Openreq - Career Resources

LinkedIn IPO - Good News for Staffing Industry

2011-06-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

LinkedIn’s IPO a few weeks ago was a defining moment in staffing. I took it as a sign that we had reached an official turning point in the struggle to jump-start the economy. Yes, I know, we aren’t there yet – some people say unemployment hasn’t recovered quite yet at 9.1%. Although, I’d argue that if you consider that unemployment among college educated workers is 4.5%, that’s near full employment.

So what does LinkedIn’s IPO have to do with economic recovery or the staffing industry as a whole? Obviously, LinkedIn is not a staffing firm, but many staffing firms have come to depend on it as a resource and I think we will continue to see its prominence in the staffing industry. And we need to continue to hear good news where we can get it – especially with all the negative media hype out there.

Also, I’m hearing directly from IT and healthcare staffing firms that are doing very well. In fact I heard from several IT staffing firms that have offices with 100 job orders on the board! And they need to hire recruiters! Huh?!?! Did you say recruiters? YES! It’s true. They have so many orders they need to hire more recruiters to fill them. And I heard that from several firms – not just one.

I’m on the board for Ohio Staffing and Search Association (OSSA), and we had our annual conference this past week. We were fortunate to have some fantastic speakers including Bill Yoh, Chairman of the Yoh Company – he is also Chairman for the American Staffing Association this year, Fran Goldstein, noted staffing industry expert and speaker, and Sam Mandolfo of LinkedIn, to name a few.

Bill Yoh reminded us that the staffing industry has made a truly remarkable comeback. Many key staffing firms having lost 30% of their year over year revenue have come blazing back and now the industry as a whole is back to pre-recession numbers – around $100 billion as an industry.

Fran made a fantastic point that stuck with me when she reminded us that “nothing stays the same,” that we must always be ready for change and embrace it. A vital point for those of us in staffing.

All the more so when you consider LinkedIn was founded just a few short years ago – in 2003. How about that for making an impact quickly? How vital is LinkedIn to your recruiting efforts? If it’s not, you might want to look at it more closely. How vital are you to your clients’ businesses?

In fact, LinkedIn has recently revised its strategy with regard to the staffing industry. Now, they realize how important the staffing industry is to them. Sam Mandolfo told us that 40% of LinkedIn’s revenue comes from hiring, recruiting, and staffing. And here’s another stat that will blow you away:

LinkedIn did a poll and asked members if they would be annoyed or bothered if a recruiter they did not know approached them on LinkedIn about an open position. A staggering 95% of respondents stated that they were fine with being approached by a recruiter on LinkedIn as long as the position was appropriate for their skill set!

LinkedIn is so serious about catering to staffing firms that they now have a small team dedicated to servicing staffing firms. Now, staffing firms that currently allow their recruiters and account executives to expense monthly membership fees can consolidate that cost at a discount. Contact Sam Mandolfo for more info on that. You can find him on LinkedIn as you may have guessed!
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sammandolfo

LinkedIn has impacted my own personal business as well. My LinkedIn groups now exceed 33,000 members between the three bigger ones (Openreq, Openreq Healthcare Recruiters and RecruiterTalk). You can check them out by going to groups search or by looking at them from my profile page.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/perrinpeacock

My presence on LinkedIn has also assisted me with launching CardioSolution. CardioSolution is the first solutions firm to offer complete interventional cardiology service lines to regional and rural hospitals nationwide. We deliver the interventional cardiologists, guarantee 365/day coverage and partner with hospitals in their marketing and outreach efforts. Those of you in healthcare staffing with connections to regional hospital CEOs – let’s talk! We are offering a hefty referral bonus!

For all you serious sourcing experts out there, I’ll leave you with a little nugget to take home. My friends at Fee Trader are doing a blog series on LinkedIn searching techniques. The latest couple of blog posts offer some cool search techniques. Using Google to perform an “x-ray search” of LinkedIn, for example, is one of the best ways to find the profiles of people that are outside of your network. This is really cool. Check them out on FeeTrader’s blog:
http://www.feetrader.com/blog/

In summary, I think we all needed a significant event to solidify our official comeback as an industry. I predict that in the next year or two, we will look back to May of 2011 and point to the LinkedIn IPO as at least one indicator that we have emerged as an industry. We were the first to be negatively impacted by the recession and now we are among the first industries to recover and grow.

