talk Radio player below

A terrific awards ceremony on 5 November saw the best UK recruitment websites honoured as the winners of the 9th annual 2009 National Online Recruitment Awards were announced.

Hosted by Stephen O'Donnell of alljobsuk.com and held in conjunction with UK Recruiter, the event saw many of the thought leaders and business innovators of UK recruitment in attendance. Louise Triance of UK Recruiter has pulled together the photographs of the evening, including photos of the winners receiving the award from the individual category sponsors.

November 5th Networking & NORAs

A terrific awards ceremony on 5 November saw the best UK recruitment websites honoured as the winners of the 9th annual 2009 National Online Recruitment Awards were announced.

The NORA ceremony is an annual event organised by Stephen O'Donnell of alljobsuk.com and held in conjunction with UK Recruiter, designed to recognise excellence in the recruitment industry – from technology providers to employment agencies. Now in its 9th year, the evening was held in the exclusive Orchid Bar in Piccadilly and was well attended by a wide range of recruitment industry participants, from sponsors to nominees, from industry experts to recruiters.

Full coverage of the evening will be in the upcoming issue of event Media sponsor Recruitment Consultant Magazine, including photos of the winners and the evening.

RCEuro sends its thanks to the event organisers, event sponsor and individual category sponsors (details of all sponsors in our previous article). More importantly, we extend our sincere congratulation to the category winners and best wishes to the category finalists.

The 2009 NORA AWARD WINNERS
Best General Jobsite category: Jobsite

Best Specialist site: Retail Choice

Best Regional Site: Key 103 Jobs

Best National Recruitment Agency Website: RHR

Best Small Recruitment Agency Website: McCarthy Recruitment

Best National Employer Site: Army Jobs

Best Small Employer Site: GCS

Best Online Recruitment by a Consumer Publication: The Guardian

Best Online Recruitment by a Trade Publication: Drapers Jobs
(Award sponsored by RCEuro)

Best Employment Advice Site: Career Player

Best Newcomer: Career Player

Best Innovation in Online Recruitment: Twitter Job Search

All sponsorship opportunities for each of the twelve award categories for the 9th annual NORA awards on 5th November have been filled, as well as the event title sponsorship and the media partnership. The most recent sponsor to sign up has been RCEuro, which is delighted to come on board to sponsor the category: Best Online Recruitment Website by a Trade Publication

This is the ninth year of the awards, and is expected to be the most hotly contested ever. The awards strive to honour those sites that, through either innovation, inspiration, or sheer hard work and attention to detail, actually offer something tangibly valuable to job seekers. It is not easy to be in tune with those looking for work, and it is certainly very difficult to build a recruitment website without genuine insight into the minds of your targeted market. When a website gets the balance just right, and strikes a chord with potential candidates, the vacancies and clients soon follow.

If the National Online Recruitment Awards can shine a light on the very best examples of excellence in our industry, we hope that other other websites will see what is possible, and be inspired to make the same progress. Ultimately, this can only be interests to those looking to progress their careers, as simply and efficiently as possible.

The awards ceremony for this year will again take place at the exclusive West End venue, Orchid London, near Piccadilly Circus, on Thursday 5th November.

The event will be held in conjunction with UKRecruiter, whose events very much focus on business networking within the UK recruitment industry, and will also involve extensive networking opportunities. It is essential that interested attendees pre-register to attend the events,which you can do here.

2009 NORA SPONSORS
Title Sponsor
permsconnect

Media Partner
Recruitment Consultant Magazine

Category Sponsors
RCEuro
The Ladders
recruitersite
OptimalinternNet
Cordis Technologies
Jobg8
HotLizard
CV Library
Gabem
ExecutivesontheWeb
Actonomy
Bullhorn
Chameleon-i

September 2009 Index Highlights:

• The Monster Employment Index UK dipped by two points as online job availability declined for the second consecutive month
• Online job demand fell markedly in the public sector, with losses also seen in the technology sector. Offerings grew in sales
• Job demand held steady in London and the Midlands, whilst hiring in North England and the South West fell most

Summary Overview
Online employment opportunities across the UK dipped by two points (two percent) in September, as job demand dropped slightly for the second straight month. Despite this fall, online hiring has remained largely flat since the turn of the year. The overall European Index also dipped three points (three percent) in August and fell by 37 percent year-on-year.

Year-on-year, hiring levels in the UK are down 33 percent. September saw a notable decrease in hiring activity in public sector, defence, community. There was reduced availability in education, training and library; and healthcare, social work – possibly reflecting pressure on government spending amid widening deficits. Declines were also seen in IT, engineering and R&D, indicating that the technology sector continues to be hit by the economic slowdown. By contrast, demand for workers in sales increased, suggesting retailers are more optimistic amidst the recovery in consumer confidence.

