The joblish Blog

Brief Hiatus

2009-03-22T12:17:00.019-04:00

I've spent the past week and a half working on promoting and learning more about how to improve joblish. I'd be dishonest if I didn't say that I too have been perusing the job postings and exploring what's out there. (Hey, I wouldn't like to take advice from someone that didn't have first hand experience either!) The state of the economy is scary and working in the auto industry is plain horrifying right now. I'm happy to report that although the past month and a half have been the worst I've ever seen, we are finally seeing a bit of an upswing in customer demand. But that's neither here nor there.

In my last post I was talking about testing Bright Fuse and seeing what it's all about. I created a profile for myself and quickly found out that there's not a whole lot you can do with it unless you've got connections. In order to get connections, a lot of people need to believe in its usefulness. I'd imagine that Linked In was probably like this website before it took off. It just needed time and publicity. It got me thinking about joblish in terms of what its capabilities are once people really start to use it. They're endless. All of our popular resources started somewhere and by word of mouth and various re-inventions, they became the powerhouses that we now call Monster, Career Builder, Facebook, and even IMDB! It doesn't matter what the resource is. It can be for entertainment purposes (because we all know I can finish a week without seeing what Doc Jensen from Entertainment Weekly has to say about Lost.) Or, it can be a more powerful resource that will help us secure employment as easily and efficiently as possible.

Long story short: I'm definitely not giving up on Bright Fuse - - I'll even help promote it. Because that's how it is going to become helpful to everyone. The same goes for joblish.

Even More Useful Information

2009-03-11T18:08:00.016-04:00

I'm going to vent about my little exercise in futility tonight. After publishing my information on Monster, I was pretty geeked. Naturally, you'd think it would be as fun, (if not more,) to do the same at Career Builder. No. It's not. Let me tell you this: when I graduated from college and was looking for my first job (some 6 years ago,) Career Builder was THE place. It was helpful, easy to navigate, and you could get in and out. You didn't need to spend three hours trying to figure out how to format your resume so it's not just one big, 4-page-long, run-on sentence that no employer in their right mind would take a second glance at. Specific example you say? Not example...reality. I did in fact spend a tremendous amount of time clicking and entering information everywhere possible. What's worse...there was no good place for me to put joblish codes. I finally just said "screw it," and made my resume private so no one search it.

Please don't get me wrong...I'm not bashing on Career Builder. It takes work to put yourself out there...I would just prefer that my work be rewarded with a decent looking finished product. It would be great if you could call Barney Stinson up and ask him for a video resume...that would solve all my problems (How I Met Your Mother reference.) Unfortunately, even though Laura-Land isn't always grounded in reality, that isn't possible. Soooo, I'm going to make Career Builder work. I'm not going to leave you hanging. I did find a solution. I put my joblish codes at the top of my resume, directly below my name and contact information. You can't get much more "pow" than that. I still haven't figured out how to format it, but that's another problem for another night (and don't worry...you won't have to hear about it again.) Once I did that, I started to think about my Monster page. I logged back in and added my joblish codes to my resume there as well. On Monster, I now have my codes in two highly noticeable places. The more you can get it out there, the more rewarding it will be.

To summarize my neurotic, type-A musings; I've successfully entered my joblish information into Monster, Career Builder, LinkedIn, Facebook, and now I'm going to tackle a new website that I just learned of. It's threaded through Career Builder. It's called Bright Fuse. I'm going to check it out and you'll hear about it in a couple of days.

The Reason We're Here

2009-03-10T18:48:00.010-04:00

Wow. That's all I've got. Wow. I spent my evening last night updating my resume and creating a profile on Monster.com. Of course Monster is a great resource and entering your resume and information there is always a solid idea. The reason for the 'Wow' is this: I sat at my computer for a half an hour trying to pull adjectives for my current skill set out of...well...you know where. Lightening struck my brain because this is where your joblish codes should go. I have a half a dozen joblish codes that can route any prospective employer to a concise and all-inclusive description of exactly what experience I have, and what I want to do. I've always had faith in the usefulness of joblish and now that I've gone through the very tedious exercise of extracting random descriptors out of thin air, I am now more confident than ever that joblish is what is needed to help us marry our perfect job (and for employers to find their perfect staff).

There are two specific places that I would put my joblish codes. Either one works, but one is more visable to anyone that looks at your profile. The first place that you can put your codes is in the "About Me" category under the "Skills" heading. If you put them there however, people may have to search your profile a bit more to find them. My joblish codes are front and center in my "Personal Statement". This is one of the first things that anyone sees in your profile. Here's another little crumb of insight for you: by putting joblish codes in your profile and/or resume, it makes you stand out! And what has Laura taught us? We want to stand out to our future employers. I'm planning to do this same routine at Careerbuilder (hopefully within the next day or so...Lost isn't on this week so I'll have a bit more time.) Once that's done, I'm sure I'll have more bits of wisdom for you on that one too.

Great Ideas

2009-03-04T18:19:00.011-05:00

I vowed to discuss joblish in this post and I'll deliver. I've had some tremendously encouraging and inspiring discussions with complete strangers about joblish and what it's about. Not only have I gotten great feedback about functionality, but also ideas about how to make the site more successful. You now have the distinct pleasure of seeing my brain train as I process some of the ideas that have been coming across my screen.

I've recently become more active at LinkedIn with the specific objective of promoting and growing joblish. A side effect of this recent endeaver is a refreshing view of the professional community and their willingness to help. To all of these people: Thank You. The bigger (and much more relevant,) result is how to update and continue the forward motion that joblish has developed. All of the ideas that have been presented to me have one thing in common (besides being about joblish...ha ha.) They all say that they'd like to see a site that is a bit more user friendly and easier to navigate. Ask and ye shall receive. The joblish team is going to begin brainstorming over the upcoming days and months about how to take this advice and apply it to the the site that is already revolutionizing the world of employment. I'm psyched. I love this website (obviously,) and its success and not just important to me. It's important to every single person that has a job, needs a job, or may someday look for a job. I don't say this as a marketing ploy, but as the God's-honest-truth.

That's all I have to say about that. Don't be concerned...I'm not turning this blog into my soap box, but I wanted to talk about today's little exercise in people helping people and what results it yielded. I was pleasantly surprised. (What does that say about me and my expectations?! Don't answer that.) As always, if there are any questions or comments, e-mail me at thelaura@joblish.com. Alright...Lost is on tonight. Gotta go.

The Interview - Part 3

2009-02-26T18:37:00.018-05:00

joblish. What's joblish? How do I use it? Where do I use it? Is it a language? (Yep.) As promised, I will address these and many other burning questions. I do, however, have a few more words about interviewing and then I'll get to the bread and butter. The Big Show. joblish. So....Suit up! (For anyone that doesn't watch "How I Met Your Mother," please do. It's quite likely that I'll make more references to it. Plus, it's a great show).

I asked what should and shouldn't be said in a job interview. I'm going to give some fast and fun gems about the "do's" and "don't's" of interviews. I like to read magazine columns that have lists of "Instead Of This," "Try Saying This." It's a lot less boring than regular prose. So, here are some of my favorite faux pas and their more socially acceptable substitutes.

Instead of: I hate my job.
Try: My job has taught me a lot about what I want to do with my career and I am ready to move on.

Instead of: I hated my last boss.
Try: Explain why the last organization wasn't a correct fit and how your relationship with your former boss could have been improved. Be constructive.

Instead of: What if I do something stupid and screw everything up?
Try: How is my performance evaluated and how often?

Instead of: Do I have to work a lot?
Try: What are the responsibilities and expectations of this position?

