There are a number of new job "matching" systems entering the online job search fray. Itzbig is coming out soon but another one is QuietAgent.com
They want already employed candidates to sign up who might be looking for "a better opportunity". Job seekers remain anonymous and only release their personal contact info if they accept an invitation from an employer who has already pre-qualified them.
Employers register, search, rank, and invite pre-qualified career seekers.
They only pay $20 per accepted invite (jobseekers can decline and invite, or block the employer from ever sourcing them.)
According to one of their founders..."We feel it's the future of recruitment---no job postings, no referral of a friend of a friend--just confidential contact by 2 parties mutually interested in meeting."
My own job boards already have an anonymous pay-per-resume system so its no surprise that a system like QuietAgent has launched. It makes sense because it protects the privacy of the job seeker and puts the control in their hands. Call it an evolution of the online job search experience.
1 comment:
Every time I read about fellow employers salivating that "they want already employed candidates," it makes me sick. It is really aggravating when hiring colleagues cry that all the good people are taken. That's as horrid as a dateless woman bemoaning to a single straight guy that all the good men are already married.
We live in an age of nonstop downsizing where even talented people are let go, not just deadwood. Countless mergers make smart people redundant.
Moreover, some of us are into the very lifelong learning that both employers and career counselors claim we must have for the 21st century. We may be employed, we may be unemployed. We defintely don't want to keep doing the same old thing. Pigeonholing is boring. We are not interested in jumping ship or starting in a new job unless it expands our employability and marketability.
We're definitely out there seeking to make a change, to be of value to ourselves and to future employers. We'd also like to make some changes in our own teams, and what really gets in the way is this obsession about "experience," a totally useless concept when everything changes so rapidly.
Why don't we for once call this what it is? When are we as employers going to get over our "fear of making a hiring mistake!"?
That's what this is all a coverup for. Looking for people who are already employed and appear qualified gives us employer an out in case the candidate doesn't work out. We can go back to our bosses and say "At least s/he looked good on paper."
Many jobs today, especially knowledge-based ones, cannot use yesterday's techniques and answers. If this is an age of lifelong learning with information at your fingertips, when will employers have the courage to take on people with potential?
That's something to think about, especially when an artificial attribute like "employment status" nowadays can simply be due to luck, not skill!
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