And as usual, the staffing industry leads from the front. We are a resilient group and we have weathered this storm. Now it’s time to enjoy some better days ahead!

Perrin Peacock

Groupon Turns Down $6 Billion Google Offer

2010-12-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

WHOA Nellie! Talk about an OFFER! Wow!

According to TechCrunch, Groupon just recently turned down a $6 billion (yes, BILLION ! ) acquisition offer from Google. Apparently, Groupon - the 2-year-old local deals company - was doing a lot more in revenue than was previously estimated. A lot more...as in they are tracking $2 billion for 2010!

This type of movement is just plain good for the economy. The fact that a 2-year-old company could have the moxy to turn down a $6 billion offer shows that we have a LOT to look forward to in 2011!

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For those of you in the Staffing Industry, Openreq would like to extend a thank-you to our clients, candidates, and friends!

If you find you have a surplus in your 2010 budget for internal staffing and you would like to use it to renew your Openreq subscription for 2011, NOW IS THE TIME!

For all Openreq clients that renew before the end of 2010 for next year and purchase the year in advance, we are offering a 25% discount! Get as much as a 40% discount if you renew this week and purchase your Openreq package for 2011 with a credit card.

2011 is shaping up to be a fantastic year in staffing! Make sure your team is ready with top staffing sales people and recruiters to meet the demands of your clients!

Contact us for more info.

Perrin Peacock
ppeacock@openreq.com
http://www.openreq.com
800-231-4172 ext 1

Running a Marathon - Stress Relief for a busy Recruiter

2010-10-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

As a member of the busy staffing community, one way I deal with stress is by running. Ever want to run a marathon? Check out this real-time, up-close-and-personal video I did of me running the 2010 Columbus Marathon just a couple of days ago…

See Marathon Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh1vWbPwqJA

See what its like to run a marathon. Experience it from watching short interviews along the way with a school teacher and a homemaker – both doing their first marathons – and a 76 year old man doing his 80th marathon.

What do YOU do to cope with STRESS?

The staffing industry has proven to be a stressful industry even in good times. During the past 3 years, we’ve endured the most difficult recession ever. And even though the economy is starting to pick back up, we should still be conscious of the stressful nuture of our industry, and take a few minutes to consider our health and the things we do to stay healthy!

Easy in theory – DIFFICULT in implementation! Staying on an exercise program and making a lifestyle change with regard to your diet are not easy items to tackle.

I find that challenging myself to run races – marathons in my case – helps me to have something to look forward to and modivates me to get out there and run on those cold, dark mornings when I’d rather stay in bed than run or exercise.

To be clear, I am by no means a marathon racehorse. I’m more like a marathon mule – probably won’t get there in big hurry, but I’ll eventually get there…

See Marathon Video

I love the lessons running teaches that relate so directly to recruiting, staffing and business in general: stay the course, put one foot in front of the other, keep moving even when you are beat, and most importantly — NEVER, EVER quit!

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Looking for Recruiter Jobs or Staffing Jobs?

Check out Openreq and register as a candidate to market yourself to fantastic staffing firms and corporate recruiting departments nationwide. Now is definitely the time to market yourself as a staffing sales person or recruiter. Staffing firms and corp recruiting depts are hiring now!

Check out Openreq now:
http://www.openreq.com

Perrin Peacock
Openreq/RecruiterTalk
ppeacock@openreq.com
http://www.openreq.comhttp://www.recruiter-talk.com
http://www.linkedin/in/perrinpeacock

Bureau of Labor Stats Monthly Report Out Today

2010-10-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Good News for Staffing Firms!

The Bureau of Labor released its employment numbers today and got mixed reviews. Talk about SPIN...Wow! This report was spun all over the place by bloggers and media outlets. Unemployment was unchanged at 9.6%. 77,000 U.S. Census workers who were hired on a temporary basis rolled off in August and September, and those numbers were reflected in the loss of 159,000 government jobs. But private sector jobs grew - at 64,000 jobs added.

I read a variety of different blogs that spun those numbers to promote whatever agenda they were pushing. For those of us in the staffing industry, the 77,000 temporary Census workers were just like any other solid temp project – it lasted for a while and it was good while it lasted and then they rolled off. So what now? Here’s what now…NEXT!

It was good while it lasted and now it’s gone. Time to go do some other deals. Wouldn’t it be nice of elected officials and bureaucrats could view it like we in the staffing industry would? Instead they complain about it and blame everybody – when they could be out there focusing on doing more to assist small business owners – who are ultimately the group most likely to “create jobs” anyway!