And my personal favorite...
Instead of: How much will you pay me?/Do I get a bonus/How much vacation do I get/When will you promote me?
Try: Always, always, always wait for them to tell you.

This list is by no means all-inclusive, but it gives an idea of the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly. Be prepared for your interview, learn about the company, bring a list of questions you have, be polite, and rehearse your answers to your interviewer's possible questions. You want to be as comfortable and confident as possible. As always, send any questions to me at thelaura@joblish.com. Next? joblish, joblish, and more joblish. Visit http://www.joblish.com/, sign up (it's free!), and get excited. This is is the main event!

The Interview - Part 2

2009-02-23T18:56:00.016-05:00

What's the most common opener for a job interview? "Tell me about yourself." I'll say it once and I'll say it a thousand times: that's not a question, and how are you supposed to respond?! You want to move the interview forward and there's nothing worse than sitting across from your prospective employer and hearing crickets. Awkward. I've found success with this type of response:

"I graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Psychology and Human Resources. I have strong organizational skills and substantial experience with multiple, global customers including Japan, Europe, Canada, and Mexico. With the skills that I've gained and my eagerness to learn more about this position, I will be a strong addition to your team. Will you tell me more about the responsibilities that I'll be taking in this role?"

Okay...that's just an idea and don't follow it as gospel, but hopefully it gives some clues about how to react to that question. Briefly touch on your strengths, important/relevant experience, and tell them why you would be a good choice to join their team. There's nothing that says you can't ask them questions too! In fact, most interviewers welcome the inquiries. Alright, you breezed through that first question with flying colors. This will put the meeting off to a smooth start and allow the meeting to move more fluidly.

The rest is largely dependent upon what job you are interviewing for and what that particular company's interview guidelines entail. In the interest of keeping this bit of rambling moderately short, (I don't want YOU to start hearing crickets,) I'm going to call it a day. As usual, I'm going to leave you with yet another question to ponder until I share my next pearl of wisdom. What should and shouldn't you say in an interview? Talk amongst yourselves.

The Interview - Part 1

2009-02-21T10:35:00.021-05:00

Yeah! You got your interview. You've used your charm, charisma, and confidence to get that first meeting. I've often thought about a job interview like a blind date. The similarities are alarming. You've never met the person you're going to see, you're going to dress up, you're going to be on your best behavior so that person gets a fantastic first impression, and you're going to go home hoping for a second date. Not a perfect comparison, but for my purposes, it works nicely.

I'm going to break the interview down into several sections. The first part that I want to address briefly is wardrobe. We're all grown ups here so I'm not going to sweat the details, but here are the big points:

1. Dress to impress (cliche I know, but it's true.) For men, it's a suit, for women...well...it's still a suit.
2. Keep jewelry to a minimum, no nail polish, hair back, and try to hide the tattoos.
3. Polished shoes, women: make sure the heels aren't too high. Stilettos are probably not the look you're going for.
4. Use your best judgement and my general rule of thumb is that if I have a question about it; it's probably not appropriate.

Now you're dressed, you have at least three printed copies of your resume in a portfolio with a note pad, a couple of pens, and you're ready to roll. Plan to arrive about 10 minutes early. As I said earlier, we're all big kids so I'm not going to dwell on the minutia, but if there is anything you want more detail about, just e-mail me at thelaura@joblish.com. When you meet your 'date,' make eye contact, smile (but not too much because that can be creepy,) use a firm handshake, and be confident. When you reach your destination office or conference room, be seated and get ready for the the questions.

I've spoken to some recruiters and been to my share of job interviews and the consensus is that interviewers LOVE the following opener: "Tell me about yourself." That's not a question! How are you supposed to answer that?! My unfiltered, inner monologue wants to say that I'm an Aquarius, I like long walks on the beach, I'm getting married in October, and I'm dying to find out how "Lost" is going to end. Shockingly, that's not what they're looking for. You do, however, want to tell them some key information that will pique their interest. But how do you do that in a succinct and effective way that will begin the interview smoothly and transition into the next set of questions? Think about it and I will tell you what has worked for me in my next post.

Stalling

2009-02-19T18:21:00.007-05:00

I won't lie. I've been quite under the weather for the past couple of days, which among other things, just plain sucks. I haven't had a lot of time or energy. I am hoping to be back on top of my game, tout de suite (That's French for 'at once'). As I indicated in my last post, my next bit will be about getting ready for an interview and how I accomplished my most successful interview to date. Until then....sniffle sniffle. I'm going to watch Lost now.

The First Step

2009-02-12T17:26:00.029-05:00

In yesterday's post, I gave a few kernels of wisdom about my job seeking experience. I shared a few nuggets of truth to chew on and asked a few questions. What did I do in the quest for my job? First, I panicked. I didn't know where to start or what I needed to do. With advice from some very sage individuals, I decided to break it down into smaller tasks so the big picture wasn't quite as daunting. To start, you need a resume, and in the interest of discussing more about joblish, I am going to hold off on the resume topic for a while.

Okay, your resume is done...now what? Put yourself out on the market. I put my resume on the usual sites (we all know which ones I am referring to,) and let it marinate. I didn't get many bites and those I did get weren't particularly desirable. This brings me to my second question from yesterday's post: What will it take to find the job that you want? This part is a little harder. At least it was for me. I had to ACTIVELY put myself out there. The difference? By actively looking, you're making the first move instead of waiting for your prospective employer to make theirs. Think of it as a treasure hunt to find your new employer.

I spent a lot of time on the internet researching the companies I sent my resume to. I'll tell you this: if you can find one phone number to any given company, you've got your foot in the door. Now it's time to be proactive. Call them. Ask for someone in Human Resources (or any living person that can help you). Then, sell yourself. Tell them who you are and what you do. Here's the kicker: before you hang up that phone, ask for an interview. It's not always particularly comfortable, but it makes an impression...generally, a positive one. It makes you stand out. And what's the worst that can happen? They say no. For the sake of this discussion though, let's say they agree to meet you. You're in the door. Now is the fun part. Now is also the time I am going to close up shop for the day. I'll leave you with a few more questions to digest: What's next? How do you prepare for your interview? And in keeping with the food theme I managed to develop in this post, what's the recipe you need for success?

The New Recruit

2009-02-11T19:02:00.017-05:00

Hi ya'll! In the spirit of continuing forward with joblish and our quest to make "The Job" completely attainable, we've added a new voice. (That would be me.) For better or worse, you'll experience my musing and opining about job seeking, resume writing, interviewing, and whatever else I feel like discussing. My name is Laura, by the way. If there are any topics that you want me to talk about, you can e-mail me at thelaura@joblish.com. To ease into this blog and get my feet wet, I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I'm not a recruiter. I don't work for a recruiter. What I do have is a successful, fun, and challenging job. Getting that job took my blood, sweat, and tears for over a year. Job seeking was my full time employer...and my boss was a pain. That being said, I know what it's like to be looking for a job and what it takes to put yourself out there and be successful. It's my goal to tell you anything I can about what made it easier for me to find not only a job, but a job that I love. I'll get to joblish very soon, but in the interest of keeping my first post short, (and hopefully sweet,) I'll wait. We'll get there though. What I'll leave you with today is this thought that I'll discuss in my next post: What have you done in your quest for a job and what will it take for you to find the job that is as right for you, as you are for it?

The joblish Manifesto - Part 4

2008-12-12T08:24:00.007-05:00

In yesterday's post, we talked about The Most Important Skill. Today, we'll define joblish and briefly discuss how it can help you.

