I see the effects of this slow-down everywhere. Recession talk, recession thinking and recession actions… it’s driving a lot of change.
Having been through one of these before, it’s important to remember a few things:
- The economy only turns when it reaches the bottom.
- The bottom is not the point where people see hope for improvement, it is where the outlook is bleakest and the situation appears hopeless.
- Recession talk is temporary – the recruiters that are bashing job boards now will be competing for visibility on them as soon as the economy is growing again.
- Recessions purify the waters by eliminating weaker competition.
- Recessions make jobseekers more attentive, more willing to try new things and invest time on a job board.
- Recessions enforce clear thinking and management discipline in your company.
- Recessions bring extraordinary opportunities that do not arise in ordinary times.
- The field you sow during the recession, you’ll harvest when it ends.
Keeping this perspective is not easy. I got a little help from Seth Godin recently when I read his fascinating blog post about the secret of success on the web — PATIENCE
I discovered a lucky secret the hard way about thirty years ago: you
can outlast the other guys if you try. If you stick at stuff that bores
them, it accrues. Drip, drip, drip you win.It still takes ten years to become a success, web or no web. The
frustrating part is that you see your tactics fail right away. The good
news is that over time, you get the satisfaction of watching those
tactics succeed right away.The trap: Show up at a new social network, invest two hours, be
really aggressive with people, make some noise and then leave in
disgust.The trap: Use all your money to build a fancy website and leave no
money or patience for the hundred revisions you’ll need to do.etc…
It is going to take us at LatPro more than 10 years, but, it took more than 10 years to build Rome and the pyramids too!
{ 4 comments }
Hey Eric, we’re not in a recession. We haven’t even seen one quarter of negative growth, let alone two.
** es ** I have wondered about that… why is recruiting so affected when we still have positive growth? It’s diversity recruiting more affected than others?
Perhaps, employers feel an unusual uncertainty that has not accompanied previous recessions. Anyway, I will be happy to call it a slow-down Willy and have edited already!
You are right to point out that we are pampered here in the USA where the ups and downs have been relatively mild. I hope they stay that way.
Short term times are tough, but so are the demographics, that should compel job growth, job board use and interest, etc. Some quickies:
- Baby Boomers are retiring OR looking for less stressful work and the impact on employers is now through the next 10 years. These numbers range from 750,000 to over 1,000,000 per year in the forseeable future.
- Most young people (20-34) do not know how to interact other than through a computer. As a recruiter I would put that number at over 65%.
- 75% of the population in all countries are too timid to make face to face sales or job calls.
- More and more work is project, contract, or can only be planned out for 18 months or so. The only way to communicate this type of work is via job boards (company sponsored ones or private) or through some electronic medium.
- The good job boards like LatPro will survive and thrive because there are few solid alternatives thst provide solid results.
**es* thank you for your insight and kind words Don!
Eric,
Thank you for the tremendous insight and information you provide in your blog. You were a lifesaver today. I launched a niche job board earlier this year and was considering giving up the ghost. Job boards in the flex work space are struggling to break through.
It’s hard to find legitimate companies who are open to using a job board to hire professional part-time, work-at-home and contract positions. Most are accustomed to using staffing agencies.
Anyway, so many of your posts gave me great perspective and led me to other great posts (Seth Godin) that I feel reinvigorated to keep going.
We all affect people in ways we’ll never know. Just wanted you to know you impacted mine in a positive way today.
Thanks!
**es** thank you for taking the time to write – I’m glad you found something useful here! I think your niche will grow a lot. I have wanted to hire this sort of worker occasionally but found that the quality of the job boards very uninspiring. Your site looks fantastic and I hope you can make it work!
It’s hard to find legitimate companies who are open to using a job board to hire professional part-time, work-at-home and contract positions. Most are accustomed to using staffing agencies.
Thanks,
Janet
**es** I have used craigslist, elance and guru so I think I understand why some companies prefer staffing agencies. A friend commented to me that the staffing agency will know the track records of their workers and help to eliminate some of the risk involved in doing it yourself with a job board. If the job boards could only solve that problem, the hit or miss nature of finding work at home help…