“Hiring among UK companies remains worryingly stagnant. As long as the macroeconomic outlook is uncertain, companies will remain reticent to hire workers, which in itself could slow the actual recovery,” commented Hugo Sellert, head of economic research, at Monster Worldwide. “Despite sharp drops in hiring in the public sector and among technology companies in September, there is some cause for optimism in the broader business sector. Recruiting increased in the third quarter for areas such as sales, management and office and administrative support.”

The National Online Recruitment Awards 2009 (NORAs), now in their ninth year, have closely plotted the emergence and growth of the UK online recruitment sector. Devised to recognise the very best recruitment websites, from a candidate's perspective, the NORAs are respected as the definitive award in the industry, and a tangible achievement for those sites which truly excel in delighting job seekers.

Uniquely, the awards are initially nominated by job seekers themselves, in order that the perspective of those who utilise each site remains paramount. This year almost 25,000 nominations for 654 separate websites were received.

The NORA selection panel of industry experts (see below) then carefully assessed each site, from a candidate’s point of view, to arrive at the shortlist of tremendous sites in all 12 categories. The Categories recognise all manner of recruitment websites, including not only dedicated job boards, but also recruitment firms, publications, advice websites and employers themselves. There will be hotly contested awards for Best Newcomer and Best Innovation in Online Recruitment.

To ensure absolute integrity, the Finalists will now be judged by a separate panel of Judges, and the Winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony on Thursday 5th November 2009 at Orchid in London.

As an example of the quality of sites, The Best Innovation in Online Recruitment finalists are:

Career Player
Company Explorers
SalaryTrack
Schools Recruitment
Twitter Job Search

Stephen O’Donnell AlljobsUK.com

Andy Headworth Sirona Consulting

Alan Whitford RCEuro.com

Matt Alder Barkers

Steve Evans Net Natives

Paul Harrison Carve Consulting

Ben Nunn Thirty Three

Alex Hens 3D Marcomms

To view the complete list of Nominees and category information, please visit the NORA webstite. You can also follow developments on Twitter.

Contact:
Stephen O’Donnell, Director AlljobsUK.com
Chairman of Judging Panel
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Tel: 0141 572 5301

Nominations have now opened for the National Online Recruitment Awards 2009 (NORAs). The awards are now in their ninth year, and have closely plotted the emergence and growth of the UK online recruitment sector throughout that time. Devised to recognise the very best recruitment websites, from a candidate's perspective, the NORAs are respected as the definitive award in the industry, and a tangible achievement for those sites which truly excel in delighting job seekers.

There are 12 awards this year, recognising dedicated job boards, recruitment agencies, employers, and publications which advertise vacancies online. We also recognise the best employment advice websites, best newcomer, and the best innovation in online recruitment. This last award will surely be hotly contended, with the emergence of recruitment channels via social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and many others.

Nominations are open to anyone to contribute, and will be open until 19th September. In 2008, over 64,000 nominations for almost 500 separate websites were received Given the dramatic changes to the employment outlook in the UK, it will be very interesting to see which sites are serving candidates best.

The awards ceremony will be Thursday 5th November 2009 at Orchid in London.

Contact:
Stephen O’Donnell, Director AlljobsUK.com
Chairman of Judging Panel
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel: 0141 572 5301
Twitter:

Totaljobs.com, one of the UK’s leading recruitment websites, announced the launch of its ‘Totaljobs Barometer’

This new tool will provide recruiters and journalists with a range of data about the UK online recruitment market, across 33 sectors and 8 regions. The ‘Totaljobs Barometer’ data can be filtered so that users can focus in on a particular region or sector, meaning that patterns specific to those areas can be identified and analysed.

John Salt, website director of totaljobs, comments: “We have access to a wide range of insightful information about the online recruitment market, and the ‘Totaljobs Barometer’ is a way for us to share this information with our users. Being able to investigate the data in more detail also allows recruiters to find out about the current state of the market in their area, allowing them to work out the best times to recruit to find the best quality candidates, for example.”

The Jobs Barometer will perform searches presenting the relationship between the supply of jobs, measured by the amount of jobs posted to an industry or location, and the demand generated by UK jobseekers, measured by job application figures and job search details.

