Of the 3 major job boards, HotJobs has the most upside. The niche sites have really cut into the growth and allure of Monster/CareerBuilder while HotJobs has stagnated over the past few years. That could be changing. Yahoo is finally integrating HotJobs into more of the Yahoo user experience. (i.e. Hotjobs Direct) This integration will provide more value for employers. While at SHRM two weeks ago I caught HotJobs resident blogger Matt Martone at the Hotjobs booth. Here's a brief look at his presentation.
Social Networking for Employers with AffinityCircles
If you're looking to precisely target college alumni groups, a company named AffinityCircles can help. Through the use of their site inCirclejobs.com, employers can post jobs to a slect group of alumni such as those from Stanford, U of Florida, and U of Michigan to name a few. Employers can actually create profiles with their networks and get unlimited job postings. I had the chance to talk with Steve Loughlin, their CEO at the recent SHRM conference in Las Vegas. Here's a brief 5 minute video.
SHRM made some news of their own at the recent expo in Las Vegas. They unvelied a new logo and slogan. Entitled "I am SHRM" the new tagline was everywhere at the show including cardboard cutouts like the one below. The new logo (bottom right) combines the h and r into a more unified look. I like it.
Monster usually had some big parties at past SHRM conferences. This year that honor goes to Jobing who made a big splash while hosting parties on several floors of the Palms hotel & casino.
According to an article in the latest Workforce Magazine, Monster wanted to lay low this year and concentrate on its booth. Director of Marketing, Kerry Talbot was quoted saying, "We decided to focus on deepened conversations at our booth. (Attendees) have expressed demand for more product focus."
The article goes on to speculate that perhaps Monster is feeling pressure from niche job boards and is cutting back while prepping for a sale of the company. Their new president, Sal Iannuzzi, just guided a previous company, Symbol Technologies, through a sale. Monster's new CFO is also from Symbol Tech. Hmmm. I smell 4 sale signs...Monster of course, declined to comment on the rumours.
I had the chance to talk with Ethan Bloomfield of Jobtarget at this weeks SHRM conference. In this video he'll explain their new relationship with SHRM.org and give you a glimpse at the future of this job board technology company. Jobtarget is based in New London, Connecticut. (3:43)