Wouldn’t it be great to get a call from someone who wants you? An employer who invites you to leave your present career position and go work for them? It’s fun to do the recruiting, but it would also be nice to be the one being recruited, right? Well, now you don’t have to wait for them to come to you, you can let others know you might be in the market for a new position with JobPoacher.
All you do is go to the site, enter your current salary, the salary you would like, the place where you want to work and JobPoacher does the rest.
According to JobPoacher creator John Everett, he got the idea for the site by hearing about the anti-poaching agreements that existed between high-tech companies in Silicon Valley.
However, in 2010, Google, Apple, Adobe Systems Inc., Intel Corp, Intuit Inc. and Walt Disney Co’s Pixar unit agreed to a settlement of a U.S. Justice Department probe that bars them from agreeing to refrain from poaching each other’s employees.
Anyway, regardless of the inspiration, Everett thinks he is on to something. So far, his site has seen over 500 job postings, and over 100 emails have reportedly been sent to the postings from recruiters recently, according to Everett.
JobPoacher admittedly has a slightly more interesting sounding name than Monster, among other job sites. And I get that numbers of people might “like to get poached.”
However, if you really want to change jobs, you can post your resume and salary expectations on any one of a number of job sites, as well as apply directly for vacancies, so how exactly is this different from what’s being done already?
If you really want to change jobs, you can post your resume and salary expectations on any one of a number of job sites, as well as apply directly for vacancies, so how exactly is this different from what’s being done already?
There are apparently other types of creativity questions as well.
A commenter on TechCrunch pointed out JobPoacher uses the *default* template AND default CSS of Twitter Bootstrap, a claim I didn’t attempt to verify. So let’s just say JobPocher may not have written a bunch of original code for their site and leave it at that.
Another commenter had this to say.
Switching tribes means expenditure of social capital, which people build up over time. Recruiters are market makers for social capital, that’s because salary is important, but it’s only one element of a job. Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose are just as important, and that’s not even talking about entertainment or personal connection to decision makers and long term risk profile. This is just another form of job board, which can only go so far….. it still takes a skilled, trusted, and knowledgeable recruiter to make good things happen in a great many cases.
“This is just another form of job board, which can only go so far….. it still takes a skilled, trusted, and knowledgeable recruiter to make good things happen in a great many cases.”
Nikolay Kolev, Software Configuration Manager at Deloitte Consulting, calls it a “nice experiment.”
An “experiment” as to who would want to hire somebody without a “face”? It’s a Catch 22 as without a resume, no recruiter or hiring manager will waste their time contacting you – there are enough people already with profiles on Linkedin, Dice, etc. With an attached resume, you’ve revealed yourself already, defeating the purpose of such a service.
Finally, Zack Balthaser, a recruiter at Jobspring Partners, a nationwide technology recruiting firm, says:
Where are you at right now, and where would you like to go? From a recruiter’s standpoint, that’s the foundation of a conversation with a potential new candidate. Linkedin, Indeed, Monster, and Dice all display more information, but there’s an element of simplicity and (let’s face it) honesty here that I like.
Where are you at right now, and where would you like to go? From a recruiter’s standpoint, that’s the foundation of a conversation with a potential new candidate.
So what do you think? Does JobPoacher take the authenticity out of the poaching process, if you can say that? It is certainly less organic and more contrived. Is there really anything creative – or new – here?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I believe it’s a game of ‘virtual Russian roulette’ to post your resume anywhere if you’re still employed, with or without the knowledge of your current employer who, if they’re smart, will already have extended an offer to your replacement before you even give notice. Having stated that, a profile on LinkedIn under the guise of networking or prospecting (who knows?) will attract attention from recruiters at all levels if you are a an ‘in-demand’ commodity.
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interesting you mention Linkedin and poaching…my company Tempworks recently encouraged employees to register themselves on Linkedin…as a tour de force for prospective clients or candidates to see what kind of folks we have.
But i’m wondering if we won’t regret it if (when!) they get bombarded with spam solicitations from recruiters and other sales people.
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I like the JobPoacher concept. Job boards are over-rated and don’t meet the needs of many employees and employers.
I like that it starts with the key criteria for a job search: title and rate. If you’re interested based on those criteria, dig deeper. I also think that, while employees are afraid of being ‘caught in the search process’, a great employer provides a great place to work and doesn’t need to worry about losing employees.
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