The joblish Manifesto - Part 4

What is joblish?

joblish is a system of keywords that defines candidates and jobs in terms of

What industry(s) they work in.
What industry(s) they serve
What functional area and department are they in
Where do they fit in the company hierarchy
Do they supervise other employees, and how many
What the educational qualifications are.

The keywords are structured so that search engines can find them and won’t mistake them for something else. They’re nonsense words, so people don’t mistake them for something else.

For a more in-depth review of joblish, visit our site – http://www.joblish.com/.

We also have a blog – http://www.joblishblog.blogspot.com/. (You're reading it right now!)

Please visit and use both.

What Does joblish Do For Me?

It gives you an opportunity to become more efficient, spending less time sorting through data and allowing you more time to evaluate what the data means. It turns data into information that you can act on.

The joblish Manifesto - Part 3

2008-12-11T08:40:00.007-05:00

In yesterday's post, we discussed The joblish Vision. Today, we'll get into what "It's really all about" - The whole point of using joblish - Matching.

The joblish Manifesto - Part 3

The Most Important Skill

People in the job filling / job hunting world are struggling to find each other, spending a lot of time in what should be a much simpler process. Either the candidate possesses the proper qualifications or they don’t. Either the job fits the candidate’s background or it doesn’t. We spend too much time sorting through resumes and job ads, taking away time needed to do the most important job, the one which requires the most important skill – matching.

Matching is what you’re doing when you do the in-depth interviews, when you evaluate how the candidate would fit the company culture or when the candidate evaluates how the company culture would fit them. When each looks into the other, and into the unknown that is the future. Qualifications are part of the past. Matching is about the future. Qualifications are black or white. Matching is in shades of gray. Matching skill is what separates the poor interviewers from the good ones and the good ones from the great ones.

Tomorrow - What is joblish? and What Does It Do For Me?

The joblish Manifesto - Part 2

2008-12-10T07:29:00.017-05:00

In yesterday's post, we commented on the World As It Was and the World As It Is. Today we'll start talking about how to better deal with it.

The joblish Manifesto - Part 2

The joblish Vision

The internet and the computer are well equipped to help us. They can sort through mountains of data in a heartbeat, bringing back exactly what we asked for.

Unfortunately, we don’t know what to ask for.

The writer of a job ad, resume, profile etc. uses different words than the reader. The recruiter / HR pro is looking for a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. The candidate’s resume says BSME. The candidate is looking for a sales job in the Valve industry. The company makes corrosion resistant valves for chemical plants. They see themselves in the Chemical industry. As humans, we easily recognize that Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and BSME are the same thing. Our industry knowledge allows us to match the valve sales person with the opportunity. Computers & keyword searching cannot recognize those distinctions. Either it matches or it doesn’t.

The joblish vision is a world where the data no longer confounds us. One where we control the data rather than struggle to slog through it. One where the computer is a time saving tool. One where we can quickly and accurately search through resumes, profiles, and job ads and find the limited number of hits that really apply to what we’re looking for. Then spend the majority of our time doing the things that a computer can’t do – evaluating, interviewing, negotiating, getting to know each other as people.

On October 1, 2008, we took the first step in that journey. We released joblish.

Tomorrow - The Most Important Skill

The joblish Manifesto - Part 1

2008-12-09T09:28:00.005-05:00

Several folks we've talked with recently have suggested that we serialize the joblish Manifesto on the blog. So - we'll do it! Here's the first of five parts.

The joblish Manifesto - Part 1

The World As It Was

Just ten years ago, the employment world was different.

The Internet was brand new. No one really knew what to do with it.
Candidate tracking systems were code based, if you had one at all.
The telephone book was a primary recruiting tool.
Primary information storage was a file cabinet
The fax machine was indispensible.
Google hadn’t been invented yet.
The Monster Board was still more than a year into the future.
Linked In wouldn’t be founded for four more years.
The “dot.com” boom was just getting started. It would go bust three years later.

Employers & recruiters found talent was by placing ads in the newspaper, making lots of phone calls, and building your database of contacts. You filled your file cabinets with resumes. You knew they would come in handy someday. You built your list of contacts one at a time. HR, hiring managers, and recruiters had a limited number of tools - newspaper ads, a “Now Hiring” sign on the building, the telephone and referrals.

Resumes & personal information were a secret. You didn’t want your boss to find out that you might be interviewing. Recruiters – company & agency – had a limited number of candidates to consider and a limited number of sources to get them from. Candidates looked for jobs in the newspaper or the Wall Street Journal. Life was simpler.

The World As It Is Today

Consider how things have changed.

Many, if not most, fax machines are collecting dust. E-mail has taken over.
The Monster Board has 95 million resumes and over 1 million jobs online at any moment.
Indeed.com finds 11,900 marketing jobs within 50 miles of Chicago, 13,200 Engineer jobs within 50 miles of New York, and 27,600 IT jobs within 50 miles of San Francisco. These figures are from October 2008 – when we’re in the midst of an economic crisis. You can’t deal with numbers this big.
30 million people have posted some portion of their personal profile info on Linked In. Personal information isn’t a secret anymore.
There are, by some estimates, over 100,000 websites that have job postings. No one really knows.

Tomorrow - The joblish Vision

The Economy's Down - What Are You....

2008-12-08T11:26:00.004-05:00

going to do about it? Realistically - What CAN you do about it?

Here's what Ron McElhaney (a recruiter colleague of mine) says:

"All I heard this morning was doom & gloom about rising unemployment. I have always found it fascinating how the media tries to sell fear and hysteria (ostensibly to get ratings? Fear sells, good news does not?) What is the one thing you have not heard from the media?

EMPLOYMENT stands at better than 90% !!!

Having had the enormous privilege of living overseas in South America while I was approaching and then starting my teenage years as well as the privilege of seeing many other parts of the world (Caribbean, South Pacific, Europe) I can honestly say there are places I have been whose governments and population would give their left arm to have 90% employment !!

The media wants to scare us, the incoming administration wants to scare us and have us feel sorry for ourselves. We have been cajoled into thinking we are in crisis and [the] sky is about to fall.

Under no circumstances am I disputing the economy is not as robust as it was 3-5-7 years ago but did anyone notice where oil is today? Just below $42/barrel. Uhmmm, remember when the “experts” were telling us last summer that $180-200/barrel was not out of the question?

I’ll decline the media’s invitation to the pity party they are putting on. Think positive and you will prevail, think negative and you will perish. I am under no illusion that [we are not in] a downward trend currently but we should all remember from our ECON 101 class that economies are CYCLICAL !! This too shall pass. As my financial planner says to me “We can not control to direction of the wind however we can trim the sails”.....So let’s all stick our tongues out at the media [and go back to work]. "

Good advice.

Holiday Time is Clean Up Time

2008-12-05T10:31:00.005-05:00

joblish is now a little over two months old. We're making progress.

The holidays are just around the corner, and for many of us, business slows down. It's a great opportunity to get into those projects that you've been putting off.

We're asking for your help. We're looking for folks with experience in a broad range of industries to review our joblish industry and tell us where we can improve.

If just a few folks lend their expertise, joblish will be better for everyone in 2009.

Please call (269) 372-8007 or write to mgb@joblish.com and tell us your industry expertise. We'll set it up on the joblishwiki so you can make additions & corrections.

Thanks in advance.

How to Translate a joblish Code

2008-12-01T09:38:00.005-05:00

I got a call last Wednesday. It was from a contact in my recruiting practice, who told me they'd just received a resume with a joblish code on it, and they didn't know what it meant.

