Bad clients are never good business

I was fortunate a few years ago to have had the opportunity to work under and learn from one of the best natural born business people I have ever met.  The man is a walking book of quotes.  One of his favourite sayings was "bad clients are never good business".  A decade ago I never really appreciated the profound truth in that saying but I certainly do now.

A "client" is 50% of a business relationship.  Like any relationship there needs to be respect and equality.  Without this the relationship quickly becomes lop sided and unhealthy for both parties.

If we find ourselves in an unhealthy relationship we quickly move to rectify it or terminate it because bad clients are never good business.

My recent recruitment experience

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to hire a number of additional staff recently.  The process of finding and hiring the right people in the right time frame was an interesting exercise and the results and conclusions I think are worth sharing.

I had four people to hire so tried the usual word of mouth, networking, LinkedIn, Twitter options but without success.  We have in the past managed to hire most new people this way but this time it just didn't yield results.

Of the 4 new hires, we ended up with 1 person from a SEEK ad, 1 from Nexthire (a shortlising service) and 2 from recruitment agencies (thanks Charterhouse and Mitchellake).

Things I learned from this process;

1.   Networking and social media are great but not ideal when you need a result in a particular time frame.

2.  SEEK still works.  No doubt about it.

3.  Recruiters are still very important and incredibly effective if used well, briefed in detail and selected carefully.  I was impressed with the service I received from both recruiters including onsite visits and taking the time to get to know our business and requirements in detail.

4.  Shortlisting is going to become one of the next big things in recruitment.  Clearly it is not going to work for all types of roles, however for positions such as sales, support, admin, office roles etc I think it is a dead set winner.  For a single low fee I had a professional account manager advertise my role (comprehensively) then screen, phone interview and shortlist suitable candidates.  The proof is in the pudding as I found and hired a fabulous candidate within a week.

JobAdder signs 200th RMS customer

We are delighted to have signed our 200th RMS customer this week.   The Recruitment Management System was launched just under 2 years ago on October 2009 (after 2 years of full time development) and we are absolutely delighted to have reached such an important milestone so quickly.

Of those 200 customers our mix is currently around 70% recruitment agencies, 30% corporate,  however we are seeing that mix changing rapidly as we become more well known in the corporate space.  The corporate market is a very exciting space for JobAdder and a market we look forward to having a red hot run at in the coming years.

The JobAdder RMS is now a mature, proven solution and we have very big plans for the next 2 - 3 years.  We are taking things to the next level which will include growing the company, expanding the product and expanding our market share in Australia and a number of key international markets.

Make no mistake, it has been a tough school with lots of hard lessons learned along the way, but it does go to show that a few awesome people with a good idea and balls like Rundle Mall can create a successful online business in this country without external funding or investment.

Thanks to all our loyal users for being a part of our first 2 years.  Now ask me if I am excited about the next couple....

SEEK's new application export option

If you have been following SEEK's recent product updates you will be aware that they have just introduced a new application export option for recruitment solutions providers.  In a nutshell this new option gives us another way to capture applications from SEEK.  Rather than the usual pop up application form applicants can now apply for jobs through the SEEK job application page and then be collected from SEEK by the authorised ATS / RMS.

This new option is not mandatory, nor is it for everyone, however if you are concerned about potentially lower applicant completion rates then you should definitely ask for this to be enabled on your JobAdder account.

We are very pleased to have been able to work with SEEK in developing this new application method.

This is an article about it in Shortlist magazine yesterday....

SEEK introduces new application export function

SEEK has introduced a new service to smooth the application process for candidates applying for jobs on external advertiser websites.

SEEK Application Export is designed to allow jobseekers to complete applications directly through SEEK, rather than being re-directed to an application form on an external website.

SEEK Application Export delivers a standard data feed, that can be picked up simply by an external applicant tracking system, without the need for the candidate to leave the SEEK website.
SEEK product director Doug Blue said that the optional new service would improve the user experience for the 50% of job ads currently listed that link their applications to external websites, by removing limitations like pop-up blockers and inconsistency in the application process.

"Another key benefit is that jobseekers can apply on a mobile device and attach their resume, making it easier for jobseekers to apply whilst on the move", said Blue.
He said that JobAdder was the first recruitment management system to incorporate Application Export into its system, and SEEK was working with other ATS providers to broaden its uptake.

JobAdder End of Financial Year day out

The JobAdder team letting the hair down (and the inner nerd out) to celebrate End of Financial Year.