Key Findings from the most recent report:

• Searches for Customer Services positions have increased by a 25% since March 2009
• Demand for jobs outstripped supply by nearly 10 to 1, the highest it has been since July 2008
• Engineering, Manufacturing and Utilities, Sales and IT and Internet Sectors showed the greatest number of jobs posted between April and June
• The number of applications has increased on 18 out of the 33 sectors on totaljobs

August trends show some positive impact on ‘Totaljobs Barometer’

The August update, despite the usual slowdown in employment during the height of summer holidays, showed some positve numbers, leading to optimism for the September numbers which should be released in mid-October

• Searches for Customer Services positions have increased by a 25% since March 2009
• Demand for jobs outstripped supply by nearly 10 to 1, the highest it has been since July 2008
• Engineering, Manufacturing and Utilities, Sales and IT and Internet Sectors showed the greatest number of jobs posted between April and June
• The number of applications has increased on 18 out of the 33 sectors on totaljobs

This new tool will provide recruiters and journalists with a range of data about the UK online recruitment market as measured on totaljobs.com, across 33 sectors and 8 regions. The ‘Totaljobs Barometer’ data can be filtered so that users can focus in on a particular region or sector, meaning that patterns specific to those areas can be identified and analysed.

The jobs market took a break in August. The number of jobs posted or refreshed
on totaljobs.com fell for the first time in three months. Employers posted 13%
fewer jobs to give a total of 206,000 new or refreshed posts.

Jobseekers also took some time off. The number of applications measured by
industry fell 4% to 2.2 million from 2.3 million. The number of searches by
industry was down even more. It dropped 11% to 3.9 million from 4.4 million in
July.

This made the recruitment picture more challenging than ever in August. The
drop in the supply of jobs was greater than the drop in the number of applications,
and as a result there was an average of 10.7 applications for every job
posted or refreshed on the site.

29 June 2009

Acquisition of the business and certain assets of Barkers Group Limited in administration) (“Barkers”)

At 10am today, Monday 29th June, it was announced that Barkers Group Ltd has been taken into administration and that Penna plc has purchased the business and assets of Barkers Group Ltd.

Around 250 of Barkers’ former staff will be employed by Penna in their Creative Communications, Recruitment and Resourcing businesses.

Gary Browning, Chief Executive of Penna plc, commented:  “We are proud to be associated with such an established and distinguished brand and look forward to  complementing Barkers’ skills with the breadth of a successful HR Consulting Group which gained 6th place in this year’s Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For”.

Anne Riley, MD of Penna Creative Communications, said:  “Everybody’s first priority is to make sure that all Barkers’ and TCS clients continue to get the great standards of service they are used to.  There will be a lot of work to do over the next few weeks before we are able to make any further announcements”

Creating a completely integrated candidate experience:
The project involved creating an Employer Brand, a campaign of nine recruitment advertisements, an Employee Referral Programme, a recruitment microsite and a menu of various candidate communications and templates - all of them ‘joined-up’ to the original employment branded proposition.

The solution was crucial in enabling United Biscuits to embark upon a new era of sourcing candidates directly and reducing its reliance on 3rd party recruiters. The campaign was cited by HR Magazine, January 2008, as an example of best practice in branded recruitment communications.

“The work Entity produced was superb and the results exceeded my expectations. Entity’s team of Planning, Digital, Brand and Technology professionals offer a very powerful service. I could not ever imagine being involved in any client project that had recruitment communications issues, without speaking to the team at Entity.”

Heather Buglass
HR Business Partner, United Biscuits.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Monster®, the leading global online career and recruitment resource and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW), today unveiled its new global seeker experience. Launched in 24 countries, the new site offers job seekers an innovative, intuitive, and personal experience designed to deliver a fulfilling career management resource.

“Monster has made a significant investment in product and technology in an effort to design and develop new tools and applications that help job seekers manage their career,” said Sal Iannuzzi, chairman, president and CEO of Monster Worldwide. “The result is an entirely new site experience which allows job seekers a more engaging and dynamic way to find the career that best matches their talent, background, aspirations and professional goals. We set out 18 months ago to deliver the best seeker experience possible. Given what is going on today with the global economic crisis and its effect on employment, we are even more gratified to be able to provide these valuable tools to seekers.”

The new site will allow seekers to more efficiently register with Monster, upload and maintain their resumes, conduct job searches, and apply to jobs. In fact, it is now over 70 percent easier to upload a resume to Monster, and registered seekers can apply for a job in as few as two clicks. This improved functionality will roll out in 24 countries immediately. In addition, unique new career management applications have been designed to not only attract, but engage and appeal to both the active and passive seeker. Available initially in the U.S and rolling out to other countries in the coming months, these include:

* Monster Career Mapping – patent-pending career exploration tool that leads people to explore their careers via many possible and interconnecting paths. This tool will provide an unrivaled ability for seekers to explore career paths taken by people similar to them in skills and experience, enabling them to set reality-based immediate and future career goals, and understand the steps to get there. Monster leveraged the depth of its resume database to analyze work histories to provide empirical evidence about the most commonly chosen career paths people take.