The good news for staffing firms was that nearly 28,000 temporary workers were added in September – reflecting the steady growth of temporary workers over the last year. We know that this is a good sign for the staffing industry; and even though the growth in temporary employment is slow and steady when we’d like it to be much faster, we can still breathe a sign of relief that the economy is still steadily increasing. Direct hire placement numbers will surely increase as well. Sooner than later hopefully!

Now, who knows what we can export to China and India? It can’t be anything manufactured because we can’t compete there. It has to be a service, an education, or a concept we can export that they want. They are chomping at the bit to buy American ideas and concepts. How do we package that and sell it? Whoever knows the answer to that question could become rich and famous very quickly…and what’s more…help us jump-start our economy!

Perrin Peacock
Openreq
http://www.openreq.com
http://www.recruiter-talk.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/perrinpeacock

Exit Strategies for Staffing Firm Owners

2010-09-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

At Openreq, We speak with staffing firms daily, and very often we run across firms that are either looking to sell their firm or potentially acquire other firms. The sellers are looking to exit for a variety of different reasons - retirement, lifestyle, cashing out, etc.

The buyers are interested in acquiring for a variety of reasons as well - faster growth, market penetration, new service offerings, etc.

The good news is that staffing firms have officially sensed that the economy is on a steady, positive growth curve. And, thus, the staffing industry will most likely continue its own recovery – albeit, a slow and steady recovery.

So, acquiring firms know that there are some good deals out there right now – especially with boutique firms and small to medium sized firms that weathered the recession (but just barely). In any case, there are lots of firms that would be interested in an acquisition right now.

Valuating Your Staffing Firm

Staffing firms are valuated in a variety of different ways including revenue and EBITA (earnings before the deduction of interest, taxes, and amortization), staffing niche or discipline, team make-up, client diversification, and other factors. The relatively standard multiple of 3-5 times EBITA still seems to apply in this market for firms $10 million in sales or greater. Multiples of 0.3 to 0.7 times revenue also tend to be somewhat common for professional staffing firms that are attractive. To get 1 times sales typically requires more scalability. Valuations for firms with lower GMs and markups will be a little lower.

Since most staffing firms typically don’t have any assets to speak of, their book of business and internal teams are the most important factors in assessing a value. Is the book of business diversified? Are the gross margins solid? Do the markups and bill rates reflect market rates? All important factors to consider.

Intangibles are also very important in the assessment of a firm’s value. Are the salespeople also the owners? If so, will they stay on board? Will the clients be difficult or easy to transfer? Who has the client relationships? Are the clients used to working with more than one contact? These factors become even more important when valuating staffing firms under $10 million in sales.

Sell Now or Continue to Grow?

If you anticipate growth, is it better to wait until you reach a certain level of sales before you entertain acquirers? For boutiques, it’s really more about the team, the structure, the client base and the staffing discipline. Since some may not show a lot of EBITA, the valuation tends to rely more on the intangibles. If you feel like you may be able to grow larger in a short period of time – say a year or two – it might make sense to wait until you have reached a higher level of sales before you sell.

However, if your acquirer can help you grow faster by allowing you to add sales people and recruiters at a faster rate, it may make a lot more sense to get a smaller piece of a bigger pie by selling, staying on with an employment contract, and setting up an earn-out scenario. Why do all the heavy lifting by yourself!

Conventional wisdom allows that only staffing firms at $25 million (or preferably $50 million) are really “scale-able” enough to attract the attention of larger firms.

If your firm is tracking a bit below that level, you might consider a calculated growth plan to get you to that higher level – making your firm a bit more attractive.

Contact us to explore your options!

Perrin Peacock
ppeacock@openreq.com
http://www.openreq.com
http://www.recruiter-talk.com
800-231-4172 ext 1

Check out Openreq for the best Recruiter Jobs in the staffing industry!

Monster Acquires HotJobs!

2010-08-31T10:19:00.000-07:00

Monster officially acquired HotJobs from Yahoo last week, paying $225 million for the third largest U.S. job board, and setting in motion what may be a new chapter in the race for market share with Careerbuilder.

Even with the acquisition, Careerbuilder is still larger in terms of traffic and exposure to newspapers and other media outlets (1600 partners vs 1000 for Monster/HotJobs). But, as part of the acquisition of HotJobs, Monster negotiated a high profile spot on Yahoo’s navigation bar, which they speculate will even the playing field.

