Have People Stopped Using the Job Boards

flash harry

Hi

Was just wondering, I am a recruiter (booo!!! your scum etc etc)

Anyhow I have a real job on one of the major job-boards for 3 days and have only got 1 response so far....

Can't believe it, I was expecting a ridiculous amount. Now I have been quite specific as to what my client are looking for but this is crazy.

So I'm wondering have job seekers gotten SO P*ssed off with getting no replys/getting nowhere they've stopped applying???????

markpb

Perhaps people are afraid to move jobs right now? Last in, first out and all that.

lilrayosunshine

I am just starting to look for a job after being made redundant.. I find a lot of the ads on the recruitment sites are a bit "don't even bother sending me your CV unless you have 10 years experience doing exactly the position advertised"

I haven't sent my CV to any agencies but have sent a couple of mails asking for further info on the position and as I received no reply, it has put me completely off that agency

Rowley Birkin QC

flash harry wrote: »

Hi

Was just wondering, I am a recruiter (booo!!! your scum etc etc)

Anyhow I have a real job on one of the major job-boards for 3 days and have only got 1 response so far....

Can't believe it, I was expecting a ridiculous amount. Now I have been quite specific as to what my client are looking for but this is crazy.

So I'm wondering have job seekers gotten SO P*ssed off with getting no replys/getting nowhere they've stopped applying???????

Whats the job?

Gimme gimme gimme. Seriously! Have a look at my sig.

To answer your question; Yes, not getting replies when you have gone to the bother of doing job specific cv's and cover letters, many times a day, does get extremely annoying.

CorkFenian

flash harry wrote: »

Hi

Was just wondering, I am a recruiter (booo!!! your scum etc etc)

Anyhow I have a real job on one of the major job-boards for 3 days and have only got 1 response so far....

Can't believe it, I was expecting a ridiculous amount. Now I have been quite specific as to what my client are looking for but this is crazy.

So I'm wondering have job seekers gotten SO P*ssed off with getting no replys/getting nowhere they've stopped applying???????

The good guys in recruiting, those who know the industry and keep in touch with you ,(might not give a 5hit) but at least give impression they do..Will always do well, in my dealings have dealt with very very few like that..The crap recruitment agents will never get repeat business..Simple as that really.I won't forget them either.Todays senior engineer holds tomorrows purse strings...No one minded during the better times as jobs were there...They will mind in the future though even when things start to get better (long way off I know) IMHO

Whats the "job" anyway???

MysticalRain

There could be something wrong with your job description that's putting people off. Like asking for "10 years of experience with C#"

Post a link to the job would help to form an accurate opinion.

the_syco

flash harry wrote: »

Was just wondering, I am a recruiter (booo!!! your scum etc etc)

Haven't seen ye around for a bit. What area is the job in?

flash harry

dont want to annoy Mods by putting job up but will say its for a facilities management company and person must have that background.

Re job description putting peope off - if anything the opposite, quite broad other than 2 stipulations, one been background in FM

FH

AARRRGH

People are still using job boards (I run a few jobsites and the traffic stats go up every month) but definitely I've noticed people are looking but not moving at the moment.

Sort of similar situation with apartments - I'm trying to rent out a room in my very cheap, very central Dublin apartment but am getting no interest.

Basically, I think people are scared of change at the moment.

Maglight

flash harry wrote: »

Hi

Was just wondering, I am a recruiter (booo!!! your scum etc etc)

Anyhow I have a real job on one of the major job-boards for 3 days and have only got 1 response so far....

Can't believe it, I was expecting a ridiculous amount. Now I have been quite specific as to what my client are looking for but this is crazy.

So I'm wondering have job seekers gotten SO P*ssed off with getting no replys/getting nowhere they've stopped applying???????

What jobsite are you using?

Max Power1

The jobsites are noticeably bare recently - i still check and apply for any jobs available but i rarely if ever get a response these days, let alone an interview.

Otis Driftwood

Still check the jobsites daily but avoid agency ads like the plague.

tja

I have a job, but I would take the gamble at the moment to move, so I'm using the job sites.

But I'd never do a search (in good times or bad) without selecting the "Employers only" option. And to illustrate why, try this:

Go to IrishJobs.ie, Select Agency search, Select "IT" , and enter "Java" as the search keyword.

You'll find 20+ pages of jobs, (many paying 80-90K per year). I guess I must have missed that memo about the recession being over :rolleyes:

99% (if not 100%) of those postings are bogus, so any legitimate job posting is just going to get lost in the noise.

matrim

Personally I always search by employers first and recruitment agencies second.