* Monster Career Snapshots – a tool that allows users to access thousands of occupational profiles describing various roles, the skills required, the compensation and work/life balance associated with them. This tool will also provide the ability for users to share their similar careers and experience to provide a dynamic and deeper understanding for seekers.

* Monster Career Benchmarking – assessment tool that helps candidates measure themselves against other individuals or jobs in their industry so they can compete more effectively for the positions they desire.

“The new Monster is a dynamic, interactive, intuitive destination experience – not a static, one-way job board,” said Darko Dejanovic, executive vice president, global chief information officer and head of product, Monster. “Ultimately, these changes create a platform that will enable us to continue to introduce new and exciting functionality in the future. Similarly – and equally important – employers will benefit from increased candidate engagement and activity, and improved reach and presentation of their jobs to the right seekers.”

In addition to Monster’s new seeker capabilities yielding more qualified candidates, Monster’s new Audience Sponsorship product leverages the new seeker experience by providing employers with increased exposure through expanded media solutions. The product allows employers to target desired seekers by advertising where relevant seekers are searching and navigating the site. Also benefitting employers, Monster has begun rolling out a new employer site experience designed to improve the overall recruitment process. New enhanced resume search, job and candidate management, job posting wizard and online resource center tools are designed to help employers increase productivity and maximize their recruitment return on investment.

“Today's ‘new’ Monster not only provides the resources to help people find a job now, it also helps people begin to identify and plot out career aspirations over time,” said Iannuzzi. “We’re delivering on our promise to make Monster a personal, relevant and exciting place to search for the perfect job. Simply put, there has never been a better time to visit Monster.com.”

Groundbreaking online recruitment tendering platform secures funding from The Aspire Fund in order to build on its successful 2009 launch.

Monday 11th January 2009.

TalentPuzzle, a brand new online recruitment platform which radically improves the recruitment process for employers and recruitment agencies, has secured its first external investment round from a syndicate which includes the government’s flagship £12.5m Aspire Fund, managed by Capital for Enterprise Ltd (CfEL). Alongside the Aspire Fund, Talent Puzzle received investment from private fund Venrex Investment Management LLP and two further angel investors, in a funding round that will allow the company to enhance its platform, increase marketing efforts and broaden its database.

Launched in June 2009, TalentPuzzle is revolutionising the UK’s £2.5bn permanent search recruitment market by creating a platform where employers and recruiters can interact more efficiently with each other. TalentPuzzle empowers employers to openly set and advertise to a network of industry leading recruitment agencies the placement fee they are willing to pay for a successful candidate introduction. The resulting transparency will lead employers and recruiters to work better together by improving the quality and suitability of CVs submitted by agencies, thereby reducing costs and improving the time to hire. Founded by entrepreneur Virginia Raemy, TalentPuzzle is providing solutions that are critical during the current downturn and will transform the traditionally highly opaque, unstructured employer / recruitment firm interaction model.

Established in November 2008, the £12.5m Aspire Fund targets support for women-led businesses with an objective to increase the number of successful female entrepreneurs within the UK, ensuring that those with real potential to succeed are not held back through a lack of growth capital. The Fund is able to make investments of between £100k and £1m, providing up to 50% of capital in a funding round alongside other private investors. The Aspire Fund is managed by Capital for Enterprise Ltd on behalf of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Commenting on this investment for CfEL, Melanie Perkins, Lead Manager of the Aspire Fund, said:
“We are delighted to be investing in this innovative and promising young company that provides such a critical service to employers and we look forward to helping TalentPuzzle grow from strength to strength.”

Vigrinia Raemy, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of TalentPuzzle, said:
“I am very happy and feel reinforced by the trust that Aspire and Venrex are showing us through their respective investments. I have big goals for TalentPuzzle and with our investors’ support plan to establish TalentPuzzle as the UK’s leading recruitment marketplace for employers and recruitment agencies. “

AllTheTopBananas.com have today announced that they will be launching the first public beta testing of their brand new site changes at TruLondon's recruitment unconference in London on the 18th of February. Delegates of the unconference will be given the chance to test the new advanced features of AllTheTopBananas' job search before the changes are officially rolled out to the public.

The testing will give recruitment insiders the opportunity to provide opinions and feedback on AllTheTopBananas' site changes, which have been developed after months of research into usability and enhancing job clicks from quality, relevant candidates. AllTheTopBananas have developed technology which is able to identify key features of the job description and display them in icon form; so that users are alerted to significant elements of the displayed job, such as education and skill requirements, and information on job perks.