Should be interesting to watch. Clients of both Monster and Careerbuilder seem to prefer one or the other...kind of like Coke and Pepsi.

So who’s bigger now?

Well, depends on who you ask and in what area.

In terms of Traffic...

Careerbuilder has been the traffic leader for several years. They claim 21 million unique visitors monthly. According to Compete.com, for the past 3 months, Careerbuilder has shown roughly 13-14 million unique visitors, while Monster has had about 10 million unique visitors. In any case, Careerbuilder has been consistently 30-40% stronger in traffic than Monster.

Monster will add potentially another 5 million uniques from HotJobs. So, depending on who you ask, Careerbuilder's traffic advantage could be reduced - but to what degree?

In terms of Revenue...

CareerBuilder’s North American revenue in 2009 was $542 million, including both US and Canadian revenue. Monster tracks U.S. revenue separately at $407 million for 2009, and includes Canada in the category of “International.”

Internationally, Monster shows $905 million in revenue for 2009.
Estimates of HotJobs revenue are in the $80 to $100 million range. That would certainly bring Monster in a lot closer to Careerbuilder's North American revenue – especially considering the Canadian factor.

Careerbuilder doesn’t disclose international sales.

So basically, you can make a few assessments from that but at the end of the day, this looks like a good old American competition that may continue to ebb and flow – kind of like Coke and Pepsi!

Good Deal or Fixer-upper?

Yahoo acquired HotJobs in 2002 for roughly $445 million in cash and stock. Now, 8 years later, Monster is buying HotJobs for nearly half of that at $225 million.

Monster will also be spending an extra $20 to $30 million a year for three years for great exposure on Yahoo as their official job board and a redirect from the Yahoo navigation bar.

Multiples for Job board acquisitions typically run 4 to 5 times sales. So, if HotJobs was doing $80 to $100 million in sales, an acquisition price of $340 to as high as $500 million may have once been realistic. But considering the recession, the current economic climate, and the additional revenue Yahoo will get from Monster's three year advertising deal, it seems like a win win for both Monster and Yahoo.

Will it be enough to catch Careerbuilder traffic?

Maybe not, but it buys Monster some time to come up with something more interesting...like...say...integrating with social media?

Hmmmm. Wonder how that might work...

Perrin Peacock
ppeacock@openreq.com
http://www.openreq.com
http://www.recruiter-talk.com
Connect with me on LinkedIn!

Pipelining for Great Candidates - and How it Affects Recruiter Jobs

2010-06-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

When we speak with folks outside the staffing industry regarding the number of people on the job market and the availability of candidates to place, they typically assume that since there are so many people unemployed, that recruiters should have plenty of candidates to present to our clients.

Well…not exactly. What they don’t know - but what all of us in staffing and recruiting have seen first-hand - is that, yes, there are lots of candidates on the market, but clients are very picky.

During the recession, if clients were hiring at all, they certainly wouldn’t have paid a fee or a reasonable hourly rate for a candidate that was only adequate. They only wanted the top candidates. And ironically, some of the best “A” candidates wouldn't move. It’s the old bird-in-the-hand thing. Some of the best, most placeable, candidates wouldn’t budge because they did not want to take the risk of leaving during such uncertain times.

Now, however, we are finally starting to see that loosen up. Candidates are moving. They are exploring other job opportunities, many of which they would not have considered even 2 months ago. We have seen staffing firms benefit from this more relaxed environment, and subsequently, they are growing themselves to meet the ever-growing staffing needs of their clients.

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Need Help Sourcing for Candidates?

Is your staffing firm experiencing this renewed demand and you find yourself in the frustrating position where you have lots of job orders but not enough candidates to present? If so, you might want to consider outsourcing some of the grunt work to Talent Hog.

Talent Hog is unique as a sourcing service because they do the heavy lifting for you. They source great candidates for you to place, but they do it with actual trained professionals who personally screen each candidate for you and match them up with your criteria. It’s a much more targeted sourcing tool…with a human touch.

Here’s what one Talent Hog client had to say:

“I recently used Talent Hog’s $495 search offering and was really pleased with the outcome. Over half of the 25 résumés presented to me were spot on for a tough- to- fill IT position in Manhattan, and several more were close fits. Thanks Talent Hog!”

Learn More

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Openreq Can Help You Source for Your Own Internal Team Members!

