There is a massive change in how jobseekers are going to be using the Internet to research and find their next few jobs, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts on how that is happening. It is natural that following "Web 2.0", should follow "Jobseeker 2.0" (note: 'Jobseeker 2.0' - you heard it here first ;)
The volume of content is amazing that is available on the Internet is enormous, and growing at a staggering rate. There were 20,000 blogs in 2002, and there are 58 million today. The growth rate is one per second worldwide, with the largest number of new blogs currently being created in Chinese I believe - so please don't disregard this as an American thing. This will affect how you hire in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, I promise you.
Candidates are going to start connecting more with people than companies. Web 1.0 was all about gaining access with a company (from a candidates perspective). Now 2.0 jobseekers are social animals and they will trust a companies employees who are writing on a blog far more than they would buy into the corporate spin. They are busy on the Net looking for new ways to find people, contacts, careers. The corporate spin is still VERY important and dedicated careers portals will continue to grow - however they will also have to learn how to cater to Candidate 2.0
That might mean having employees post to a blog on your careers site for example and include video diaries.
On a side not I was watching an episode of 'Sex and the City' last night, and heard a comment that every person in New York is believed to "always be looking for either a new apartment, and new partner or a new job". How true is that, and does it apply to other major capital centres I don't know; maybe Carrie Bradshaw could holiday in Dubai and carry out some research.
Web 2.0 is all about how easy it has become to publish diverse content, to the Internet. It was always fairly easy for a large firm to get a web design company to build and host a corporate website (web 1.0), but now you and I can write blogs, use social networking sites, upload videos to myspace or youtube.com, or broadcast interviews via pod casts. That has all really all taken place in a very short space of time, and I expect to see an awful lot more of it well through 2007 as more people gain confidence to try out their Internet skills.
However jobseekers are already there, well in the game.
2.0 jobseekers have realised that uploading your CV to Yahoo is no longer that clever, and they will seek out information and contacts for their next job/s this year using a wide variety of tools.
Credibility is being built today by individuals. Search for 'Microsoft blogs' on Google, there are hundreds of MS staff talking about a huge range of things from the work environment, to the pay, to their hobbies and exercise routines. It isn't all about blogs though, far from it. Jobseeker 2.0's are starting to use social networking sites such as linkedin.com, myspace, and recruiting sites are embracing this technology such as jobster and theladders.com to become more than just a website advertising jobs.
The companies that are willing to embrace Web 2.0 will see a win-win with Jobseeker 2.0's. They will be able to connect with great potential hires, who have a good insight into the company and its people before they even apply. That accessibility is essential and ignoring it, or not understanding it, is a recruiting faux-pas for employers today.
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