Further underlining what is being touted as ‘the decade of the employee’, blogs and chat communities are now being targeted to unearth potential employees who may not even be looking for work.
RPO Group managing director Liam Ovenden said severe skills shortages in the Australian workforce had forced his company to investigate every available avenue in an effort gain a competitive edge. In an unorthodox move, his recruitment specialists are searching websites, including chat rooms, to find and attract the right job candidate – even those doing nothing more than socialising online.
"As the skills shortage has really begun to bite, times have changed and the recruitment industry has had to move with those times," explained Mr Ovenden.
"Besides specialised industry networks and hundreds of resume databases, our talent scouts are even targeting blogs and chat communities to reach hard-to-find candidates and people who aren’t actively looking. Candidates can be found through a myriad of innovative channels, and many of them are online. With the country’s skills shortage and an increased need to hire qualified employees, we need to ensure that the widest possible net is cast for each role."
Mr Ovenden said the current job climate had necessitated the need for corporations to use a specialist that is commercially accountable for the results it achieves.
"In a sophisticated service-based economy with skill shortages and record-low unemployment, recruitment is not only critical to business success, it is incredibly expensive. So companies are realising it pays to partner with a specialist to do it better and cheaper," he said.
"And we are in a climate where we have to be even more resourceful than ever."