If your staffing firm or corporate recruiting department finds that your client demand has increased and now you need to fill your own internal Recruiter Jobs, Staffing Jobs and other Jobs in Recruiting, go to Openreq and hire more now!

Unlimited Job Postings/Resume Access on Openreq - now ONLY $99/month

Staffing firms and corporate recruiting departments can make room in the budget to utilize the only full-service job board catering exclusively to staffing firms' and corporate recruiting departments' INTERNAL hiring needs! Now, for only $99/month per branch office, you can shore up your internal team with the best recruiters and staffing sales hunters in the industry.

* Unlimited Resume Access

* Unlimited Job Postings

* No Contracts, Cancel Anytime

Get Started Now

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For more info contact:
Perrin Peacock
CEO Openreq
ppeacock@openreq.com
http://www.openreq.com
http://www.recruiter-talk.com

2009-06-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

Answers to Questions on Today's Eblast:

1. How do I properly calculate my own gross margin production?

Gross Margin (or Gross Profit) is calculated by taking the Bill Rate of the candidate less the pay rate, less the fridge factor (or burden). Staffing firms subtract the burden (which is usually 13% to 15% of the pay rate) to cover costs such as FICA, Medicare, Unemployment, Liability and other administrative costs.

So, a caculation looks like this:

Assume Bill Rate is $50/hr and pay rate is $30/hr and burden is 15%.

$50 - ($30 + 30x15%)
$50 - ($30 + 4.5)
$50 - 34.5
= 15.5

So, $15.5 is your gross margin (or gross profit)

That $15.5 then goes into your "bucket" or commission structure tier to add to the total amount that will be assigned to your personal production. At the end of the month, you add up all the GM and that number is used to calculate your commission.

2. I'm really only familiar with 1 or 2 staffing firms - what else is out there?

There are many different types of staffing firms from ones that specialize in one staffing discipline to ones that have divisions that focus on many different staffing disciplines. You can imagine that a staffing firm's culture will very likely be cultivated and perhaps influenced by the corresponding culture of the vertical. For example, a staffing firm specializing in light industrial staffing may have a totally different company culture than, say, a staffing firm focused in legal staffing.

Additionally, the size of the firm makes a big difference. A smaller family-owned boutique staffing firm is likely to have an entirely different company culture than a large multinational staffing firm with many different divisions.

Picking the culture and size of the firm you choose to work for is as important as your compensation structure. Making sure that firm is right for you and that you are right for that firm means the difference between a 6 month tenure and a 10 year tenure!

3. How many staffing firms are in the US?

According to the Staffing Industry Analysts, there are over 10,000 staffing firms in the US. 113 of them are over $100 million in revenue.

2008-11-25T17:42:00.000-08:00

Top Shelf Candidates on Openreq!

Hire from the best pool of Recruiters & Staffing Professionals seeking their next opportunity in staffing/recruiting...

Have a quick look at some of the great profiles you can find on Openreq today:

* Account Executive, IT, Houston - over 25 consultants out
* Selling Branch Mgr, F&A/Clerical/LI, St. Louis - good staffing tenure
* Staffing Manager, Healthcare, Las Vegas - good background in sales
* Recruiter, IT, Seattle - can recruit anything from helpdesk to senior developers
* Regional VP, Healthcare Staffing, Dallas - solid leader with sales background
* Account Executive, Senior level F&A contract division, avg bill rates over $70/hr
* Staffing Manager, IT/Creative/Marketing, Philly - $750K in annual production
* Senior AE, All sales, Senior Level F&A, Paramus, New Jersey - $500K in GM
* Branch Mgr, Light Industrial & clerical, Memphis - led branch re-build
* Perm Recruiter, IT, Raleigh - $400K biller

Purchase a 12 month package with Openreq - get a month FREE!

Get prepared for a great Q1 by purchasing an Openreq 12-month package for 2009. Set up your package soon and we'll throw in the month of Dec 2008 for FREE.

Get those postings up now so you can begin to build your pipeline of great sales people and recruiters ahead of the new year. Then you'll be ready to hit the ground running in 2009 with a solid team.

Register as an Employer to get your team prepared for 2009. Find those hard-to-find staffing professionals, recruiters, and account executives today.

Call us for more info on packages: 800-231-4172

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Networking:

Openreq LinkedIn Group, now at nearly 10,000 members is the fastest growing LinkedIn group for staffing & recruiting professionals. If you want to stay informed on the latest and greatest in the staffing industry and be able to network with like-minded staffing professionals, you should join our group. Also, check out the new Discussion Forum while you're there.

