Search 1998 v Search 2006

This second guest post is one of many in the coming weeks as part of "Blog Swap". Please welcome a post from the Paul DeBettignies who runs a blog called the MNHeadhunter. 

I want to thank Mike for the opportunity to participate in his blog and with his readers through the Recruiting.com Blog Swap.

This week I have incorporated a new search firm, Nerd Search, LLC. (While typing this post I received word that it is official and this is the first place that it has been announced. YEAH BABY) This blog post got me to thinking about how times have changed in my eight years in the industry.

In 1998 when I started the first search firm there were some very basic technology things that a recruiter needed to do ones job:

The office line

Fax machine

Internet line, dial-up was the most affordable

Copier

Computer

An email address, if you were keeping up with the crowd

A simple web site if you were leading the crowd

Everything was a paper trail and logged by hand. We killed a number of trees every quarter to keep up with the resumes that were faxed in and then copied to each other. Email was just being used and more so for a simple communication tool than a delivery one. Those fax machines definitely got a workout.

Candidates were found at job fairs, cold calling into companies, and a couple of online job boards. For the most part the job was an 8 am – 6 pm gig.

Flash forward to 2006. The possible technology tools are endless:

The office line, now using VoIP

Fax line (which rarely if ever gets used)

Copier (which rarely gets used)

Computers, a desktop and laptop in a wireless network

Applicant Tracking Systems, a more involved database than Access, ACT, or using Outlook

Web sites are the norm

Blogs like this one and my own, MN Headhunter, are leading the crowd

RSS Feeds

Digital newsletters

Social networking sites

Podcasts

Smart phones

And the list goes on…

The fax line and copier tend to collect more dust than anything else. Most everything is done by email including interoffice sharing. Using an ATS gives you access to your database from anywhere, 24 hours a day.

Web sites are a must. Blogs are the cool thing. Next week I am releasing a new version of MN Headhunter, a hybrid between a blog and corporate web site. We have heard that it may be the first, or at least one of the few, to be both.

RSS feeds and newsletters allow for jobs to appear on potential candidates desktops for them to react when they are ready.

Niche job boards, online communities and social networking sites are the rage.

I am using all of the above tools expect for a smart phone, I do not need that much information and no one needs that much access to me, and the podcast, my voice is not commercial material.

What’s on the horizon? Steven Rothberg at CollegeRecruiter.com has clients who are sending career information to college students and recent graduates by way of cell phone text messaging.

The 8 am – 6 pm job has become a potential 24-hour a day gig. In between naps I look forward to see what the next eight years bring.

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Paul DeBettignies is the Managing Partner and Founder of Nerd Search, LLC a Minneapolis, Minnesota based information technology search firm. Paul also writes the MN Headhunter blog. To reach Paul, send an email to Paul@mnheadhunter.com 

Comments

[Beth C]

1998? Ha! That was just like yesterday. :)
(Did you catch my guest blogswap post on recruiting back in the real good old days?)
http://recruitomatic.wordpress.com/2006/07/12/top-five-things-recruiters-did-pre-internet/

Actually it's amazing how much things have changed in even such a short time.

[Recruitomatic]

Actually, two very good posts!

Amitai