August 1999 Column

REVIEWS YOU CAN USE 

This month Wade and Mark review two software packages available to today’s recruiters and placers. Both have the usual positives and negatives but both, we believe, can play a role in decreasing your wasted time which, in our business, usually equates to more billings. Give them each a try and see what you think. 

PC RESUME (Mark) 

As a person continuously bombarded by free offers and free trials for resume boards, job order boards, books and recruiting/internet software, it takes a lot to impress me. Consider me impressed. Every once in a while a product surfaces that is truly useful - one that saves you a lot of time and contributes to your bottom line. PC Resume is one of those products. In their own words… “PCResume is an Internet Resume Search Agent software package that allows users to enter the required skills and geographic location for a position, and then search the Internet for qualified candidates. PCResume returns resumes directly to the user’s desktop, and then allows the user to export these resumes into numerous formats.” Every word true. 

As usual, the offer of a free trial arrived in the inbox one day. The message advertised an Internet Resume Search Agent software package. Curiously, I logged onto the Recruiternet, LLC website - www.recruiternet.net, clicked on the link to the “Software”, then clicked on the link to “PCResume™ Software” and then clicked on the “Click Here” link to begin the PCResume software download. At 3.9 megabytes, a decent sized file. Took 11 minutes at ISDN speed. Count on double that or longer for a 56k modem. You do not need to register on-line but before you can actually use the demo version of PCResume you must email them for a demo user license number, which I did. This license number allows you to use the software for three days. My number arrived quickly.  I promptly fired up the software, entered the number and was ready to go. You need to be using Internet Explorer versions 4 or 5 to use this software. 

I need to point out here that I initially downloaded the PCResume Standard software directly from the website. The demo version offers you a total of twelve sites to search; these include MSN, Yahoo, Headhunter, Alta Vista and several other large national search engines. I then spoke by telephone with Robert Neveu, the kind, helpful and knowledgeable President of Recruiternet, LLC.  He offered me an opportunity to test drive the PCResume Enhanced version for the purposes of this article. As far as I can see, the big difference between the PCResume Enhanced and Standard is the number of sites you are able to search. The Enhanced version searches a total of 50 sites, which include 38 resume-specific sites as well and the twelve you normally get with the Standard version. The 38 additional resume sites that are searchable by PCResume Enhanced included many sites I had never heard of before and was anxious to see search results from these sites. 

Having downloaded, installed and booted the software, a message stating that there are enhancements to the software appeared. It asked if I would like to update the PCResume software now or later. Robert explained that they are always adding new searchable sites and updates to the software so every time you open the software it goes to the Recruiternet site and checks to see if updates are available. Once the software is opened and updated you are ready for your search. If you are using the Standard version, you select a search string (i.e. COBOL and MVS or Accounting and CPA, etc.) and select a geographic territory (city, state or both), then decide which search engines to use. One click away is a list of the twelve sites I mentioned earlier. You can select all twelve or any combination thereof. You then click the ‘Start Search” button and then go and find something else to do. With the Standard version you are searching all of the largest search engines in the USA. Since the software first has to determine if the hit is a resume and then determine if the resume is a match with the search string, searching all twelve sites can take hours. This is best done before you go home for the evening. Your search results will be there for you the next morning.  

Next morning arrives and you see you have a number of hits from your search the previous evening. You then go through your hits one by one like everyone else. The software interface is reasonably simple. Your hits appear in the middle of the page as a URL. Up top you have a mini-browser that allows you to view your hits directly from the PCResume software. You click on a hit and the resume appears in the browser. You can also set the browser to highlight your keywords. After viewing the hit, you can either delete or save the hit and if it is a match for your search you can then export the hit (in four different formats - .doc, html, .txt and .rft) directly to your hard drive. No more “Save As” issues, no more text resumes, no more cutting and pasting. You also get to name the document as well and choose your own local export directory on your hard drive.  

More features… You can also save your searches for later review. These searches are stored on your hard drive along with all the corresponding URL’s. The resumes themselves do not appear to be saved, but the links to the resumes are saved, so you must always be connected while viewing resumes. You can then pull up your previous searches at any time for further review. Also, you can delete specific hits from your search results. If you get 25 hits and only 10 are worth saving, simply delete the other 15 and save the 10 good ones to call that evening. Also, you can filter your searches. Let’s say you get 100 hits, maybe too many to review. Simply hit the filter button and add more keywords to narrow your search.  

Using the PCResume Enhanced, I ran several of my standard searches and got about 120 hits. A decent response. Using the Enhanced version, and limiting your searching to the 38 resume specific sites, I was able to obtain my results in 20 minutes or so per search, much more quickly that searching the national search engines.   

Just for fun… I ran a search using PCResume Enhanced using all 50 sites. I deliberately chose a broad search (fewer keywords, more hits) and a busy Internet time (mid-morning on a weekday). Over four hours later at ISDN speed (I shudder to think how long it would be at 56k analog modem speed) I had over 600 hits. Obviously these need to be filtered (so I saved the search) later but I wanted to point to power of this software. 

Keep in mind all 50 of these sites are free for anyone to search. Can you imagine the time and energy, not to mention bandwidth, that it would take to log onto each of these sites one by one, enter the same keywords each time, await the results each time and then hassle with saving or cutting and pasting all of you matches. That is the beauty in PCResume. You get to search all the sites in one fell swoop, only entering your keywords once, obtaining all of your hits in once window and then effortlessly saving them to your hard drive.  

