Making Online Recruitment Work

Urban Mole

Dominic Sumners — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:44:00 GMT

UrbanMole

Had a really enjoyable meeting with Andrew from UrbanMole who ran me through the site and what their plans were. I loved the concept as they have a clear target market and a compelling reason for that target market to use the site (rather than one of the other social/business network sites out there). I love the TripAdvisor type peer review and referral elements. Now its all about the execution - and so the really hard work begins....

Public Sector Time Bomb

Dominic Sumners — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:41:00 GMT

doing some market analysis at moment - and following Barack Obama being more positive about stuff thought i should drag everybody down (particularly the battered print industry).
As we know Public Sector vacancies have been relatively robust at present and this has consequently meant that their share of the total market has grown from 20%(2007) to 40% (2009).
Now whatever government is in power - vacancies have to collapse as spending is cut in next few years to restore some semblance of sanity to government finances.
Sadly this will impact most hard on local papers as it is one area that has not taken a huge dive for them in last 2 years and online migration has not happened as quickly in other areas.

Lets all hope that the private sector's green shoots turn into full blooming ecenomic recovery to mask the public sector recruitment dive.

ITV/FriendsReunited

Dominic Sumners — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:27:00 GMT

Just adding some rather random thoughts to this story (ITV pay £150-175m for something that is now worth £2.50)

It is so rare to find an acquisition that goes right isn't it? (a round of applause for DMGT's purchase of Jobsite though!). The typical story tends to be large corporate has strategy vacuum but feels the need to do something. Consultants are employed and feel the need to recommend something. Both of these end up with "lets go out and acquire something"
Now just possibly this acquisition's main purpose is for the page 1-3 story in FT of the announcement that indicates that company is getting all web - e-commerce - international - moving up supply chain (delete as appropriate)
After Day 1 - the company then have to think "what the hell are we going to do with this"
In FriendsReunited - it was lets stick a job board on it - and dating - and classifieds. That must have taken about 5 mins to come up with!
Execution in all areas - pretty appalling - and short term view taken so parts are closed down
Almost from Day 1 - the site is completely engulfed by better technology - proper Web 2.0 and presumably a complete lack of inspiration to pick up the challenge from ITV
In all likelihood - all the board who bought it (and consultants who advised buying it) have moved on and it can be safely binned
They have announced that would be prepared to sell it for £50m - any takers? - no - didn't think so - it would be like buying 34 year old crocked footballer who was once a star player - so ITV better hope Newcastle or West Ham are in the market. I cant imagine what the true value would be - but not a great deal for a product in terminal decline that does not have an established revenue stream.
I saw this quote in one of the pieces "Last year ITV claimed Friends Reunited had doubled its monthly unique users to 5.5m after switching from subscriptions to an ad-funded model" - 5.5m monthly uniques - really?? - it may be true but does anyone know anyone who has been on this site for the last 3 years?

State of the OME Nation - Q1 2009

Dominic Sumners — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:06:00 GMT

I wrote this piece back in October about state of the market/economy and OME. And i thought having just had a week off to reflect on things - i should update and revise.

Overall it is clear now we are in the grip of a severe downturn in which no business - even a dynamic category busting business like ours - is immune. We are currently running spend and profitability figures which are pretty flat (+4% year on year) which in a normal business would be cause for champagne but given our huge growth historically is not quite as exciting. I am not looking at any market stats in this piece but these are the significant changes i have witnessed in last 4 months from my comments then