"How do you translate a joblish code into English?"

It's pretty simple:

1. Go to http://www.joblish.com/
2. Go to the tab - "Use joblish" and select either "joblish for Candidates" or "joblish for Employers / Recruiters".
3. On the page that appears, there is a box labeled "Enter joblish Code" Enter the complete joblish code, including the word "joblish" that it starts with.
4. Hit the translate button. Your answer will appear directly inderneath the box.

That's all there is to it. It took longer to describe how to translate a joblish code than it actually takes to translate it.

Enjoy!

What Do joblish Codes Mean? - Part 3

2008-11-26T08:24:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, we reviewed the meaning of the Education joblish codes. Today, we'll discuss Department, Reporting Level and Supervisory Duties (DRLS).

A typical joblish DRLS code would be:

joblishDHRHLEB where
joblishD signifies the joblish code for Department, Reporting Level & Supervisory Duties
HR signifies the Human Resources function
HL signifies the Labor Relations area
E signifies a department member reporting to a department head or Director
B Signifies direct supervision of 1-3 people.

If you're interested in learning more about how to do advanced searches in joblish, please sent an e-mail to mgb@joblish.com.

We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. We're taking the holidays off and blogging will resume on Monday.

What Do joblish Codes Mean - Part 2

2008-11-25T12:15:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I explained the meaning of the Industry joblish codes. Today, we'll cover Education.

A typical joblish Education code would be:

joblishEEENME where

joblishE signifies the joblish code for Education
E signifies a Bachelors Degree
EN signifies the college of Engineering
ME signifies a Mechanical Engineering major

An interesting feature of joblish is that it's searchable using Boolean logic. By using Boolean search wildcards, you can structure your search for differing results. Here's some examples:

To find anyone who'd studied in the College of Engineering, you'd search for joblishE?EN??

To find anyone who'd earned a Master's degree in engineering (any type), you'd search for joblishEGEN??

If you're interested in learning more about how to do advanced searches in joblish, please sent an e-mail to mgb@joblish.com.

Next post - Department, Level in the company and Supervisory duties.

What Do the joblish Codes Mean?

2008-11-24T08:43:00.007-05:00

I get questions from users & prospective users asking how the joblish codes are formulated. In the next couple of posts, I'll explain them.

Let's start with Industry. There are two sets of joblish Industry codes - Industry In & Industry Served. They're quite similar. Let's start with Industry (Worked) In. A typical joblish code would be:

joblishWUTFE - Where:

joblishW signifies the joblish code for Industry (worked) In
UT signifies the major industry - Utilities
FE signifies the sub-industry - Power Generation / Natural Gas

For Industry Served, it would be:

joblishQUTFE - Where:

joblishQ signifies the joblish code for Industry Served
UT signifies the major industry - Utilities
FE signifies the sub-industry - Power Generation / Natural Gas

All the joblish Industry codes work in a similar fashion.

Next - joblish Education.

The joblish Manifesto

2008-11-13T09:28:00.005-05:00

Manifesto. According to the dictionary: a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives.

The joblish Manifesto is complete and available. If you'd like to read it, please send an e-mail to wordmasters@joblish.com. Put "Manifesto" in the subject line. We'll send you The joblish Manifesto pdf promptly.

joblish is a budding movement. Help make it grow.

Spam Filters - AARGGHH!!!!! (A Rant)

2008-11-11T09:24:00.006-05:00

E-mail is a very important way for us to communicate. It's everywhere. Unfortunately, where there is a communication method, especially a method as inexpensive as e-mail, some people will abuse it. They'll send volumes of unwanted mail (spam) selling everything from dishes to pornography to lessons in ESP. People don't want their time wasted with this stuff. Some of it is downright offensive.

So, we cleverly invented the spam filter. Most days I wonder if the cure isn't worse than the disease.

For example - I was talking with a client a few days ago. It seems that purchase orders from an important customer are labeled as spam, and thrown into the graveyard of unwanted e-mail. Everyday, the Sales Manager is culling through the pile looking for purchase orders. He usually finds almost all of them. What a waste of time.

I'm a recruiter, and verifying a person's education qualification is a part of my job. I reported to my client that the person they were interviewing graduated "magna cum laude". Unfortunately, their spam filter took exception to a word in that phrase, and it went into oblivion. My client was unhappy with me because they thought I hadn't done my job. After 15 minutes searching, they found it. Problem solved.

About ten minutes ago, I spoke with a candidate that hadn't received the e-mail I sent him, and he was quite put out with me for not doing what I said I was going to do. I asked him if he'd checked his spam filter. Once again, problem solved.

So, where is this rant going? I think we should get rid of spam filters. It isn't very hard to click through a pile of e-mails with your finger on the delete button. It take about 1-2 seconds per e-mail. I get between 100-150 spam e-mails a day. It takes between 2 and 5 minutes to get through them.

I make the decisions about what I read, not some faceless computer program.

Rant completed.

The Conversation Continues.............

2008-11-10T09:10:00.007-05:00

The last post - "Meanwhile, Back at Linked In...." started a conversation with a Linked In member whom I'll call Harry, who sent me the following note:

"I have been doing that and I have heard that when you are seeking a position that it is better to brand yourself. It is better to be a brand then a Job seeker. There is more of an opportunity if you are a person then a job number. No one wants to be a number in a job bank."

To which I responded:

"Harry - You're absolutely right. No one wants to be a number in a job bank. By the same token, no one wants to be lost in the clutter either. Perhaps you'd humor me with an experiment. Send me a note with 5 keywords in it that are unique to you (either by themselves or in combination) that I would know to use to find you. Can you do it without using joblish? Look forward to hearing from you."

Who replied:

"Are you talking personally or in a resume? Determined, out of the box, outgoing. Those aren't unique to me...since everyone uses those words."

To which I responded:

"Harry - That's my point. "Everyone uses those words". Because of that, you are at great risk of being lost in the herd. Rarely do good opportunities come from people you know well. They come from people who are, more or less, strangers. How can a stranger find you in a sea where "everyone uses those words"? Simply put - by pure, dumb luck - or not at all.

There are 16,897,531,225,080 (that's over 16 trillion) possible joblish word combinations using just one attribute (you can use multiples) from Industry In (982), Industry Served (982), Education (5,493), Department / Duties / Responsibilities (3,190). Even if everyone uses joblish - which is my goal - what are the chances of finding 50 - 100 people with the same description? I'll bet they're lower than the chances of finding more than 500 (the Linked In search limit) with the keywords "determined, out of the box, outgoing". (BTW - what do those words mean? In 35+ years as a manager & recruiter, I've never paid any attention to, nor done a single search based on, those keywords. I my experience, "determined, out of the box, outgoing" will distinguish you from the people who put "easily discouraged, conformist thinker, introvert" in their profiles - which is no one! We need to separate keywords from buzzwords. Keywords help people find you. Buzzwords sound good & fill out your profile - and little else.)

joblish is designed to cut through the hundreds & thousands of hits you get with standard keyword searching and return a much smaller number that you're really interested in learning more about. Once you've cut through the clutter, the individual has a chance to shine, to show why they're unique. It's designed to make searching in the employment / business world more efficient, which gives the searcher more time to evaluate, question, and communicate with the people they've found. It's a simple function of numbers. If you have ten qualified resumes (or job ads or Linked In profiles) to read through, you'll have more time to pay attention to them, than if you have 500 to sort through.

Back to your original point - "There is more of an opportunity if you are a person then a job number. No one wants to be a number in a job bank." Using the keywords that "everyone uses" is what makes you a faceless person in a big crowd. Using joblish cuts those numbers way down and gives you a chance to stand out, which, I think is what you want."