About costs… The PCResume Standard edition retails for $1,495.00. This is not an annual fee but a one-time, single user license fee. You then own the software and are able to use it for as long as you like without further cost. The PCResume Enhanced edition has a retail price of $2,995.00 but Robert tells me that they are having an introductory special lowering that cost to $1,995.00. This special was normally due to end on August 15 but Robert is willing to extend this offer through Labor Day for Fordyce Letter subscribers.  

In closing, consider PCResume highly recommended from this recruiter. Anything that saves this much time has got to be a good thing. Anyone with any questions or comments can email Robert Neveu directly at neveu@recruiternet.net or call him at 207-774-1411. 

RESUMIX INTERNET RECRUITER (Wade) 

I don’t know about you, but when I think of Resumix, I think “hey, that’s software for a large Employment Department at one of my clients, not something I can afford - or even need!”  So, when I saw that Resumix was introducing Resumix Internet Recruiter, I was skeptical of its relevance to my business.  Boy was I surprised!  Resumix has introduced a very useful product - and you don’t have to own the Resumix candidate tracking system to take advantage of it - you can use it with your current candidate tracking system!

Here is what Resumix Internet Recruiter does for you:

Do you ever wonder what return on you are getting on your membership investment in large career sites like  monster.com, dice.com, computerjobs.com, etc. - but don’t have time to gather the statistics?  Do you get frustrated with the amount of time it takes to post your open jobs to your own web site and all of the free and paid membership sites, but are afraid to delegate it due to the inconsistent data entry requirements of the various sites?  Do you get embarrassed by candidate calls on expired jobs that are still posted on web sites because you don’t have time to go close them or can’t even remember everywhere you posted them?  Do you get lost in the blizzard of resumes that respond to your web postings and lose your focus on the top candidates?  Resumix Internet Recruiter solves these problems for you.  

Resumix Internet Recruiter is a Web-based product that streamlines access to the 1,500 current job sites and millions of job seekers using the Internet. Information about the sites’ target audience, number of visitors, costs and length of time that job postings stay “live” is available for every job board.  Hiring managers and recruiters using Resumix Internet Recruiter are able to easily select the most appropriate job boards to control where they wish to have positions posted.  In addition, reports generated by Resumix Internet Recruiter provide valuable tracking data that shows recruiters the source of candidate responses.  By automatically providing recruiters a ranked list of candidates who meet job requirements based on established selection criteria, such as education, job skills and responsibilities, using a patented knowledge base, valuable time is saved and quality of hire is improved.  A free, automated demo of Resumix Internet Recruiter is available at http://www.resuimix.com. http://www.resumix.com If you post and manage large numbers of job orders on the internet, then I highly encourage you to tour the  free demo. 

Pricing... Each individual job can be posted to up to 1,500 sites.  The introductory offer of posting 5 jobs to up to 1,500 sites each is $3.995.00. There are several different opportunities to purchase extra requisition packs or number of requisitions.  Therefore, the price to purchase more requisitions for the Resumix Internet Recruiter solution is negotiable, depending on how many jobs you need to fill.  There is no extra charge for the number of users or the number of job sites you post to.

Resumix Internet Recruiter does not replace your candidate tracking system - it complements it.  Candidate data from Resumix Internet Recruiter is downloaded into your standard system.  I spoke with Daniel Honniball, a Telebusiness Consultant at Resumix to ask about integration of the product with non-Resumix candidate tracking systems.  Right now there are not interfaces in place for non-Resumix candidate tracking systems, so you are back to “save as .txt format” or “cut-and-paste” techniques.  You can send the resume responses back to non-Resumix systems via email.  Daniel did mention that there are integrators available for referral that, for a fee, will develop interfaces for non-Resumix candidate tracking system products. For specific questions on this issue, or any other technical questions about Resumix Internet Recruiter, Daniel can be contacted at (800) 988-0003 or at dhonniball@resumix.com.

Conclusion:  If you are bogged down managing a large volume of job postings on Internet Sites, Resumix Internet recruiter is an excellent solution that saves time, money, and allows you focus on the best candidates to maximize placement revenue opportunities.  

Etc. 

$10.00 barrier broken 

Recently saw an ad for unlimited dial up Internet access for $9.95 per month. I have been waiting for this breakthrough, as I knew these prices would come down as more companies got into the ISP game. This service (including email, HD space, news, ISDN hookups) is offered through WorldInter.net (www.worldinter.net) out of Kansas. As of this writing, they only serve Dallas, Ft. Worth, Kansas City, St. Louis and other Midwest locations at this time but watch the newspapers in your area for this great dial-up price. 

Y2K PROGRAM FROM MICROSOFT 

Microsoft is making available a software package that you can download from www.microsoft.com/y2k, Microsoft Product Analyzer. After installation, this program scans your hard drive and tells you what you have, what is not Y2K compliant and how to fix the problem. You can then go back the Microsoft web site and download any patches you need. You can also order this product on CD via their website or call their sales office at 888-673-8925. 

TIP - Domain Search 

The main domains for U.S. recruiting are .com (commercial enterprises), .net (network enterprises like ISP’s), .gov (government sites), .edu (education sites like colleges), .org (non-profit sites) and .mil (military sites). The domain search allows you to search for specific things on a domain. Example:  go to http://www.hotbot.com (a search engine) and type domain: net AND resume AND java then click on the search button.  You will see a lot of resumes of Java programmers.  Try the same search string on other domains (.com and .org etc.).