Other changes include a refined similar jobs matching service, which uses AllTheTopBananas' job title conversion technology to enhance relevancy of the jobs displayed. There is also an increased level of branding for job boards on the jobs results pages, so that users are more aware of the source of a vacancy they are interested in; an added benefit for all jobseeekers and clients.

Dave Martin, MD of AllTheTopBananas.com said: "We are very pleased to be beta testing our site changes at Tru London's recruitment unconference. We have spent a lot of time researching and developing our job search to enable enhanced usability for our jobseekers. Our main priority is to ensure accurate candidate matching to vacancies- quality jobseekers, who are serious about and qualified for, the vacancies that they click on. By providing a user with more information to aid their selection process we are aiming to reduce job applicant spam and further increase the quality of our clicks, which will benefit both jobseeker and job board alike. The beta testing will give others in the recruitment industry a chance to see what we've been up to and help to improve the quality of service we offer. This significant update to our technology and search engine will help us towards our mission of being 'the most helpful job search engine'. The new features are a peak into the future of supporting pragmatic jobseekers. The TRU London event is a great base to launch the beta, we will be offering a limited supply of our free banana beer as a thank you for taking the time to assist our final round of research before we launch."

The popular TRU London recruitment event is run by Bill Boorman and supported by RCEURO, and will give recruitment industry experts the chance to debate and discuss a variety of topics in an informal, participant driven way. The 1 hour 'tracks' will question and discuss important recruitment topics such as social recruiting and the future of the job board. It takes place on the 17th-19th February in Soho. AllTheTopBananas will be beta testing their site changes on Thursday 18th Feb, and are official media sponsors of the event. Limited tickets are still available; for more information about the Tru London recruitment unconference and to register visit the website:

The leader in talent measurement delivers innovative system that predicts candidate job performance and retention

ATLANTA, GA – (PRWeb) February 3, 2010 – PreVisor, the global leader in employment assessments and talent measurement solutions that connect employment decisions to business results, was awarded U.S. patent number 7,606,778 on October 20, 2009. The patent reinforces the company’s commitment to innovation and validates an internet based assessment system utilizing statistical correlations with rankings to assess a job applicant’s probability of performing successfully and reducing the turnover potential.

The PreVisor patent covers online testing technology which delivers assessments over the internet; predicts both an applicant’s job performance and turnover potential; and provides employers with real-time scoring and rank ordering of applicants for a particular job.

The patent announcement follows a series of technology innovation awards for PreVisor products over the past 18 months, and is yet another indicator of the company’s leadership stance on talent measurement innovation. Earlier this month it was announced that PreVisor received the highly coveted M. Scott Myers award from the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology (SIOP) in recognition of their work developing and validating computer adaptive personality assessments. In September, PreVisor was recognized by Human Resource Executive Magazine with a Top Product of the Year Award for their Front Line Manager solution. In January 2009, the PreVisor Contact Center Solution won the 2008 Product of the Year from Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine. In late 2008, PreVisor also received the 2008 Game Changing Recruiting Technology for its computer adaptive platform from Online Recruitment Magazine.

“We are very pleased by this recognition from the U.S. Patent Office for the design of our assessment delivery system. PreVisor has invested a great deal of time and effort unifying the best-in-class originating test companies including Qwiz, ePredix, Personnel Decisions Research Institutes (PDRI), and Brainbench onto a single platform. We have been and continue to be dedicated to driving innovation in the talent measurement arena,” stated Noel Sitzmann, CEO of PreVisor. “This award, as well as other awards from distinguished organizations, represents the continued recognition of our efforts and is gratefully received.”

Authoria and Peopleclick Combine in $100 Million Transaction to Create Largest Private Company in the Talent Management Arena

Waltham, MA – January 5, 2010

New Company Currently Serves Nearly 60 Percent of the Fortune 100 and Delivers Enterprise Customers Worldwide the First Best-of-Breed Talent Management Suite

As further evidence of its commitment to the Human Capital Management marketplace, Bedford Funding, a private equity firm with $800 million in available capital specializing in investments in the software and IT sector, today announced its $100 million acquisition of Peopleclick, the leading provider of Talent Acquisition and Workforce Compliance and Diversity solutions.

Peopleclick will join with Authoria, an existing Bedford Funding portfolio company which was the industry's first provider of fully-integrated Talent Management solutions. The combination of these two leading independent brands, which will now operate under the Peopleclick Authoria name, brings an unmatched suite of Talent Management software, services and consulting solutions to enterprise businesses around the world. Charles S. Jones, Managing Partner of Bedford Funding, will assume the role of Chairman and CEO of Peopleclick Authoria, effective immediately.

