JobScore

Aaaand, IBM buys Kenexa.

In 2005, when I launched a SEO agency dedicated to helping employers and the companies that serve them, it was all about distribution.

Job boards ruled the day because job seeker traffic was in such high demand and - mostly thanks to SEO - the boards knew how to get it.

As a result, more than 80 percent of my clients were job boards. Because employers could barely spell S-E-O, let alone understand it, employment sites battled it out for Google rankings to garner customers.

Of course you should post with us, look, we’re a Top Ten ranking for ‘left-handed java developer full-time job in Toledo, Ohio, USA.’

Thanks to factors like Indeed, LinkedIn, Craigslist, corporate career centers and a crappy economy, the game is much different today. It’s all about technology.

Job listings are commodities, which means the growth story behind most classified sites is over unless the economy has some miraculous turnaround (it won’t, by the way). Which means intellectual property comes at a premium.

Companies like Jobs2Web, Cardmunch and now Kenexa are technological enhancements to existing tech giants and gazelles, such as IBM. The pool of acquirers for job postings and traffic, in contrast, is close to nil.

As Monster pushes for a sale, you can bet they’re busy pimping their “new tech” and not the millions of job seekers perusing their site monthly. Millions who are migrating to Indeed, by the way.

Today, technology companies make-up the bulk of those I’m assisting and ones asking for assistance in getting their name out there. Not a shock, since that’s where the money is going now.

There will no doubt be a group of mini-Kenexa’s that get gobbled-up over the next few years. Most won’t get IBM dollars, but the forthcoming paydays are bound to put a lot of beer in anyone’s fridge. 

This is a guest post by Joel Cheesman.

A friend recently emailed me the following question:

Why do you think mobile recruiting isn’t getting the traction which you and I anticipated years ago?

My answer was immediate, which tends to be the best kind of answer. Here it is:

It probably boils down to:

• Disparate technologies. Your career center might be mobile, but your ATS isn’t.
• Jumping through hoops. Employers want job seekers to answer questions and fill out forms to apply. None of which is conducive to mobile.
• Demand. Employers aren’t clamoring for it, so vendors aren’t delivering.
• Legacy. Systems built to support applicants were born when newspapers still ruled the world. 

Evolution is a challenge to say the least.  It’s a classic case of consumers being ahead of the market.  I’m hopeful everything will catch up eventually … but I’m not holding my breath.

A recent study by upstart iMomentous helps clarify the challenges employers have embracing mobile, and it highlights that 90 percent of the Fortune 500 fail to achieve all levels of mobiledom.

I fear many employers will continue to ignore mobile because the big brands are, which may well just go round and round in a self-defeating cycle.

There’s no question there are some companies and vendors doing cool things around mobile in the recruiting space - there have always been cool companies doing cool things in recruiting.

But for change to really happen employers have to pick up where vendors are laying down. I, for one, hope employers hear the mobile revolution calling soon … and start picking it up.

This is a guest post by Joel Cheesman.

A few weeks ago, I uncovered some information about Jobfox that seemed to indicate the company was on the skids, noting their founder had left and comments on Glassdoor about employees not getting paid.

Since that post, a few reputable contacts have come forward with insight, although nothing concrete on the future of Jobfox has surfaced.

One confidant said the end of Jobfox was way overdue, underscoring the company had stopped paying checks to them as an affiliate and had been passed to collections on other outstanding bills.

Every penny counts, and it sucks that we’ll probably not get the money that’s owed to us.

More notably, however, was the job site CEO who has been stiffed by Jobfox and said he’d be willing to help fund a lawsuit if employees filed one.

Their fearless leader [Rob McGovern] managed not to pay some very large bills to a lot of people in the industry as well. Kept running them up even after it was very clear they were bankrupt. I for one would make a contribution to the legal fund of any employee who wants to sue him personally, since walking off without paying your employees as a corporate officer pierces the corporate veil in many states.

There’s even a rumor that Jobfox is in the red to the tune of six figures for at least one vendor. Those hit hardest seem to be the vertical job search engines who added Jobfox postings - which few were actually unique to Jobfox - to their search results on a pay-per-click basis.

What’s more, the company has allegedly left their resume writers high-and-dry. According to comments left on Trademarkia, a trademark reservation service hosting Rob McGovern’s apparent new biz Cobrain:

Cobrain is owned and operated by Rob J. Mcgovern. He criminally and intentionally scammed his resume writers at jobfox, and used the money to fund Cobrain. Rob McGovern is a degenerate and should be held accountable for the more than $250K he owes the 100+ writers.

Another anonymous commenter calls McGovern a “charlatan,” saying he owes at least 50 writers more than $100,000. Adding, instead he siphoned the money to start this business. He is unethical and nobody should do business with him.”

According to the trademark, Cobrain is a coupons, rebates, price comparison information, product reviews and discount information service. Well outside the employment space.

