Recent/Current searches....

Employers searching for.....

• Air-conditioning engineers - Brisbane.  (it's a hot, wet summer!!)
• Storeman/Logistics Coordinator - South Brisbane
• Truck Driver / Yard Person – Ipswich and South Brisbane
• Payroll / HR Administrator – Brisbane CBD Fringe
• Accountants/Bookkeepers – various locations

Best Job Boards in Australia Announced

BeFound.com.au - 2nd runner up in Newcomer category in the 2010 Job Board Awards.

Here follows the press release from Destination Talent who ran the awards:

The winners of the inaugural Job Board Awards to recognise excellence in online recruitment in Australia has been announced by Destination Talent.

The winners are as follows:

Best Job Board (Generalist)
Winner: SEEK
1st Runner up: CareerOne,
2nd Runner up: MyCareer

Best Job Board (Niche - Profession)
Winner: ArtsHub
1st Runner up: HRCareers,
2nd Runner up: NursingCareersAlliedHealth

Best Job Board (Niche - Demographic)
Winner: GradConnection
1st Runner up: Unigrad,
2nd Runner up: CareerMums

Best Job Board (Newcomer of the Year)
Winner: TheLoop
1st Runner up: TheResourceChannel,
2nd Runner up: BeFound and ALB LegalJobsCentre

Best Talent Database
Winner: CareerOne
1st Runner up: FindaBabySitter,
2nd Runner up: LinkMe

Winners are selected after an exhaustive two month process of public nomination, selection and assessment by a panel of ten judges. All finalists are rated on seven key criteria - services available to advertisers, resources for job seekers, volume of traffic, pricing, technology, site usability and brand recognition.

“Winners consistently scored higher on brand recognition and volume of traffic, and also rated highly in providing resources for job seekers, key foundation ingredients for a successful job board,” says Phillip Tusing, founder of the awards.

“The award process also highlighted the rich variations of services available to employers. Established players continue to evolve their offerings while new upstarts also come up with fresh business models, suggesting a healthy and vibrant job board sector.”

Internet Job Advertisement Index

I’ve said it before and I‘ll say it again - internet job advertisement indexes are about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. No that’s not completely fair. As far as general trending tools go – looking at internet job adverts is "OK", but overall the actual numbers themselves are meaningless. 

Advertisers generally buy job packs which may give them 100 job ads per month to use for a specific cost. These contracts generally run for 12 months and each month the company pays their money and they can place up to 100 job ads. If they do not use the allotted 100 ads they are not carried over.

This “use ‘em or lose ‘em” system means that during times when job vacancies may be lower and the full allotment of 100 ads is not going to be used, advertisers may post the same job ad in different industries or categories or may even re-post it to see if there are any new applicants out there.

There is nothing wrong with this – in fact it makes great business sense. It gives the advertiser more exposure and a wider reach whilst not costing them any more money.

Advertisers are also likely to advertise the same job on multiple job board.

This all means that it is more than likely that a single job may appear in the index numerous times – therefore skewing the stats.

Now – recruitment agencies. Another great way to skew the stats. If an employer goes out to agencies to find staff (especially contract staff) they may go out to as many as 10 or 12 recruiters. Each of those recruiters may post an advert or 2 on each of the major job boards – which in actual fact means that the same job could quite conceivable be advertised over 20 times. How does that make the stats look? 

Interestingly enough the internet job advertisement indexes are more often used by “recruitment experts” to demonstrate an up-turn in the market where as a declining/slowing trend is much more believable and credible. 

Internet Job Advertisement Indexes will always be skew to the positive, so if there are showing a declining or slowing trend one could surmise that the economy could well be slowing, but all of these stats and industry comments should be taken with a pinch bag of salt!

Skills shortage or job shortage? Who should we believe?

At the same time as a “recruitment expert” was telling us of the impending skills shortage, the Courier Mail (on 8 February) published an article predicting a rise in unemployment in QLD and only a slight positive move in the unemployment figures across the nation… …

“…..QUEENSLAND could be looking at a rise in unemployment above 6 per cent after data showed a big fall in internet job ads in the state during January.

Economists are tipping that nationally there will be a slight fall in the jobless number released later this week, but the Advantage Job Index, which tracks internet job advertisements, fell more than 5 per cent in Queensland with big drops in transport, building and construction, and hospitality and tourism.

The decline was the worst in almost two years for Queensland…”

With different opinions being thrown around who are we to believe? Believe who you want, but consider why are we so quick to jump on the band wagon and start shouting about either feast or famine?

• Extremes sell
• Extreme negatives give people an option to take a swipe at governments
• The perception of higher unemployment helps stabilise wage/salary expectation
• A perception of a skills shortage helps recruiter justify their existence and their fees

However, the decline in QLD during January could be quite easily explained away by the floods and cyclones. Businesses simply were not there to advertise. Brisbane CBD closed for almost a week so what do you expect – there is bound to be a decline in advertised jobs as January only had 3 weeks! Not rocket science is it?

There is always something to gain from pushing extreme views – financial, political, personal and for every view there is a counterview.

The upshot is – don’t believe everything you hear or read – it’s generally never as bad or good as they are making out.

Concentrate on making yourself as marketable as possible in your own field and you should succeed regardless of what the pundits are pushing.

Employee dictated marketplace

Some recent reports and predictions may have us believing that the Australian economy is regaining significant momentum - notwithstanding recent floods, cyclone and bushfire. This in turn could cause a tighter labour market over the coming months – essentially creating a skills shortage.

In times of skills shortage or perceived skills shortage employers have to be very careful not to get sucked into an ‘employee dictated market place’.

This phenomenon was very apparent before the GFC where the labour market showed little loyalty and employees were quick to move and try new opportunities. With the GFC and the instability and economic uncertainty of the last couple of years, employees have been less inclined to move.

With the economic upturn comes consumer confidence, but also ‘work force confidence’. A more stable economy makes for a more transient workforce as workers gain more confidence to move into new roles with new companies – simply put, they are willing to take more risks!

Employers should start to look at their attraction and retention strategies now to make sure that they are not left high and dry when they can least afford it. Reaction is always more expensive than preparation.

Finding staff an issue for 2011

BRW has identified that recruitment will be one of the major challenges for companies during 2011.

With regards to SMEs finding the right staff will be keeping company founders awake at nights with 95% of SME planning to hire more staff during the next 12 months.

Owners and Managers within the Finance sector in particular say that their #1 challenge over the next 12 months will be finding and retaining staff. Salaries are expected to be increased to help retain existing staff and emphasis will be placed on ways to find and attract new staff.

Reducing the cost of recruitment will also be a major consideration during 2011. Further increases in internal recruitment are likely. During 2010 we saw larger enterprise establishing internal recruitment teams and this trend is likely to continue during 2011.

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Recent/Current searches....

Employers searching for.....

• Aircon/Air Conditioning Engineer, Brisbane
• Facility/Site Manager - Gladstone
• Solicitor - Brisbane
• HC Truck driver - Sydney (Outer West - Blue Mountains)
• Accountant - Gold Coast
• Bookkeeper - Gold Coast

Sound like you?  Know anyone is looking for work? 

Register now at http://www.befound.com.au/