"Enterprise customers who are addressing increasing global workforce complexity and managing thousands, or even tens of thousands, of employees expect deep software functionality in the specific Talent Management disciplines they are enabling, whether it be recruiting, compensation, performance management, succession planning, compliance or vendor management. That said, with every silo or multi-silo function purchase, all enterprise customers come to the table with a long-term vision for a full suite of compatible and integrated Talent Management solutions so they can successfully apply a range of employee data toward desired business outcomes," said Mr. Jones. "We are excited to now provide current and prospective customers the powerful combination of two leading brands and two deeply innovative and comprehensive suite providers in Talent Acquisition and Talent Management. With this integration we are delivering the first best-of-breed suite available in the market from one single-source vendor."

Peopleclick Authoria is currently serving nearly 60 percent of the Fortune 100 and has proven expertise in meeting the needs of large global customers. The combined company has expressly committed to the ongoing support of all product lines offered by Authoria and Peopleclick prior to the union, and it will deliver key integration and innovation elements in order to provide broader capability for existing customers and one of the most comprehensive talent lifecycle solutions for new customers.

"Peopleclick Authoria represents the union of two strong players in the fast-growing Talent Management systems market," said Josh Bersin, President and CEO of Bersin & Associates. "Both companies are product and market leaders in their segments, and together they bring scale and depth of management to drive growth and even greater customer value."

All aspects of the Peopleclick business, including the Vendor Management System and the Compliance and Diversity businesses, will be integrated, along with the Talent Acquisition products, into a comprehensive Talent Management offering with Authoria's existing suite. The Compliance and Diversity business previously within Peopleclick, combined with the full suite of post-hire talent management capabilities, is at the forefront of supporting the diverse workforce priorities and regulatory compliance initiatives of global customers for both companies. By extending customers' ability to effectively control their contingent workforces, Peopleclick Authoria's Vendor Management System offers customers the ability to fully manage the talent acquisition process – whether such talent is permanently added to an organization or considered on a contingent basis – to meet critical staffing and organizational performance needs within budget.

The full spectrum of Talent Acquisition and Talent Management products available through Peopleclick Authoria will continue to be sold independently or as part of a suite offering, and the Company will be delivering an Appreciation Program, which will reward the purchase of expanded suite functionality with discounted packaged pricing models, in the coming months to existing customers of both companies. In further support of customer initiatives in the coming year, the Company has made additional investments in the engineering and services groups to optimize the delivery of new functionality and integrations to customers in the U.S. through four data centers and eight offices spread across North America and internationally through an E.U. data center and locations in India, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

Full-Featured social media career management product shows the future of recruiting

London, UK – 25 January 2010

With nearly half of all companies turning to social media for recruitment in 2010, TweetDeck and TwitJobSearch have teamed up to provide the ultimate dedicated job seeker platform. JobDeck - brings together the premier social media desktop client, TweetDeck , with TwitJobSearch, the first real-time job search engine. The new product makes it event easier to search social media for job offers, track the latest trends in job hunting, and connecting with contacts across Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and more.

The JobDeck product allows professionals to:

• track recruitment news (via leading bloggers and HR professionals)
• access data from the only global real-time job-search engine
• integrate LinkedIn for your professional contacts
• preview short URLs from the comfort of JobDeck
• update their Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn status and track updates from their industry peers
• follow real-time updates from leading professional blogs and Twitter accounts,
• add, create and manage Twitter Lists
• avoid Twitter spam with TweetDeck's spam button
• make use of dozens of other essential tools all from one simple client

TweetDeck and TwitJobSearch have teamed up to provide you with a dedicated JobDeck. This makes it even easier to search for jobs, as well as staying in touch with what's happening now, and connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more. With over 400 million individuals globally engaging with online social media products, the shift by companies to engage with this channel makes it essential for job seekers to re-think their career management tools.

"We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the makers of the best social media application, TweetDeck, to help reinvent the recruitment process," said Howard Lee, CEO of WorkDigital. "Recruitment is quickly evolving and better tools to manage this shift are an essential part of any career management suite. Just as we early members of the LinkedIn developer platform, we are working with world-class product developers to build world-class products." TwitJobSearch scours twitter; indexing tweets that are jobs, and filtering out the rest, thus providing jobseekers with the tools necessary to find meaningful, relevant job opportunities amongst the noise.

About WorkDigital Ltd
WorkDigital is a London-based natural language search technology company that has built a suite of award-winning career management tools that have been featured in BusinessWeek, WIRED, the FT, the New York Times, the Guardian, and hundreds of other publications. http://twitjobsearch.com

About TweetDeck
TweetDeck is an Adobe AIR desktop Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace application. It interfaces with the Twitter API to allow users to send and receive tweets and view profiles. It is the most popular Twitter application with a 19% market share as of June 2009, following only the official Twitter.com website for posting new status updates. An iPhone version was released on the 19th June 2009.