Some of our day to day contacts have changed in both client and supplier communities. This is due to 1 reason - redundancy. When a client needs to reduce costs/headcount - they do not need as many recruitment managers - hence these individuals are cut at quite an early stage. Media owners all need to cut their cost base - hence headcount reduction. We are clearly trying to help where we can - keep our eyes open for any opportunities that may help people we became close to over the time of our working relationships.
The gap between proposal and sign off gets longer - and some proposals sit out there - never being turned down but beginning to yellow at the edges. Caution and postponement become the name of the game - and i understand that perfectly.
The argument about successful adoption of new techniques to reduce cost per hire etc has been won - however if there is no recruitment occurring - the decision to go online does not necessarily elicit any short term activity
Some of our retail clients really inspire me by their determination to sell their way through these problems and carry on recruiting and expanding - yes they are more cautious but they see a big opportunity to grab m/s in this period. We try and have by and large been successful at OME in following this mantra.
I am extremely thankful for the government work we have got involved with in mid last year. It is both great in terms of quality of client and interest of projects and also i know my taxes are not going to be wasted for too much longer long term by huge adverts every week in nationals and locals.
However, Sean (my co-founder) and I used to have this 100% strike rate of meeting to some degree of spend/activity - for last few months all meetings are more speculative and tentative again understandably and i think our previous urgent almost impatient approach would be the wrong tack for the next few months. I made sure everyone at OME from Jan 2 knew the score and what was expected of them in terms of service and hard work etc but that should never come across as being over aggressive in any of our relationships with suppliers (and clients)
Every media and agency one talks to - when asked the inevitable question "hows business?" repeat the same answer - "it is tough out there but we are doing OK and out-performing market" - presumably not everyone is telling truth but then would you - if the answer was "absolutely shockingly - at this rate we will all be down the dole office including me"

Finally - i think in October i did not really know anyone who was out of work - i now know of at least 8-10 senior-ish people who are - and none of whom tell me there is much out there at all in terms of exciting opportunities.

Anyway hopefully this was not too glum - as one advantage of being a bit older is i have been through it before and it passes and it can pass quite quickly - and ultimately there will be big big winners from this period of change - just make sure you are in the winners camp!

5 Things I Dont Like in My Media Relationships

Dominic Sumners — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:57:00 GMT

OK – a bit if a context first – we at OME love our media relationships – and most people we deal with are absolutely great. Let me also be clear i personally don’t mind beng phoned loads, being chased for biz hard or being expected to justify our media planning. I am also aware that i may just be a grumpy old man or worse...

5 Things i Dont Like in My Media Relationships

1. Overfamiliarity. I just don’t feel comfortable with the chit chat until we have discussed some work/potential work and got to know each other a little better. Classic example being asked “how was my weekend?” by people I don’t know at all. As i have 3 young children – the answer is probably very little that will sound good to you when i tell you.

Oh and PS. don’t say Happy New year to me on Jan 31

2. Rudeness – i don’t like it in colleagues, clients or myself. But it always shocks me when a rep is rude to me or one of the team and it happens more than you would think. Now it may be that you are having a bad day or under pressure or we have annoyed you in some way. But i can guarantee you 2 things – 1. It won’t help you get any more ads out of us and 2. Your mum would not like it if she heard you – its just bad manners

3. Dealing with a “chocolate teapot” - no, Jamie – that’s not rude- I mean it in the context of “you are about as much use as a ...” Its absolute fair and reasonable to take timeout in a negotiation or have to discuss very significant things with someone senior. But don’t refer every single little thing to your manager otherwise just put your manager on our account as it cuts out the middleman and speeds everything up.

4. Bad service/Bad selling – there are brilliant sales people and brilliant account managers out there – dealing with agencies mean you have to be reasonable at both. Entry level good service is doing what you say you would do. That is hitting deadlines, checking work, listening to the brief. My key gripe on this is it makes us look *** if you don’t do it... Speaking for OME, good service significantly impacts some of our media decisions. Personally speaking – i also am not a big fan of the “nice” account manager who never sells to us. We like to know about your product enhancements, your expansion etc – and yes – we will mention these things to our clients where relevant.

5. Dealing with an “Olympic Flame” – so called as he/she never goes out. If we have spoken to you for a year – booked some ads – shared an occasional laugh. Then come and see us – we will even buy you a cup of coffee and a bun if you ask nicely.

Now being as I spent most of my career working for a media owner – I could start a list of what bugs people about agencies – but that’s for others to chip in!

Have i become immune to loss of data stories

Dominic Sumners — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:48:00 GMT

is it me or is the recent Monster story - a story that appears about 3 or 4 times a year in different formats (Government about 3 times last year and i am sure Monster have been the subject before.) I had to get immersed in it as we are knee deep in a couple of campaigns (1 for government) with Monster and i need to make sure i communicate 100% accurately with clients about it but otherwise i could nbot bring myself to engage with it. Possibly a problem!

Print Classified Advertising Downturn Cyclical...

Dominic Sumners — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:30:00 GMT

lets hope that as of today and the behemoth of classified advertising the Evening Standard being sold for a quid that we don't hear the cyclical argument ever again.