Go to Openreq LinkedIn Group to join.

Go to Openreq Healthcare Recruiters to join our group just for staffing professionals in the healthcare vertical.

Go to Openreq India to join our new group dedicated to staffing & recruiting professionals, staffing firms, and RPO firms who are based in India or have an interest in utilizing the services of Indian based RPO and staffing firms.

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Attention Branch, Area, & Regional Managers:

Does your staffing firm currently have an account with Openreq?

If you see your company in the "Featured Employer" section of the home page, you may have access to view our specialized database. Source your own recruiters, staffing managers, account executives and team leads through Openreq. Make sure you are taking advantage of our service. If your firm does not currently have an account with us - let us know, and we'll set you up on a demo and possibly a free trial.

Contact us for more details: info@openreq.com

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Staffing & Recruiting Professionals:

Openreq makes it easy for you to market yourself to staffing firms and corp recruiting depts nationwide. If you are a staffing or recruiting professional, and you are interested in hearing about the latest opportunities in the staffing industry...

Register as a Candidate and explore great opportunities within the world of staffing. Staffing firms are gearing up for Q1, so it's a good time to start a dialogue with them.

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Feel free to contact us if you have questions or comments.

info@openreq.com 800-231-4172

Best Regards,

Perrin Peacock CEO / President
Openreq P.O. Box 9700
Columbus, OH 43209
614.231.4722
800.231.4172
ppeacock@openreq.com

2008-08-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

Broadlook Technologies Announces Partnership with Openreq

Broadlook and Openreq partner to provide the staffing industry with innovation

Pewaukee, WI 8/06/2008 03:37 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)

Broadlook Technologies has entered into a partnership with Openreq. The partnership will drive additional value to members purchasing Openreq postings. Each client will receive a 30 Day Free Trial of Broadlook Diver as part of their purchase. Openreq members will use Diver to extract valuable contact information such as names, phone numbers, and emails from search engines results in seconds. The trial also gives Openreq members an introduction into the Broadlook's extensive suite of recruiting software.

"We're really excited about the partnership with Openreq" said Donato Diorio, Broadlook's CEO. "Openreq has a passion for the staffing industry. Their clients span the corporate, staffing and recruiting firm markets. We share their passion and believe Diver will give their client another arrow in their quiver to get results even faster."

“Openreq and Broadlook share a common vision to empower the staffing industry through innovation,” said Perrin Peacock, CEO of Openreq. “Having access to Broadlook Diver will give our clients a competitive edge.

About Broadlook
Broadlook Technologies is the leader in the development of innovative software applications and services that empower B2B business professionals to leverage the Internet for the market, sales, candidates and competitive intelligence necessary to grow revenues and improve productivity. For more about Broadlook, visit their website at http://www.broadlook.com/.

About Openreq
Openreq is the first and only job board catering exclusively to the staffing industry. They provide an online venue for staffing firms and corporate employers to source vital internal talent. Staffing firms and corporate employers utilize Openreq to source recruiters, account executives and managers – all with experience in staffing/recruiting. Find out more at www.openreq.com

Media Contact
Jessica Knoeck
Broadlook Technologies
262.754.8080
jknoeck@broadlook.com
http://www.broadlook.com/

2008-06-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

Openreq: Firm Plot June 10th, 2008

By William Tincup
JPIE

Openreq

So let’s say we took an online job board that caters to staffing firms with the ability to be completely anonymous. Genius right? Right. And right now g-e-n-i-u-s spells Openreq. These guys have not only created something that’s never been done; they tell you WHY they are good at it and WHY they are going to help you. Talk about the full package. If you are in the staffing or RPO space, check them out.

Openreq allows two entirely separate accounts for both the candidate and the employer, not to mention a stand alone board which doesn’t allow cross posting with complete anonymity. Way cool.

This company has only been live for about six months but you can tell they’ve got it together. This is most likely because of their CEO, Perrin Peacock. This guy’s real cool, down to earth, and we’re glad to have him as our friend.

Prior to starting Openreq, Perrin ran Peacock International, an executive search firm specializing in recruiting within the staffing industry. He officially closed his search business when we started Openreq so he wouldn’t feel any sort of conflict between the two businesses. Check him out on LinkedIn. While you’re at it, join his Openreq LinkedIn group.