Looks like this is one fox that’s moving on to a different chicken coop.

This is a guest post by Joel Cheesman. 

Fine. Call it a comeback.

Although I’ve been pimping a newsletter for the past year or so, full-on blogging has been something I’ve stayed away from - for good reason. Blogging is hard. Those who do it will know what I’m talking about.

So I’ve stayed away. Until now. Here’s how it went down:

A month or so ago, I added a P.S. to one of my newsletters basically, offering to guest post for anyone looking for content. One reader in particular, Jobscore’s Dan Arkind said: 

Would you consider coming onboard and blogging on Jobscore?

It was an intriguing opportunity. Especially when Dan was willing to “let Joel be Joel.”

See, I’ve always been fascinated with the quandary of small businesses needing great content in order to market themselves, when so many have such crappy content options. And on the other end of the spectrum, you have a universe of content creators - usually bloggers - who lack resources to do more of what they enjoy.

At some point, the two should - and probably will - get together.

And even though there are examples of bloggers and corporations getting together, bringing me into the mix is a little bit different. For anyone who knows my work, I’m an agitator. I’m bound to tick someone off - someone Jobscore works with or hopes to work with.

Yikes, right?

But they’re willing to take that risk in order to increase brand awareness, and in turn business at large. They should either be applauded or fitted for a straight jacket, but either way, their participation in this chemical reaction is admirable.

How could I resist? Reputable business + Volatile blogger = Sign me up

Frankly, the recruitosphere has been one big snoozer the past few years (see, I’ve already angered a whole bunch of people). I think the industry deserves better. And I’m humbled to have a partner in Jobscore who agrees and is willing to take a chance.

I’ve got the keys to a nice place. The landlord tolerates loud music.

Let’s have some fun.

This is a guest post by Joel Cheesman. 

We’re 5+ years into building JobScore. We’ve grown a lot… but we’ve largely flown under the radar. That’s about to change.

Starting today Joel Cheesman will begin blogging here. For those of you who don’t know his work, Joel ran Cheezhead from 2005-2009, which some described as the TMZ of the recruiting industry.  

Joel’s company was acquired 2009 and he stopped blogging.  We missed “the Cheez” and given how much of what’s published as “news” smells like regurgitated press releases,  we’re excited to see him step back in the fray.  

Joel’s a great blogger and his writing talent, ability to sniff out a story and raise eyebrows are undeniable.

———

We’re working with Joel in a somewhat unique way.

Joel is not a journalist, industry analyst or corporate shill – he’s a blogger, through and through.  Joel has a strong voice and he’s not afraid to step on toes, break china, or out-and-out taunt someone to punch him in the face.

We’ve asked Joel to serve the recruiting community by independently creating content to inform, entertain and stoke intelligent debate.  That means he’s going to write things that don’t make everyone happy – and we believe that, for the most part, that will be a good thing.

However, it’s important to understand that we’ve given Joel carte blanche.  Joel is not an employee of Jobscore, and what he writes are his opinions alone… we’ve specifically asked him to write what he sees and he thinks – not what we want.

So, if you don’t like what Joel has to say (and some of you won’t) please – don’t take it up with us – take it up with him and curse the free press.

We’re excited to welcome back a veteran, important and entertaining voice in the recruiting blogosphere and we’re excited to see what he stirs up – it’s about to get interesting.

Recently a few technology employers that use JobScore were acquired, notably Wildfire Interactive and The Bleacher Report. A hearty congratulations to everyone from these firms for a job well done.

Hiring is a huge part of what makes start ups go and we’re proud to have played a small role in the success of the following ventures:

• $1 Billion | Instagram acquired by Facebook
• $300 Million | Adify acquired by Cox Digital Solutions
• $250 Million | Wildfire Interactive acquired by Google
• $182 Million | Slide acquired by Google
• $175 Million | Bleacher Report acquired by Turner
• $170 Million | Mint acquired by Intuit
• $120 Million | Tripit acquired by Concur
• $50 Million | Context Optional acquired by Efficient Frontier
• $2.3 Million | CardMunch acquired by LinkedIn

… and the firms that didn’t announce how much they were acquired for:

• $?? Million | GroupMe acquired by Skype (est $50M)
• $?? Million | Tapulous acquired by Disney Interactive (est $30M) 
• $?? Million | Redbeacon acquired by HomeDepot
• $?? Million | Rypple acquired by Salesforce
• $?? Million | Involver acquired by Oracle
• $?? Million | oneforty acquired by HubSpot
• $?? Million | Performable acquired by HubSpot
• $?? Million | TypeKit acquired by Adobe
• $?? Million | Flowtown acquired by DemandForce
• $?? Million | TalentSpring acquired by Talent Technology

Congratulations again to the hard working, entrepreneurial teams on building great things from the ground up!