Unleash Hell!

Dominic Sumners — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:44:00 GMT

Back in the chair - and actually rather excited about year ahead. No predictions/resolutions or such like but it will be a bloody tough year in which we will have to show demonstrable tangible value, will have to make every effort to publicise these facts (thats selling!), maintain brilliant client and supplier relationships and control costs. easy!
I really think the direct sourcing /cost per hire message is getting through and that we are at a tipping point - but macro economic factors can obliterate the tip short/medium term so hang on as its going to be a bumpy rid

Thanks Mum

Dominic Sumners — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:08:00 GMT

Clearly her sophisticated online ballot box stuffing has secured her youngest (and best) son's nomination for this Best 2008 Recruitment Blog Awards. Please feel free to vote for me or indeed anyone else if you are so minded.

Easy Media Planning and Buying

Dominic Sumners — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:05:00 GMT

Now this is going to shock the non recruitment people who read this - but job advertising and assocaited stuff is perceived as a little backward compared to otehr areas of marketing. In many ways it has been ahead of the game in that it is and has always been direct response advertising (isnt most ad stuff now direct response!) but interm sof measurement and the science of media planning/buying it has been a little cosy and non creative - howver it is all changing!

Going through 2 separate media reviews at moment - trying to get all closed up and agreed before next week and i must say with both it is a pleasure - why?

We are doing the review based not on media owner stats, not on clicks and not on applications but on hires! ie cost per hire by job by media and all cross referencable (is that a word?)
We are not looking at this stuff in isolation - its clearly a retrospective metric that has a lot of variables in it - need to base stuff on what is likely to be results and/or needs next year too
Both clients agree that though budgets are tight - we need to continue to push things a little further in exploring new routes so have allocated a budget accordingly

Now it would be easy to pretend that everyone is at this point but that is not the case - most of the work that enabled this to happen occurred in 2007 - and there is an awful lot of unglamorous grunt work involved in proper tagging and tracking both from client side and us - but the benefits are enormous - primarily the ability to show the reduction in cost per hire, the efficiency of the process and the real time visibility of the numbers.

Hang on - i think i have to shroud what we do in complex web talk otherwise anyone will think they can do it - and we cant have that can we!

2008 - What a Year!

Dominic Sumners — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:09:00 GMT

I have never experienced a more "interesting" year (both good and bad) in my business career as this year. I will try and get some more formal comments on what i think have been the key trends this year and what i think will happen next year over next couple of weeks - hope to have a bit of time as it is definitely getting a wee bit quieter out there.
Overall - it feels like 2008 was the year that online became a core (probably "the core") element of a companies recruiting and employee engagement strategy. The level of complexity and sophistication in our client discussions has moved on more this year than the previous 2 years combined. That shows itself in spend and breadth of techniques adopted (SEM, Business networks, social networks etc) but most importantly - quantifiable tangible and documented results which show the great improvement in ROI - effective online recruitment/engagement gets companies.
Anecdotally - most of us who have been doing this a long time agree that these days you don't have to sell the concept anymore - it really is about the right product and brilliant execution. In that sense - The West has been Won.
However - when a great big hulking macro economic trend comes into play - recruitment can simply stop and no amount of cleverness and expertise can always get round that objection.
I am in the camp, however, that though fist half 2009 will be v tough - those efficient value led companies (like OME!!) will benefit hugely as the downturn lessens.

Dominic Sumners — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:57:00 GMT

Been having some interesting conversations with the team at Linkedin in last few weeks and getting some corporate contracts arranged for our larger clients. I have to declare an interest here - I absolutely LOVE this product.
The growth in users is phenomenal (1 million more every 15-16 days globally) - the profile of the users amazing (avg UK salary £62,000 which used to be higher than global avg but is now lower - following sterling dropping like a stone) and usability simple.
We have undoubtedly seen improved results in some targeted campaigns we are running in last 6 months - but i cannot profess to know where Linkedin will end up in the recruiting/employer brand piece - will it be a market dominant place for senior executive networking/communicating/advertising or a big fat senior CV database. Gross oversimplification i know but both are sort of possible.
Next 2 years will be fascinating.

