After one of the longest bull runs in the history of the markets, the winds of change are blowing through the financial markets. It seems like the effects are flowing through different parts of the economy and big companies have already started announcing lay-offs.

Since we have just launched a recruiting business, a lot of people have asked us “how do you think a down-turn in the economy will impact your site?”

Our answer has stayed the stayed the same, “There is still lots more demand for professional people - especially in IT - than there is supply. Also, good companies always need good people. The only thing that will really change is that referrals will become even more valuable.”

Why do we think referrals are even more valuable in tougher times? There are at least 5 reasons:

1. As things get tougher, adding value to your network will help position you if your own situation changes (you get retrenched, your company starts to run into trouble, you just want a change)

2. As more people are looking for work, employers will get more irrelevant applications. This will increase their cost and time to hire. In this environment, referrals provide a great filtering mechanism

3. Good people - even in tough times - are usually working. As the external job market gets tighter, those people are less likely to be out looking for work. Referrals are a great way to get to those people

4. Cash is king. Other income sources may be effected during tough times. If you participate in a referral program that pays you a reward, you can earn some much-needed extra cash AND help people in your network

5. What goes around comes around. If you make great referrals to recruiters and employers, they may well look favorably on you if you ever come to apply for a job with them… or even help you transition when you want a change.

So, help yourself and your network by making quality referrals to people you know and recommend… especially as times get tougher.

By Riges Younan

10 trends for recruiting in 2009 by Michael Specht

‘Referrals. Time and time again referrals provide the highest quality hire at the lowest cost.’

By Riges Younan

Good overview by Dr. John Sullivan. Number two on the list is “referral programs”

‘Reinvigorating referral programs. Despite the growth of career-related Internet sites, the highest volume and quality candidates still come from well-designed employee referral programs. While heavy adoption was initially hampered by cultural issues around the world, today such programs are proving highly effective everywhere. Key focus areas include proactively approaching key employees for referrals (program targeting), leverage non-employee referrals, making reward systems more comprehensive, immediate, and visible, and last but not least, helping employees leverage social media to restore relationships, make new relationships, and build stronger relationships. Firms to watch: AmTrust Bank, Edward Jones, Whirlpool, and Amazon.com.’

By Riges Younan

I was contacted by David Campbell from lovedigital last week to get my views on how digital & social media is impacting the recruiting industry. Listen here

how do you think it’s impacting our industry?

By Riges Younan

Here is an interesting post by Louise of UK Recruiter fame about Video CV’s and discrimination in the recruiting process. My view is that video CV’s may increase the chances of discrimination earlier in the recruiting process assuming the recruiter/hirer has time to view the CV in the first place. Secondly, in a market where the supply and demand equation is still heavily in favour of the supply side ( and I don’t see that changing materially in the short to medium term) what type of candidates have the time to sit and record a video CV in the first place.. certainly not the highly sought after ‘passive’ (don’t like term that much but anyway) candidates.. why? because they are too busy doing what they do best… WORKING!.. what do you think?

By Riges Younan

Jason Davis and Cheezhead talk referrals and ‘how they are the lifeblood of recruiting’ you can listen here. Now, I don’t agree with Jason that referrals need to be anonymous because if I was receiving a referral for a job,  I would want to know who referred that person? and why they think they are a match? This would allow me to qualify the quality of that referral.

Back in 1997, McKinsey & Company coined the phrase “The War For Talent” to highlight the growing shortage of talented staff and show the growing importance of intellectual property - the asset class created by “talent”.

Now, a decade later, Michael Gregoire writing on ZNet warns that things have gotten worse, not better. He argues that we will see a massive exodus of talent from the workforce over the next decade. In order to comba this trend, employers must promote themselves, manage talent pro-actively and provide policies that are “talent-friendly”.

In the midst of this new, more intensive war for talent, one of your most powerful weapons is the ability to create a motivated talent scout network who are well connected to the people you want to reach.

This insight is the core concept that lead to the creation of 2Vouch…