We'll see how the conversation continues.

Meanwhile, Back at Linked In............

2008-11-07T08:53:00.007-05:00

We reported on the results of "Agree or Disagree? - Part 2 today at Linked In. Here is the report and a final suggestion.

"Agree or Disagree? - Part 2 asked the question: "How are you making it easy for other LI members to find you?" Part 1 drew 189 responses, part 2 only 21. Among the responses were these: 1) Put Linked In link on resume, business card & e-mail signatures, 2) put home phone & e-mail on your profile, 3) put your photo on your profile. It occurs to me that these are ways to make an impression after you've been found rather than ways to make it easier to find you.

One person said he didn't want to make it easier for people to find him, and 6 made comments (all positive!) without answering the question.

The rest of the answers were 1) Join groups that match your values & career goals, 2) Participate in Q&A, 3) Make your profile complete and 4) Accept every request to connect. All good suggestions.

Let me make one more. If you want to be found, you need to use keywords in your profile that differentiate you. Unfortunately, English doesn't offer much clarity (you say "sales" & I say "revenue", you say "engineer" & I say "designer" etc). In English, the writer and searcher have to get into each other's heads to communicate clearly - difficult if not impossible.

Here's the suggestion - Use joblish in your LI profiles. joblish words have set definitions, will help you clear out the clutter of keyword searching and are free. All it takes is a few minutes to add them to your profile. Go to www.joblish.com . Get your joblish keywords. Put them in your profile. If just one person finds you with a good opportunity, it more than pays for the 10 minutes effort it took to get them.

Got Time for a Question?

2008-11-06T09:44:00.000-05:00

We launched joblish 35 days ago and have experienced moderate growth in its use. To make joblish really useful, we've got to reach a "tipping point" where literally millions of people are using it in job ads, resumes and personal profiles. The big question is "how to make that happen?"

One group of people who could definitely use joblish is Linked In users. There are over 30,000,000 people on Linked In. My personal network numbers over 1,200 direct contacts and 9,800,000 through 3rd level.

The question is - How do we reach all those folks on Linked In without spamming people?

If you've got an idea - please let us know.

A Sign of the Times

2008-11-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

I got a note yesterday from a person I'd placed a little over a year ago. He told me that his company was being prepared for sale, and that there had been a major RIF (Reduction In Force) to lower the company's fixed costs. He, and a significant number of others had been laidoff.

I fear that this is a sign of the times that we're in. Companies are being forced to cut costs to preserve their profitability, and some good people are going to get caught in the crossfire. This gentleman has reached out to me at the worst possible time in his career - after he's become unemployed. I'll do everything I can to help him. He's an outstanding candidate with rock solid qualifications. That being said, he will have some challenges to overcome in getting his career back on track.

What should the rest of us do? Unless you own the company you work for, you face the risk of being RIFed all the time. The best thing to do is be prepared. Get your resume up to date. Make a project of upgrading your resume into a document that will sell your accomplishments. Downplay the duties & responsibilities - everyone has them - and they're unlikely to differentiate you from others who are in similar fields.

A last suggestion is to add joblish to both your resume, and any profiles that you have in social networks on the web. Linked In, Plaxo Pulse, Facebook - These are good tools for you to advertise yourself subtly and may get you noticed by people who are looking for someone like you. You never know where your next opportunity might come from. Using joblish will make it easier for that opportunity to find you.

Take Time to Vote

2008-11-04T08:44:00.000-05:00

Taking a break from the my usual blogging, I want to encourage everyone to vote, and vote wisely.

The United States, with its 232 year history, is one of the few, if not the only country in the world, to have managed a peaceful transfer of power on a regular schedule throughout its entire history. Every four years, we manage to put aside our partisan bickering and go to the polling place to make our voices heard officially.

This isn't as common as you might think. Civil war, murder, coup-de-tat, assassination, pogrom, guerilla fighting, ethnic cleansing - these have been the tools used to transfer power in much of the "civilized" world. And not just in the past. It's happening today in parts of the Middle East, Africa, South America & Asia. Not in the USA.

Many brave people have given their lives so that we can be free to go and vote today. They gave their lives so that our votes count. They gave their lives so that we could argue freely about our politics.

Let us all honor their sacrifice by voting - and voting wisely. The President we elect today will be with us for four years - maybe more. The repercussions from this election will be with us far longer.

Progress Report - joblish at 1 month

2008-10-31T10:12:00.000-04:00

At 10:00 PM on October 1st, joblish was launched on the web. It's been an exciting month. We've made a lot of progress. In October:

-www.joblish.com has had over 1,000 unique visitors. Some came & looked...others came & experimented. 76 came & registered. Not bad for a site about a new concept with a weird name.

-We started the joblish blog - www.joblishblog.blogspot.com. Our readership is small, but growing. We work hard every day to make the blog informative, relevant & interesting. Check it out. You might become a regular reader.

-A number of you have stepped up and helped us make changes / additions / corrections to joblish.

Kudos & thanks to Jim Alderink & Jay Litton who suggested changes in they way the site functions which made it easier to use. They were right.
Raissa Fomerand at the Library Associates Companies who helped us better understand the needs of the Library community and correct joblish to reflect them.
Abby Dowling at Management Recruiters of Pittsburgh North who added sub-industries to the Energy & Utilities industries as well as functional areas & departments that better describe those industries.
Jay Daley at Management Recruiters / Baltimore-Washington Corridor who helped us update the Defense & Defense Electronics industries.

In appreciation, we convey upon them the title "joblish WordCrafter" Wear it with pride.

-We started a joblish Linked In Users Group. Membership is small, and growing.

-Bruce Rowles at www.recruiter-talk.com and Tom Schmidt at www.resumefit.com have cross linked to joblish sites. We invite others in the employment world to share links also. It helps all of us stay informed.

All things considered, not a bad months work.

In November, we'll be starting the joblish wiki. It's been established on the web, and we're working the operational bugs out of it. The joblish wiki will be a site where users can interact with us, and more importantly, interact with each other. More details soon.

Finally, we're asking for more volunteers to apply their expertise and help us make joblish better and more useful. You'll be helping everyone in the recruiting / employment / job hunting arena.

Meanwhile, Over at Linked In........

2008-10-30T09:36:00.000-04:00

I've been asking a couple of questions to group members on Linked In. Here's question #2 which includes question #1.

"'Agree or Disagree? - Part 2

Last week, I asked the question - "Agree or Disagree? People who are members of Linked In want to be found. They want their information available to interested parties for any number of business reasons.'

I got 189 responses, and read every one of them. 179 (95%) were in agreement - which was what I expected. It was kind of a "Duh" question. 2 didn't "completely agree" for various reasons, 1 didn't want to be found by "certain individuals". 1 called me Becky & 1 called me Pat (my name is Mark) and neither answered the question. 1 said they didn't like recruiters. 1 said she agreed, but don't spam me! 1 wanted to find, but not be found(?). 1 commented that we have too much time on our hands and 1 said I was a "super genius" (I think he was being facetious). Conclusion - The vast majority of people on Linked In want to be found. Next question - How are you making it easy for other LI members to find you?"

It'll be interesting to see what they come back with. Based on what I've seen so far, it'll be some endless variations of keyword searching, with none of them using words that have a commonly accepted meaning.

joblish to the rescue!

The Truth About Opinion Polls

2008-10-30T08:56:00.000-04:00

We're in the last stages of the election campaign. Thank Goodness! I'm really sick & tired of the election "news" being thrust in my face from every direction. Most of all, I'm sick of polls.