Impact of Jobsite TV Campaign

Dominic Sumners — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:48:00 GMT

Had the first feedback as to impact on the Jobsite splurge on TV advertising (and other media)

Application levels have increased 27%.(October vs September)

New registrations (Jobsite.co.uk only) have increased 48% (Oct vs Sep).

Searchable CVs are up to 679,000 - with new CVs up over 100% (Oct vs Sep)

It is important to note when discussing media stats that i actually trust these numbers - i can't quite work out whether i expected the figures to be even higher - it was a very big impact campaign.

TV advertising tends to be brand building led rather than direct response but this does show you that the connection can be made between TV ad and searches/registrations (or did they just up the SEM spend accordingly at same time!)
I think the benefits will accrue over a long long period of time and that Jobsite previously probably the lowest profile of the general job boards amongst UK populace will no longer occupy that slot and that this definitely will result in improved long term traffic stats.

State of the (OME) Nation

Dominic Sumners — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:01:00 GMT

OK - so here is the broad economic news from a young, growing but still relatively small player in the UK recruitment advertising marketplace - has recession grabbed us, are we sailing serenely onwards - can you read anything in to our performance to indicate wider trends - see below

We are doing OK in terms of monthly revenues and still growing. July 2008 was our biggest ever month - followed by October 2008. (we launched in May 2006)
90% of our clients are still actively recruiting - with a couple of organisations that have a freeze or as near as damnit. Fortunately for us we did not have much exposure to Finance/Financial Services
This recruitment activity tends to be normal stuff rather than big projects - huge store opening programmes etc.
New business has driven our year rather than our existing clients' growth. We have had a great year in this respect - i think worth looking at why for a second

We are a young dynamic business - we bloody should be successful in new business - its not a very exciting (or rewarding) place to be if not
We have focused very hard at it as we are concerned about the wider picture and we have invested heavily in staff this year - so we need to make sure they have some work to do!
But i think fascinatingly - OME/online recruitment represents a cost saving approach to recruitment. yes we are innovative and quality should be high - but ultimately we save clients money and reduce cost per hire. This downturn is undoubtedly driving people online although it may not feel like it for a bit. The most positive thing about this year is i am utterly convinced about this point. Anecdotally - 50% of the new client meetings we attend tends to feature a version of the HR mgmt telling us how much was spent on recruitment last year (including all rec con/agency fees) - and the mission is simple - helps us dramatically reduce this figure.

Most of our billings are based around core products of Job Board Media, SEM, Campaign Mgmt, Consultancy fees (including Technical). The more esoteric cutting edge stuff has sat out there unsigned off - and i kind of agree with those decisions if budgets are limited.

So not sure it tells anyone quite what is going on out there - but for us its OK - but would like it a bit better please!

Broadbean acquired by owners of Jobsite

Dominic Sumners — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:15:00 GMT

For non jobsite people - a couple of definitions

Broadbean = A job posting technology with response tracking facility built in (for some customers) - an advertiser is able to simultaneously post via a desktop application on to multiple sites.

Jobsite is a top UK job board owned by Associated Media/Northcliffe which is owned by DMGT (Daily Mail etc)

quite an interesting one this - if only for the fact that any company is acquiring anything at moment
what does the acquisition mean?

not quite sure what AND's motivations are - Conkers is also owned by them. I guess its going up the supply chain/value chain - like a brewery buying pubs or possibly a fleet of beer delivery lorries to stretch the analogy perhaps a little too far. Still its a little different from their acquisition history of strong vertical job boards.
One does not have to question Broadbean's motivation - and well done to those involved
AND have an excellent history of buying companies (Jobsite, Jobs Group, InRetail etc) and allowing the management to grow and develop their business without unhelpful intervention. So Dan's open letter (see above) should be taken at face value i think.
Will the other major jobboard owners have a problem with this acquisition (their supply lines being owned by a competitor) - and come off the Broadbean feeds. Can't see that happening in a million years - the client is king and Broadbean's client volumes are pretty substantial to forming a job boards marketplace. But lets see.
I would be fascinated to know how they valued this business - there is an argument that the product and the whole job posting technology industry is a commodity that could be replaced in the future - but to be fair it is priced so reasonably that there is no great desire from clients to seek any alternative solution.

In summary - Broadbean is a great business - nicely profitable, low overheads, loyal customer base, limited competition but not quite sure how it fits into AND/Jobsite's product set. But that's not the worse problem to have.