LONDON, September 22, 2009 - MrTed Ltd, the global leader in Talent Acquisition Solutions, today announced it has signed a major contract with the Chinese Talent Association (CTA) of China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) to build up a nationwide online Talent Acquisition System (TAS) and develop value-added services to help companies throughout the country improve the process by which they attract and hire the right talent, and help millions of talents in China to find the right job.

CTA is responsible for managing all national talent policies, standards and regulations on behalf of the Chinese Government. The project with MrTed supports an unprecedented nationwide initiative to develop and leverage online talent acquisition services to increase speed and accuracy of hiring for tens of thousands of companies across all industries throughout the country. As the only true provider of on-demand global talent acquisition solution in China, MrTed is ideally positioned to better serve organizations seeking to identify and hire the most coveted talent by providing a solution that is easily configurable, rich in features, easy to implement, and seamlessly integrated to other enterprise-class business systems.

“The improvement of the national employment situation is one of the key objectives for the MOHRSS in the next 5 years. We are honored that the Chinese government eventually choose MrTed as the long-term and strategic partner for achieving this critical mission,” said Johnny Wang, Managing Director for MrTed China. “We will support CTA to setup the largest Talent Acquisition platform in China, thousands of recruiters in all major cities and districts across China will make use of MrTed’s flagship solution, MrTedTalentLink. As the market leader in China, MrTed was already positioned to serve the needs of leading global companies here, and now MrTedTalentLink is positioned to become the underlying hiring platform for the entire nation.”

“With China emerging from the global downturn faster than other economies, the need to attract, hire and retain the best talent is expected to increase. That China has elected to centralize and standardize management of this critical process with MrTed clearly demonstrates the government agency’s appreciation for the best global talent acquisition solution. It also underscores MrTed’s unique ability to help the world’s largest organizations to master the complexity of recruiting locally on a global scale,” said Jerome Ternynck, CEO and co-founder of MrTed. “We are very excited to work with the Chinese government on this very important project, and we are proud to be part of the largest-ever deployment of cloud-based talent acquisition software.”

London, 23 July 2009 - Bullhorn, the global leader in On Demand, front office staffing and recruiting software, has been granted affiliate membership to APSCo, the Association of Professional Staffing Companies. The company, which launched in Europe in June sees the membership as an important part of its initiatives to establish itself as a leading player in the UK market.

Peter Linas, Sales Director, commented: We feel it is important to make a contribution to the staffing industry and becoming a member of APSCo will allow Bullhorn to do so. We are delighted that our launch into the UK has been endorsed by such a high profile professional body."

The membership will allow Bullhorn to keep up to date with UK and EU parliamentary issues and to benefit from the influence APSCo has over policy and industry regulations.

Peter Linas continues: "The future of the recruitment sector is on the web, and as the leading Global provider of recruitment SaaS solutions, we felt it was important for Bullhorn to be part of APSCo. As more recruiters look to integrate with the likes of LinkedIn, Google, Zoominfo and the next inevitable social networking innovation, we would like to be there to assist, as well as promote best practice and develop industry standards."

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo comments: "We are delighted to welcome Bullhorn as an affiliate member of APSCo. We have received very positive references and are confident that they will add value to our organisation. Bullhorn are already making their presence known in the industry and we hope to be able to assist them in raising standards, and providing high quality information and services. "

Partnership Will Provide Global Job Posting Support and Expanded Job Board Management Services to Peopleclick Clients

RALEIGH, NC - SAN RAMON, CA - LONDON, UK - June 29, 2009 — Peopleclick, Inc., the leading global talent acquisition solutions provider, and eQuest, the global leader in job posting and internet recruitment management services, today announced a renewed partnership that will continue to provide Peopleclick clients advanced job posting services through the Peopleclick® Recruitment Management System (RMS).

Through the multi-year partnership, Peopleclick and eQuest will offer clients the following:

• Additional domestic and European job board destinations
• Online tracking systems confirming job delivery status
• A new personalized metrics dashboard that evaluates the best performing career sites prior to choosing the desired job boards for delivery
• Automated job delivery scheduling
• Peopleclick and eQuest offer some of the most recognized international job boards focusing on leading career sites in Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

"Through our agreement with eQuest, Peopleclick is able to provide our clients with high-value job posting options that will further develop their talent acquisition strategy,” said Ginny Gomez, SVP of Product Management and Marketing at Peopleclick. "Right now, organizations are focused on finding the brightest and most advanced candidates in the marketplace, and our long-term relationship with eQuest assures our clients that we continue to offer innovative partnerships that make tasks such as job posting more effective and efficient.”