He's up by 3 points! She's down by 6 points! Yada, yada, yada.

I read an article yesterday at IowaHawk ( http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/) that I just had to share. It's called "Balls and Urns". In the interest of full disclosure, I confess that I changed one word and redacted the last sentence - for our readers with sensitive ears. Enjoy!

"Statisticians love balls and urns. A typical Stats 101 midterm, for example, usually includes a question along these lines:

"You take a simple random sample of 1000 balls from an urn containing 120,000,000 red and blue balls, and your sample shows 450 red balls and 550 blue balls. Construct a 95% confidence interval for the true proportion of blue balls in the urn."

After choking back a giggle about "blue balls," you whip out your calculator and text your frat brother who has a copy of last semester's midterm. He instantly recognizes the correct formula is

95% confidence interval for P = p +/- 1.96 * sqrt( p*(1-p) / n) * FPC
where P = the real, true, actual, honest-to-god proportion of blue balls in that great big f'ing urn
p = the sample proportion of blue balls, or 0.55
n = the sample size = 1000
FPC = the "finite population correction" = sqrt((N-n)/(N-1)) where N=120,000,000 and the 1.96 has something to do with the 95% probability area under a standard normal distribution

That second part, after the "+/-", is what you know as the "margin of error." Your frat brother texts you back and reminds you that since the population is very large, the FPC is very close to 1 and can be dropped. He also reminds you to uses the conservative estimate of p = 0.5 in the margin of error calculation, since you don't know the true value of p, only the sample estimate.

So the whole formula simplifies to

p +/- 1.96 * sqrt( .25 / n)=p +/- 0.98 / sqrt( n)

Assuming you still have juice in your calculator batteries and you're not hungover from the Sig Eps kegger last night, you should get

0.55 +/- 0.031

Now you could probably say you are 95% certain the real proportion of blue balls in that great big f'ing urn is 55%, plus or minus 3.1%. If you wanted to get extra credit points, you should probably say that "95% of all random samples of this size will have have a computed confidence interval that contains the true population value." But that's just quibbling and brown-nosing the professor, who's probably late for a faculty meeting anyway.

This is, for all intents and purposes, how political pollsters compute the mysterious "margin of error," which has everything to do (and only to do) with pure mathematical sampling error. If you look at the formula above and round it just a smidge, you get a simple rule of thumb for the margin of error of a sampled probability:

Margin of Error = 1 / sqrt(n)

So if the sample size is 400, the margin of error is 1/20 = 5%; if the sample size is 625 the margin of error is 1/25 = 4%; if the sample size is 1000, it's about 3%.

Works pretty well if you're interested in hypothetical colored balls in hypothetical giant urns, or survival rates of plants in a controlled experiment, or defects in a batch of factory products. It may even work well if you're interested in blind cola taste tests. But what if the thing you are studying doesn't quite fit the balls & urns template?

What if 40% of the balls have personally chosen to live in an urn that you legally can't stick your hand into?
What if 50% of the balls who live in the legal urn explicitly refuse to let you select them?
What if the balls inside the urn are constantly interacting and talking and arguing with each other, and can decide to change their color on a whim?
What if you have to rely on the balls to report their own color, and some unknown number are probably lying to you?
What if you've been hired to count balls by a company who has endorsed blue as their favorite color?
What if you have outsourced the urn-ball counting to part-time temp balls, most of whom happen to be blue?
What if the balls inside the urn are listening to you counting out there, and it affects whether they want to be counted, and/or which color they want to be?

If one or more of the above statements are true, then the formula for margin of error simplifies to

Margin of Error = Who the hell knows?

Because, in this case, so-called scientific "sampling error" is completely meaningless, because it is utterly overwhelmed by unmeasurable non-sampling error. Under these circumstances "margin of error" is a fantasy, a numeric fiction masquerading as a pseudo-scientific fact. If a poll reports it -- even if it's collected "scientifically" -- the pollster is guilty of aggravated BS in the first degree.

The moral of this midterm for all would-be pollsters: if you are really interested in how many of us red and blue balls there are in this great big urn, sit back and relax until Tuesday, and let us show our true colors......"

What's this got to do with joblish? Nothing. I just thought it was the type of article that joblish users would like to read.

What's going on ere?

2008-10-29T09:11:00.000-04:00

A good website to visit is http://www.ere.net/ . I'm not sure what the "ERE" stands for - maybe "Electronic Recruiter's Exchange".

They post articles daily about the recruiting industry, both corporate and agency. You can have the articles sent directly to your email. There are usually a tidbit or two that you might find useful.

It's worth a few minutes to check out.

Are You a Sneezer?

2008-10-28T10:40:00.000-04:00

What's a sneezer? According to author Seth Godin, in his book "Unleashing the Ideavirus", "Some people are more likely to tell their friends about a great new idea. These people are at the heart of the ideavirus". An ideavirus is any idea, concept, product or method that seems to spread from person to person all by itself. Not by advertising. Not by direct sale.

A sneezer spreads an idea in the same way that someone who sneezes spreads a virus. Only today, it's more word-of-mouse instead of word-of-mouth.

When you tell a friend about the great book you just read, or the suspenseful TV show you watched last night, or the groovy new bike you just bought - you're sneezing.

Sneezers are influential people. Are you a sneezer?

Aachoo!

Monday joblish Update

2008-10-27T11:48:00.000-04:00

Use of joblish is growing. A number of individuals (small, but growing) have included joblish codes on their LinkedIn profiles. We've also updated joblish in the Energy & Utilities industries. Kudos & thanks to Abby at MR Pittsburgh North for the input that made it possible.

Is your industry presented properly in joblish? If it's not, you can have a major impact framing it for everyone. Call or write with your input!

A number of folks have asked me why I'm doing what I'm doing with joblish. I'll have the "joblish Manifesto" available later this week, and you can see my vision for the market and the future. Perhaps you see the staffing world in the same way I do.

And Now for Something Completely Different...........

2008-10-24T09:02:00.000-04:00

I got this from a friend the other day, and I have to pass it along. What's scary is that I remember each and every one of these - like it was yesterday. Enjoy!

Do you remember when...?

All the girls had ugly gym uniforms?
It took five minutes for the TV warm up?
Nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school?
Nobody owned a purebred dog?
When a quarter was a decent allowance?
You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny?
Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?
All your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels?
You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked , and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time? And you didn't pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?
Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box?
It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents?
They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed. . and they did?
When a 57 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?
No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?
Lying on your back in the grass with your friends and saying things like, 'That cloud looks like a... '?
Playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game?
Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger?

And with all our progress, don't you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace? Share it with the children of today.

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the student at home? Basically we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we survived because their love was greater than the threat.

Send this on to someone who can still remember Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys,Laurel and Hardy, Howdy Dowdy and the Peanut Gallery, the Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows, Nellie Belle , Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk. As well as summers filled with bike rides, baseball games, Hula Hoops, bowling and visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.

Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, 'Yeah, I remember that'?

I am sharing this with you today because it ended with a double dog dare to pass it on. To remember what a double dog dare is, read on.

And remember that the perfect age is somewhere between old enough to know better and too young to care.

How many of these do you remember?

Candy cigarettes
Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.
Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles.
Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes.
Blackjack, Clove and Teaberry chewing gum.
Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers.
Newsreels before the movie.
P.F. Fliers.
Telephone numbers with a word prefix...(Raymond 4-601).
Party lines.
Peashooters.
Howdy Dowdy.
Hi-Fi's & 45 RPM records.
78 RPM records!
Green Stamps.
Mimeograph paper.
The Fort Apache Play Set.