There are still some new real jobs coming from recruitment agencies, I've gotten a couple of interviews from them recently.

The problem with agency jobs are that you never know if they are real. There are agency jobs that I applied to months ago and were told they were filled \ closed \ on hold but they are still up on the job sites. Well that and the repetition of seeing the same job about 10 times from different (or sometimes the same) agency.

MysticalRain

The signal to noise ratio is even higher if you include all those call centre jobs that require a language. I wish more jobs sites would allow you to filter those out in their search engines.

Tar.Aldarion

I imagine a lot of people are getting fed up with these sites and fake jobs. i have used half a dozen+ every day for months, getting tired of crap. Also as I'm just a graduate there is not much for me anyway in reality. 3 years + experience blah blah blah

Tom Dunne

Even at the other end of the spectrum, job websites don't instil any faith in a job seeker.

I have almost 10 years experience in my field, quite comprehensive, plus I have a degree and a masters and I have industry certification. I applied for two positions recently that matched my skills/experience down to a tee, and I literally had to hound the recruitment agency to get any kind of response, let alone acknowledgement.

As I posted here, I looked at two other jobs recently and ended up going to the ASAI about another agency advertising fake jobs. I encourage everyone to do the same if they suspect agencies are doing the same.

Malice

flash harry wrote: »

So I'm wondering have job seekers gotten SO P*ssed off with getting no replys/getting nowhere they've stopped applying???????

I look at the various job sites regularly but I tend to avoid recruitment firm positions as I don't know whether the advertised job actually exists and I also don't know where my CV will end up if I do submit it.

I would also echo Tom Dunne's post about having to hound recruiters for a response. I have had to do this a couple of times recently and it makes me wonder whether these recruiters are actually interested in getting their commission at all.

herya

flash harry wrote: »

So I'm wondering have job seekers gotten SO P*ssed off with getting no replys/getting nowhere they've stopped applying???????

Jobsites are acting really funny nowadays. I had a saved search on IrishJobs for months and months, it's a very specific combination so usually there would be 1-2 results, or nothing. I specifically chose "companies only" and I used to get an e-mail from them every day or every couple of days with the results. Now a couple of days ago I got the usual e-mail but lo and behold suddenly there are 30+ results, all from agencies and looking very generic. I checked and it seems that in the prefs of my saved search the "companies only" option has magically changed to "agencies only". Not even "companies and agencies", which was also available. I haven't even logged in there for months so I'm positive it's not me.

If it's a conscious action on their side it might mean that the number of applications via agencies is drastically down.

cornbb

I've become very disillusioned with both Irish recruitment agencies and Irish job websites. I'm involved in what you might call a very narrow/niche field, and its obvious that in the case of the majority of vacancies posted:

- posted job adverts are all duplicates of the same vacancy (often 5-10 of them)
- the company has no intention of filling a vacancy anytime soon - they are just fishing for CVs
- I saw at least one advertised vacancy that I know for a fact was filled months ago.

I've dealt with a lot of UK agencies and have found them to be a lot more pro-active and friendly. Maybe the problem in Ireland is that the pond is very small and there are not very many fish around, in my line of work at least...

AARRRGH

cornbb wrote: »

- the company has no intention of filling a vacancy anytime soon - they are just fishing for CVs

I doubt that's the case. We've been trying to get staff for months, but are finding it really difficult.

The problem is getting people with the right set of skills and experience. It's not easy.

Tar.Aldarion

Maake room for a graduate electronic and computer engineer there aarrrgh. :pac:

cornbb

AARRRGH wrote: »

I doubt that's the case. We've been trying to get staff for months, but are finding it really difficult.

The problem is getting people with the right set of skills and experience. It's not easy.

Maybe you're right. In this case, if one particular company I'm thinking of are really serious about filling a role they've advertised for over 6 months, they need to shift their expectations - they have listed around 12 "must have" skills, some of which are very common, some of which are quite niche. They will never realistically find someone who has experience with all of these skills (or even nearly all of them), especially not in Ireland.

However I think its perhaps more likely that they have just listed every skill/technology that is used in the whole company and instead are just fishing for CVs in order to gauge the talent pool out there, perhaps with the intention of headhunting sometime in the future, but not with the intent of actually filling the role they've advertised.

Tactics like this are extremely frustrating for jobseekers. I had an interview for a job in Dublin which I thought went quite well a few months back. Eventually the feedback from the company boiled down to "well, we weren't quite sure what we wanted so we've changed the spec and re-advertised the position". Essentially a big waste of time for me and anyone else who was interviewed.