"We are pleased to continue our partnership with Peopleclick," said John Malone, President and Chief Executive Officer at eQuest. "eQuest is committed to providing new concepts and technologies that exceed expectation. We look forward to providing these to Peopleclick customers around the world.”

About eQuest
eQuest provides domestic and international job-posting delivery and job board management and consultation services. Hundreds of job boards are supported in the eQuest network reaching over 180 countries and territories worldwide. eQuest also provides complete candidate sourcing and tracking analysis for evaluating job board performance. eQuest is one of the most recognized and admired brands in the human resource industry. eQuest can be reached at www.equest.com .

About Peopleclick
Peopleclick provides software and services that empower companies around the world to find, attract and hire quality people-in less time, with less risk. Peopleclick’s technology, consulting expertise and support give companies the vision and flexibility to strategically manage all of their talent resources-whether they are salaried, hourly or contingent. Founded in 1997, the privately-held company currently serves over 2,000 clients in 214 countries and territories, including 54 of the Fortune 100. Peopleclick products support users in organizations ranging in size from large, multi-national corporations to small and medium-sized businesses. For more information about Peopleclick, visit www.peopleclick.com

Recruitment firms need to include IT spend for new services in next year’s budgets in order to remain competitive in the marketplace according to a leading expert on technology in the staffing sector.

Raymond Pennie, who is Commercial Director of IT outsourcing specialists Kamanchi as well as Co-Chair of APSCo’s Technology Forum, says that recruitment firms who fail to invest in the latest technology risk falling behind their competitors as the war for talent heats up in 2010.

“This is the time of year when management teams set budgets for the coming 12 months,” says Raymond. “Recruitment firms who fail to include IT spend when putting together their figures run a real risk of falling behind the competition as online services increasingly becomes the single most important means of sourcing candidates.”

Social networking sites, CV databases and clients building their own candidate networks are just some of the trends which Raymond sees in the market which make it imperative for recruiters to have access to the latest technology.

“Without a strong IT strategy recruitment firms will struggle to make best use of the tools available to them. Those firms with the most efficient systems will be best-placed to take advantage of the upturn when it comes,” says Raymond. “It’s also important to remember that IT innovation does not stand still. With an IT budget in place recruitment firms will be ready to take up the next killer application when it hits the market.”

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday dear world wide web…Happy Birthday to you.

The article below comes from Tech News World, written by Alexander G Higgins.

But it got me thinking about the last 20 years; it hasn't been an evolution -  it really has been a revolution in our recruitment industry.

Read and enjoy a fine article and tomorrow I will look at just how far we have come and the true impact of www. on our world.

Article:

 

Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the World Wide Web. The concept of combining hyptertext with the Internet to allow physicists to browse from page to page, share images and click on links to access other sites was pioneered by Tim Berners-Lee, who remembers having to work on the project quietly because it was never formally approved..

Some two decades after the creation of the World Wide Web, its inventor says the work is far from over.

Tim Berners-Lee encouraged fellow scientists at his former particle physics laboratory in Switzerland to look to the future.

"The rate of development and innovation on the Web is actually getting faster and faster all the time," Berners-Lee said at a ceremony at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as "CERN." "The Web is not all done. It's just the tip of the iceberg."

The ceremony Friday marked the Web's 20th anniversary, though it's an early celebration of sorts.

Berners-Lee first proposed the Web 20 years ago, in 1989, while developing ways to control computers remotely at CERN. He didn't begin writing software until October 1990, and his browser wasn't working until later that year.

In fact, Berners-Lee isn't even sure when exactly he wrote his first proposal for using the Internet , already two decades old at that point, to allow physicists to browse from page to page, share images and click on links to access other sites.

"The exact date, I'll have to admit, is sort of a created one because I can't remember which day it was I actually wrote the darn thing," Berners-Lee said. "I probably was thinking of it all through February."

He said it took a while to get an adequate computer and make the idea work, but that by December of 1990 the Web was up and running -- even if only between two computers at CERN.

He had to do all of that quietly: He never got the project formally approved, but his boss suggested he quietly tinker with it anyway.
Internet + Hypertext = Web

Essentially, the Web combines two concepts that date to the 1960s: the Internet and hypertext, which is a way of presenting information nonsequentially. Though the two concepts were well known among engineers, Berners-Lee saw the value of marrying them.

The Web has since expanded rapidly.

"You think it's a great change to society that you can look things up on the Web," said Berners-Lee. But changes that are yet to come "are going to rock the boat even more."

"People use the Web to invent things, all kinds of things which you never would have imagined."

The celebration took place as scientists at CERN, near Geneva, were waiting for the completion of repairs to the laboratory's particle accelerator -- the world's largest atom smasher that was sideline by an electrical