Do you remember a time when...

Decisions were made by going 'eeny-meeny-miney-moe'?
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, 'Do Over!'?
'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest?
Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening?
It wasn't odd to have two or three 'Best Friends'?
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was 'cooties'?
Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot?
Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute commercials for action figures?
'Oly-oly-oxen-free' made perfect sense?
Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles?
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team?
War was a card game?
Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle?
Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin?
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon?

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have lived!!!!!!!

Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their 'grown-up' life .

I double-dog-dare-ya!

EVERYONE on LinkedIn Should Use joblish!

2008-10-23T12:00:00.001-04:00

Why do people use LinkedIn? LinkedIn provides a variety of reasons:

Career opportunities
Expertise Requests
Consulting Offers
Business Deals
New Ventures
Personal Reference Requests
Job Inquiries
Requests to Reconnect
Getting Back in Touch

LinkedIn is for people who want to be found by someone else. Maybe they're looking for a better job, or to publicize their expertise, or a new business / consulting opportunity. The conclusion is inescapable. Whatever their reason, everyone on LinkedIn wants to be found by someone.

Here's a suggestion - make it easier for people to find you on LinkedIn - use joblish in your LinkedIn profile.

As you're not doubt aware, LinkedIn limits the number of responses when you're searching to 500. Sounds like a lot, until you realize that there are over 25,000,000 people on LinkedIn and it's growing every day. LinkedIn uses keyword searching, and with the exception of industry, it's a free-for-all. If the words you use in your profile don't match the words used by the searcher, you pass like two ships in the night. Neither knows what they've missed.

Wouldn't you hate to be the 501st person that LinkedIn lists in a keyword search? And have what could be a great opportunity pass you by?

Here's a couple of suggestions. A recruiter could use joblishWSRPP (Staffing & Recruiting, Permanent Placement) along with the joblishQ code(s) for the industries that they serve. A consultant could use joblishWCLMC (Consulting, Management Consulting) along with the joblishQ code(s) for the industries they serve. There are codes in joblish for everyone. You can get your joblish words at http://www.joblish.com/.

Use the "right" keywords - Get found!

Recruiter Talk

2008-10-22T07:45:00.000-04:00

Recruiter Talk is a website (http://www.recruiter-talk.com/) and a Linked In group. It's "a place for recruiters to talk about policies, procedures, hiring methods, questions, practices and all recruiting issues. This is a site built by recruiters for recruiters. It is only as good as the information you the recruiter put in it. So, look around and if you what to add to a discussion, feel free. We are building an open source location for recruiters."

Bruce Rowles started and runs the site. It's got some neat discussion threads including Recruiting, Hiring Practices, Human Capital, Literature, Jobs & Events.

Pay them a visit. You'll find some good stuff there. You can get to their site from The joblish Blog by hitting the link to Recruiter Talk on the left side of the page.

Death of Contingent Search

2008-10-21T09:52:00.000-04:00

I read an interesting article over the weekend. It's called "The Death of Contingency Search", written by Adam Robinson, Founder & Editor of Better Hiring Today (http://betterhiringtoday.com/2008/09/10/the-death-of-contingent-search/). He makes some interesting points. One of them is - "Recruiting is no longer about who you know. It's about throughput". I thought this paragraph was particularly relevant:

"Which brings me to the issue at hand - the massive change going on in the recruitment business model. Pre-Internet, search firms would charge you 30% of their candidate’s base salary to access their network of potential candidates…and it was worth it. Back then. Now, those Rolodexes have substantially decreased in value. These recruiting technology innovations have served to greatly increase the amount of candidate information available to a corporate HR team, and HR departments across the country are now dealing with a huge influx of data. Their problem is no longer “how do I find someone for this job,” it’s now “who can help me sort through these 250 resumes?” That, my friends, is a throughput issue, not a recruiting issue. And throughput issues are solved with efficient and low-cost operating models."

Now a shameless plug:
This is where joblish can help. If recruiters, corporate & agency, were to use joblish in their job ads and were to demand that applicants submit resumes with joblish codes, it would allow them to machine search the 250 resumes, reading those that met the criteria and qualifications they are looking for. How much time could you save if you had to read 10 resumes instead of 250? Start using joblish and it will become a reality faster than you think.

Just a thought.

"How to" Use joblish

2008-10-20T17:37:00.000-04:00

When we discuss using joblish, we mean two things - how to use the joblish website to generate & translate joblish codes; and how to use the codes after you have them. Let's take them in order.

While using the joblish website is quite simple, you still have a couple of new things to learn. Go to www.joblish.com. There is a tab marked "Use Joblish". Read the section "How to Use Joblish". It defines the terms that joblish uses and will help you understand the basic principles behind it. From there, you can go to either "Joblish for Candidates" or "Joblish for Employers / Recruiters", as suits you. The difference between them is that the questions are asked from either the Candidate's or Employer / Recruiter's point of view. The answers come out the same. When you first select "Joblish for...", you'll see a new row of tabs appear below the main row above. The leftmost tab - "Industry In" will be highlighted. Answer the questions in order from the pulldown menus. Beneath the last question is a button - "Generate Code". Push it, and the code will appear below. Note that there is a "Remove" button next to the code, so that you can delete codes that you don't want. You're free to generate additional codes on this page, or, if you're finished, push the "Next Tab" button, which will take you to the next tab - "Industry Served" where you'll repeat the process. If you don't want a code(s) in a particular area, skip it. There is no requirement that you use every heading.

Continue through the tabs until you reach the "Registration" page. At this point, you can fill in the information and register, or not, as you wish. The benefit to registering is that you'll receive regular updates from joblish, and the joblish system will remember & repopulate you're codes on subsequent visits.

After you've finished on the "Registration" page, the next tab is "Review \ Send". There you'll see all the codes that you generated, along with the remove buttons. If any are wrong, or unwanted, simply remove them and go back to the appropriate tab so you can generate the correct code. Go back to the "Review" page, and, if you're satisfied, either type in your e-mail address (unregistered user) or hit "Send" (Registered users' e-mail addresses populate automatically). The codes will be e-mailed to you for further use.

To translate joblish, copy the code, including the word "joblish" at the beginning of it, and paste it into the "Enter joblish code" box that's above the "Industry In" tab. Hit the "Translate" button, and the definition appears below.

Once you've received the joblish codes generated above, there are a number of things you can do with them:

Put an entry at the bottom of your resume in this format - "www.joblish.com: joblishWSRPP, joblishQADXX, joblishDEXXXAB, joblishEEBSMK" (These are my joblish codes). In a Word or other electronic document, the search engines will find them.
Put an entry at the bottom of your job postings in this format - "www.joblish.com: joblishWSRPP, joblishQADXX, joblishDEXXXAB, joblishEEBSMK". Google & other search engines will find it.

Add joblish codes to your LinkedIn profile. The LinkedIn search engine finds them.

Add your joblish codes to any document, profile, ad or other communication where you might be looking or where you might want to be found.

Search Monster, CareerBuilder, Indeed, LinkedIn etc using joblish codes as keywords. This will become more and more useful as the acceptance of joblish increases.

Finally, we don't pretend to have all the answers. If, when you look at the joblish codes, you think we've made a mistake, or left something important out, please let us know at wordmasters@joblish.com so we can correct it. joblish as it is today is a beginning. We work everyday to make it better.