Perrin is so involved with his clients and the like he takes the time to send out a newsletter sharing different networking opportunities people should be getting involved in.

Openreq is the only one of its kind and they care about their clients and employers. Don’t have time to really dive into the site/services? Don’t worry; they have alternative ways of getting what you need accomplished. That’s impressive.Check out Openreq. You’ll be surprised, impressed and not even close to disappointed. We wish the best of luck to Openreq and Perrin.

Keep it up.

Posted by J. William Tincup Permalink

Emerging Tools for Staffing Industry Jobs

2008-01-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

How do recruiters market themselves?
by Andrew Stock

I was chatting with my friend and long time associate, Ted, during one of our quarterly get-togethers over coffee. Ted, like me, hailed from a well known national staffing firm and has experience in various roles within staffing including positions as a recruiter and as an account executive. I asked him the quintessential small talk question, “How’s work?” “Well,” he said, “I wish I could say it was fantastic, but that wouldn’t be totally true.”

He, like many of our friends and associates in the staffing industry, had gained his experience in staffing with one firm without a ton of exposure to other firms. He still enjoyed the firm’s culture and had benefited from the great training and camaraderie he had experienced there.

And it was certainly a win for them too, as he had attained a national ranking for his production and was a president’s club winner. But, there were some management changes and my friend felt like it just wasn’t the same firm he had originally signed on with. And somewhere along the way, he came to the conclusion that it was time to explore his next opportunity in staffing.

How does an individual recruiter or staffing person go about exploring other opportunities within the staffing industry?

It’s a tough question. If you’re already employed, you may not be able to just go out and post to an online resource or spread the word in your own network for fear of compromising your confidentiality. But there are alternatives.

First of course is to utilize what some of you have come to know as the “Recruiters Recruiter.” These folks are typically ex-staffing people themselves, many of them have had some sort of national exposure. They are usually working solo, although some of them have small shops or teams that work virtually. Utilizing them as a resource is useful in that they probably have contacts you don’t and can circumvent the ‘process’ faster and more efficiently, perhaps, than you could acting alone.

Make sure you let them know exactly what you are looking for and don’t compromise just because it’s a different position with a different staffing firm. You don’t want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire! Most of them have regions that they specialize in and finding the ones that focus in your region is important.

And of course, there are several online tools for becoming better informed on the state of the industry and potential employers. As a person that works in the business of online networking, you’ll understand why two of my online alternatives are networking focused.

As most of you know, HireAbility has a recruiter networking platform called Talent Trader which could give you avenues to meet and network within the industry. A basic membership is free of charge and allows you to explore chat rooms, bulletins and other networking tools. With these tools, you can quickly locate staffing firms in your local market and better evaluate opportunities that are available to you. Additionally, if you’re looking for a way to make placements under a ‘self employed’ status while you search for a full time opportunity, you could consider upgrading your membership to participate in the split placement exchange. With hundreds of new staffing firms joining on a monthly basis, this source of income could be just what you need to pay the mortgage while you’re on the job hunt.

Or, lets assume you already know of some staffing firms you’d be interested in working for, and you’re looking for means to investigate possibilities. If this is the case, then you can utilize the sophisticated searchable database offered by Linkedin. You can actually do an advanced search under the industry “Staffing and Recruiting” and pull up thousands of people that work for staffing firms. With the application of a little charm and persistence, you can contact, connect and even learn about any positions they may have internally or the state of their company.

Finally, you may want to check out a new job board called Openreq that specializes in the staffing industry. Openreq provides a venue for staffing professionals to market themselves online and for staffing firms to locate their next internal hire.

What’s interesting about this board is that staffing professionals setting up a profile not only upload a resume, but also fill out a profile that is specifically designed for staffing professionals. These profile questions are even specialized for the types of recruiting positions the candidate is seeking; in other words, different staffing-specific questions based on the type of candidate. So, perm recruiters are asked about their annual billings, contract recruiters are asked about numbers of consultants/temps out weekly and branch managers are asked how many producers report to them and their annual office revenue, etc. And if uploading your resume is a little disconcerting, you have the option of creating a profile only (rather than uploading a resume); thereby making yourself available and searchable, while protecting your confidentiality.

So, when it comes down to making a move, it’s helpful to have choices. And whether Ted decides to stay where he is and improve his current situation, or whether he decides to explore some of the above options, it’s nice to know that recruiters have methods of marketing themselves when the need arises through a number of alternatives.