Job Tips - helping you land the next job

The daily job tips are back on Twitter - http://twitter.com/BeFoundAU

We will also be posting some JobTips here that need a little more depth.  Keep an eye out for posts including JobTip in the title.

Brisbane - West and South West

We have been out this week talking to companies on Outer West and Outer South West of Brisbane.

 

Employers out there are crying out for qualified trades people especially:

• Boiler Makers
• Welders
• Metal workers
• Tyre fitters (large/oversized commercials)

Also in demand are:

• Bookkeepers and Administrators
• Warehouse managers
• Truck mechanics
• Truck sales
• Transport & Logistics specialist
• Diesel mechanics

If you fit any of these, have your own transport and would be interested in working in the following areas register now and you could BeFound:

• Richlands
• Wacol
• Goonda
• Redbank

Or.....if you know anyone that may fit the bill let them know that they should register and create a free on-line profile today!

Recent/Current searches....

Employers searching for:

• IT Development Manager - Brisbane North
• Barista/Cafe Staff - Brisbane South
• Operation/Warehouse Manager (Order Fulfillment) - Sydney North
• Network Marketing - from home
• Electricians - Brisbane North

Register now and you could BeFound!

How secure are your details?

Now that BeFound has been around for a some 18 months the major Job Boards are now pushing their ‘Profile offerings’ even more.

All are promoting the fact that you can create and upload profiles and use these to apply for jobs on their site. At the same time they tell you that employers can also use your profile to find you.

Sound great doesn’t it?
But how secure is your information?
The quick answer is – “Not very!”

Using one of the major Job Borads I can download your full Resume and see your name, e-mail address and phone number. In some cases I can also see your street address, your date of birth and your referees.  All this without you even knowing about it!  Scared?  You should be!

Before you create a public profile on any of the 3 major Job Boards ask yourself the following:
Q – Who is looking at your information?
A – You have no idea!
Q – How will they use your personal information for?
A – You have no idea!
Q – Do you want your Resume and all your personal and contact information up for sale to anyone that is willing to pay the price?
A – Probably not!

The problem is that Job Boards are now pushing the Profile and Resume finders and downloads as a secondary service and charge employers and recruiters for access to your information. Fine if you do not care who looks at your details, but potentially very dangerous.

BeFound.com.au is the only dedicated Job Seeker database.

• We do not advertise job
• We are all about promoting job seekers to employers in a safe and controlled environment
• We do not disclosed any personal information without your express permission
• We do not sell your information
• We do not deal with recruiters – only employers with real jobs (no tyre kickers!)

Know your options and make sure you know how your profile is going to be used and displayed.

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!