Uncertain Economic Times

2008-10-16T09:20:00.000-04:00

With the economic turmoil we're in now, it seems that more bad news is unavoidable. Layoffs, plant closings and the consequences will be with us for some time. It's unsettling. What to do?

First - be prepared mentally. If you think it can't happen to you, think again. Businesses tend to make shortsighted decisions when things are uncertain. The unemployment line is full of people who thought they were too valuable to be laidoff.

Second - Update your resume. Concentrate on what you've accomplished in your career. Remember - accomplishments are what make you a top performer. While you're updating your resume, add your joblish codes to the bottom of it. On my resume, it looks like this:

http://www.joblish.com/: joblishWSRPP, joblishQADXX, joblishDEXXXAB, joblishEEBSMK.

Third - Update your Linked In profile. (If you're not on Linked In, consider joining. Over 25,000,000 people are members, and the networking potential is enormous). Showcase your accomplishments. Add your joblish codes here also. The computers will find them. With 25 million members, you never know who might be looking for you.

No blog tomorrow - I'll be on the road. Back on Monday.

Making Progress

2008-10-15T08:22:00.000-04:00

joblish is moving forward & getting better. In the last few days, some users have stepped up and are helping us correct joblish for their industry. We're made changes in the Library & Information Science industry and are working on the Defense, Defense Electronics, Energy, and Utility industries with the help of folks who work in those areas. More details later.

Special thanks to Raissa & Deb at Library Associates Companies. Their input has transformed joblish for the Library & Information Science industry into a very vibrant, useful tool.

Please let us know if you're willing to help make changes for your industry. We'll take all the help we can get.

Joblish Video Interview

2008-10-14T07:37:00.000-04:00

Last week Bill Vick of XtremeRecruiting (http://www.xtremerecruiting.tv/) interviewed me about joblish. You can see the interview here http://www.xtremerecruiting.tv/mark-bielecki-recruiter-and-founder-jl-blake-joblish/, and at www.recruitingblogs.com.

Joblish & Browsers

2008-10-13T09:25:00.000-04:00

Use of joblish is growing. Everyday we're learning something new. Today, we need to talk about browsers.

A number of folks have reported that there are some problems using joblish with Safari, the browser that's used by many Mac users. We're looking into it, and will make corrections as soon as we can. Until the bugs are worked out, we recommend that you use Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox to interact with joblish. Both are readily available on the Web for free.

Google released the Beta version of its new browser, Google Chrome, on September 2, 2008. Reports from users indicate that there is a problem accessing the "Use joblish" pages with Chrome. The final release of Chrome is sometime down the road. I'm sure there'll be many changes / fixes in it between now and then. We're going to wait until Chrome is finally released before we make fixes to the joblish site. We don't know where Chrome is going to go. Making changes based on Beta releases may create more problems than it fixes. Until Chrome is finally released, we recommend that you use Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Don't Wait for the Axe

2008-10-10T09:58:00.000-04:00

I got a call yesterday that made me sad. A candidate that I'd contacted some months ago called. He'd just been "downsized" at his company, and was asking if I could help him.

It's sad because, when I talked with him earlier this year, he'd been happy with his job, and didn't want to take the time to have his resume on file in our office for future opportunities. Now that he really needs help, we're starting at zero. In today's job climate, it's unlikely that his job search will be short. I've been out of work. It really stinks. I'm sad because I know what he's going through.

Here's my advice. Don't wait for the axe to fall. Update your resume and get on the radar screen of a recruiter who works in your field. Add joblish to your resume and to your profile(s) in social networks (LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook etc).

Make it easier for people to find you. It'll pay dividends.

Change This!

2008-10-09T06:18:00.000-04:00

joblish offers an opportunity to change to how we communicate and search on the web.

I found an interesting website that I wanted to tell you about. (How's that for a segue?) It's called "Change This" (http://www.changethis.com/). From their site:

"ChangeThis is creating a new kind of media. A form of media that uses existing tools (like PDFs, blogs and the web) to challenge the way ideas are created and spread. We're on a mission to spread important ideas and change minds."

Everyday people write articles, which they call manifestos, for the site. What makes it unique, is that you write a summary of your article and it gets voted on by ChangeThis readers. If you don't get enough votes, your article doesn't get put on the site. Cool concept.

Interview & Stuff

2008-10-08T11:04:00.001-04:00

I just completed a video interview with Bill Vick, the recruiting guru and publisher of http://www.xtremerecruiting.tv/. We talked about joblish, how it came to be and how it's used. I'll post a copy here when Bill releases it.

On the "Stuff" front, here's a suggestion for how an HR professional or recruiters should use joblish.

When you're using joblish to write job ads, or code resumes, just use it. There's no need to register or to log in if you are a registered user. joblish puts a cookie on your computer with the codes you generated on your last visit. This is a time saver for someone who's writing ads or translating codes. The codes saved in a cookie will disappear when the cookie is removed from your computer through maintenance such as when you run "Disk Cleanup".

Register and log in when you're working on your personal joblish codes. These are saved on joblish and remain there as long as you're a registered user. You can look them up & use them when you're working on your personal resume or social network profile.

Not Really Looking? Use LinkedIn

2008-10-07T11:06:00.000-04:00

Most folks aren't actively looking for a new job. They like the one they have and aren't planning on changing. That being said, who doesn't like to called by a recruiter? It makes you feel good, pumps up your ego. Hey - I'm being recruited!

Here's a way for you to subtly encourage those calls. Put your joblish codes on your LinkedIn profile. It's quick & easy, and will help your profile work for you.

HR-XML

2008-10-06T10:17:00.000-04:00

I was talking to a colleague last week, and he asked me if joblish is similar to HR-XML. It is, on a very basic level. From the HR-XML webpage:

"The mission of the HR-XML Consortium is to spare employers and vendors the risk and expense of having to negotiate and agree upon data interchange mechanisms on an ad-hoc basis. By developing and publishing open data exchange standards based on Extensible Markup Language ("XML"), the Consortium provides the means for any company to transact with other companies without having to establish, engineer, and implement many separate interchange mechanisms."

joblish is a "data exchange standard". However, it's intended to be used by everyday people without the need for progamming or special software. If you can read 5 pages, answer 11 questions on pull-down menus, use e-mail and "copy & paste", you can start using joblish in about 10 minutes.

Resume Tip

2008-10-03T09:10:00.000-04:00

With all the upheaval in the economy now, you may feel it's a good time to update your resume and send it to recruiters you've worked with in the past. Get back on their radar screen, so to speak. You never know when you may find the need to make a change.

Here's an easy suggestion for upgrading your resume - Add joblish codes at the bottom of your resume. Add a section (similar to Education, Professional Experience etc.) called "Joblish". List your joblish codes there. It works well to simply list the codes. They don't take up much room, and they'll show up when computers do keyword searches.

Day #2 - Here we go!

2008-10-02T09:19:00.000-04:00

We've finished the alpha & beta testing of the new joblish site. It was released at 9:00 PM last night. If you find any bugs, please let us know.

joblish tip for today - put your joblish codes into your LinkedIn profile. Remember to put in the whole code, including the word "joblish". This makes sure that the search engines will find it, and not confuse it with other words.

Hello World!

2008-10-01T21:32:00.000-04:00

It's October 1st, 2008. After 9+ months of hard work, we're launching joblish, a set of structured keywords that you can add on to job postings, resumes, LinkedIn profiles and any other place that job seekers and talent seekers may be looking for each other. You don't need special programming or software upgrades, and it's absolutely free.

Here's joblish tip #1. Add joblish codes to your job postings and job ads. It will save a lot of time for the folks who are looking for the opportunity you have to offer.