Kinetic^

People search by Employers only.

Tar.Aldarion

0 results found :pac:

ixus

I strictly search "employer only". Any time I look at a recruiters page, I can find the employer advertising that job pretty quickly, in general.

I believe the rep of recruitment agencies are in tatters and won't be repaired any time soon.

Xiney

I'm pretty much refusing, at this stage, to go through a recruitment agency.

I think they're the scum of the earth and anytime I've dealt with them it's been a complete and utter waste of my time.



I hope the recession kills them off for good

Maglight

Xiney wrote: »

I'm pretty much refusing, at this stage, to go through a recruitment agency.

I think they're the scum of the earth and anytime I've dealt with them it's been a complete and utter waste of my time.



I hope the recession kills them off for good

It would be a pretty bad state of affairs if that happened. But I understand the sentiment. Hopefully the recession clears out the bad ones.

Gurgle

cornbb wrote: »

they have listed around 12 "must have" skills, some of which are very common, some of which are quite niche. They will never realistically find someone who has experience with all of these skills (or even nearly all of them), especially not in Ireland.

They're not looking for someone with all the skills - they're looking for someone smart enough to learn enough fast enough to wing it through the interview as if they knew what they were talking about.

John Mason

I only search for "employer only"

will never use an agency ever again.

they are Evil with a capital E

cornbb

@Gurgle: that's a true enough point. Although most employers these days seem to be pretty wary of chancers and will have technical challenges/tests as part of the interview process.

In the defence of agencies, I've dealt with a good few UK agents who were very professional and helpful. Maybe the culture is different over there though.

Gurgle

cornbb wrote: »

@Gurgle: that's a true enough point. Although most employers these days seem to be pretty wary of chancers and will have technical challenges/tests as part of the interview process.

And the smart, prepared people will pass those tests, thats the difference between bluffing and winging it

Mrs OBumble

Xiney wrote: »

I'm pretty much refusing, at this stage, to go through a recruitment agency.

I think they're the scum of the earth and anytime I've dealt with them it's been a complete and utter waste of my time.

I hope the recession kills them off for good

In the good times, agencies can be useful for convincing employers to look at people who they wouldn't otherwise consider.

The recession won't kill off the big ones, they've done this before and they know what steps they have to take to wind back while things are tough but still have the structure in place for when things get better again.

the_syco

JustMary wrote: »

The recession won't kill off the big ones, they've done this before and they know what steps they have to take to wind back while things are tough but still have the structure in place for when things get better again.

Also, some of the larger recruitment companies, such as CPL, had offered services to the companies during the good times. Example, X company gives CPL lump sum of money each month, and CPL takes care of the recruitment, the pay each month, etc. Cuts down costs for the companies, and when the recession happened, X company amongst others will stay with CPL. I'd say other big names in the recruitment business do this, and these companies will stay afloat.

Thoie

flash harry wrote: »

Anyhow I have a real job on one of the major job-boards for 3 days and have only got 1 response so far....

Can't believe it, I was expecting a ridiculous amount. Now I have been quite specific as to what my client are looking for but this is crazy.

So I'm wondering have job seekers gotten SO P*ssed off with getting no replys/getting nowhere they've stopped applying???????

I think you've answered your own question there by stating you've got a real job listed...

In 2004 I used two agencies to switch jobs, and used various job sites for searches etc. All was mostly OK. Early 2008 I was made redundant and went back to those agencies, and they really seemed like they didn't care. I replied to a few other agencies through job boards, talked to the recruiters, discussed what I was looking for, and stipulated there was one particular area I didn't want to go in for. They still send me emails almost exclusively for that area I don't want (I have since got a job).

I had some bad experiences with agencies last year that would make me wary about using them again in the future. The most common "trick" is advertising positions that don't exist or that the agency has no right to advertise. Sending CVs to places without permission is another. Asking you to fabricate parts of your CV is a definite no-no. As most people have said, searching by employers only is becoming very common for these reasons and others.

It would take a lot of hard work, and would require the cooperation of everyone in your agency, but I think an agency that only advertises genuine positions would win a lot of respect and might attract more candidates. This isn't a quick fix - it will take months to build up trust, and the coming months are going to be difficult enough as it is. Another idea to explore is to have a "roving" agent who will go meet up at the candidates convenience. I'm sure you have guidelines on what you're offering the employers - think about having guidelines on what you're offering the candidates as well. It may seem counter-intuitive when so many people are looking for work, but I think it deserves looking into (well, I would, it's my idea ).