What's New No. 2

So what else is going on at The EG that is new and exciting in addition to the recent introduction of video? Over the course of the later half of 2007, our talented product development team and programmers went to work on constructing a new solution for recruiters in the health care industry. Breaking from the platform of traditional job boards, our team, after researching the industry, decided to incorporate a social networking component into our new site. It was clear that people in the health care industry needed their own community online; therefore, we introduced our social networking section of the new HealthCareerWeb.com called, "MedCom."

After the soft launch of the site at the end of 2007, we started to see an influx of medical professionals starting to find their new networking space. As we near the hard launch date, more than 2,000 individuals have already created networking profiles in addition to uploading resumes and actively applying for jobs. We are also very excited to have Denise Tanner leading our HealthCareerWeb.com efforts in the capacity of business development manager. Denise has professional experience within the health care industry and has a great understanding on how to best position our products to meet the needs of both job seekers and recruiters. Denise has already contributed greatly to our efforts in preparing HealthCareerWeb.com for the upcoming hard launch.

At the rate new jobs are being created in the health care industry, we understand the importance of developing a product that can readily meet the needs of the industry. The aging population in the United States is the primary reason for the increasing health care hiring bubble, and when an economic trend is demographically supported, it typically come to fruition.

A large part of our motivation in developing this new product is to meet the needs of our customers (job seekers and recruiters within the health care industry). Another large part of our motivation is to be a partner in proactively meeting the health care needs of the aging population base within the United States. We have a large group of hourly job seekers that utilize our products and services that represent a great base for educational programs to tap into in order to re-career individuals for new careers in health care. As manufacturing jobs, construction jobs, etc., are on the decline, there are great opportunities for individuals within these respective professions to embark on a new rewarding career within health care.

We are very excited about our newest product offering! A special thanks goes out to all of the individuals who worked together to pave the way for our newest offering, HealthCareerWeb.com.

What is New at The Employment Guide

I spend a lot of time comprising posts on my blog about my thoughts on leadership and how my thoughts coincide with what is going on within our business and industry. The next few posts are going to be dedicated to new, exciting products that I am personally excited about and that we are now offering at The Employment Guide.

Video Job Postings and Employer Profile Videos - Video has been an emerging medium online. Video is definitely here to stay, and it makes quite an impact as a complement to recruitment advertising packages. Video helps recruiters paint a better picture for job seekers. It allows the job seeker to enhance their understanding of the job description and have a better perspective of the company for which they are contemplating as a prospective employer. According to a study I recently read completed and published by Borrell Associates, Inc., "local online video advertising" is expected "to more than triple to nearly $1.3 billion" in 2008. We at The Employment Guide have a local online, cost-effective video product ready to meet your recruitment advertising needs.

The emerging metric for how the success of a video is measured is called EOI (Expression Of Interest). The expression of interest refers to the playing of the video, which then translates into increased conversion rates of a higher quality candidate based on using the video as an additional filtering tool. Adding video to a recruitment campaign will help to improve the process by which recruiters find the right candidate. Adding video will also allow recruiters to spend less of their precious time working on the wrong candidates by improving the means by which the advertising works as a filtering device.

Video is a cool addition to a job posting and increases a posting's effectiveness. It appeals to all generations. Until lately, it has also been very expensive. Not anymore! Just like the impact our organization, The Employment Guide, had on the newspaper industry when we introduced the first national network of alternative cost-effective recruitment publications, we are also now ready to change the landscape and current expensive nature of recruitment videos.

Stay tuned to EmploymentGuide.com for more details, or you can always call one of our 55 offices across the United States and speak to one of our team members in a market nearest you.

How do you feel about video as an online recruitment tool?

Get There First

A few years ago "Get There First" was our mantra. Given our impact and the impact of other alternative recruitment solutions on daily newspapers (which at the time was our number one prospecting tool), it became clear that we could no longer rely solely on any one source of leads to direct our calling efforts in acquiring new customers. We realized that we were going to have to take the initiative to build stronger relationships with our customers and earn the right to be their first choice when it came to recruitment advertising within the hourly bracket. In order to accomplish this goal, we were going to have to be first in line or "get there first" once our customer or prospect realized the urgency of his or her need.

I am reviewing this segment of our past because history always provides valuable lessons from which we should all learn. The current economic condition in the United States is not that far removed from the conditions with which we were all dealing just five or six years ago. Obviously, the overnight impact that 9/11 had on our nation was much greater, but the business climate and the mind set of many in the business and financial communities seems very similar as far as the outlook for the near term. So how can we not only grow in these times, but prosper?

The mantra and ideology of "get there first" still holds true today in combination with having higher expectations of our own performance and those of our coworkers, as well as the level of contributions of those with whom we choose to partner for success. We still have to make sure we have worked hard enough to earn our place in line when our customers are ready to recruit. There are thousands of companies that are still recruiting on an ongoing basis. Jobs will be relocated overseas, and jobs will be eliminated through technological advances, but you will still have companies hiring (especially hourly workers). Interestingly enough, these types of changes in our labor economy usually end up creating new job opportunities. Have you heard the terms "green collar jobs” being thrown around of late? I rest my case.

I view today's business climate as one in which businesses who out hustle, innovate, and build quality organizations that attract talent while never waning from their core ideology will prosper. This will happen by laying the foundation for success today for incredible growth tomorrow. How will we accomplish this at The Employment Guide? We will always do what is best for our customers. It is critical that everyone at all levels of our organization embraces this concept. We will be honest and ethical at all times. We will develop and promote from within. We will be committed to high expectations, and we will be fiscally responsible. We are not immune to the "hustle factor" and will also have to out hustle the competition. In a lot of instances, it is still a race to see who "gets there first." If you are first in line to satisfy your customer's need, why would they require that the same need be met by the next business, person or product that offers their services? They wouldn't and won't.

Do not underestimate the importance of effort. Yes, working smart is also very important, but there is a piece of basic business principals, especially sales, that will always be a numbers game. We have to make quality calls - and a lot of them.

The reward for our efforts will be a larger customer base from which to grow our business in the future. This could be the result of new products and services, opening new recruitment segments, or by continuing to earn more new customers by meeting the expectations of our current and future customers.

It is exciting times, simply because of the sheer amount of opportunity that is being created as a result of all of the problems we currently face as a nation. I once read that "the bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity." No wonder the races to see who will represent each of the two large political parties in the upcoming Presidential election are so closely contested.