Jim StroudI train, I speak and I blog a lot about.

Q: What is cool? A: Being featured on your employer’s website. Hodes rocks! Best gig ever.

Hidden Job Services Team Up To Unlock the Hidden Job Market

TRUMBULL, CT – HiddenJobsApp.com has acquired the rights to the Hidden Job Report blog authored by industry veteran Jim Stroud. The blog will now serve to compliment the Hidden Jobs mobile app and website. Together, the two services will help job seekers tap the hidden job market.

Launched in 2010, HiddenJobReport.com delivers a weekly blog post about companies that are hiring. It’s been a great way to uncover new opportunities that have yet to be posted online. The posts have proven to be very popular according to Stroud. “The hidden job market has always been a challenge for traditional job seekers. As such, “The Hidden Job Report” has always been appreciated by job seekers looking for a strategic advantage.”

According to most experts up to 80% of jobs are never advertised. That means job seekers must uncover these leads in order to maximize their search. “Don’t job hunt, …company hunt”, says Chris Russell, founder of the Hidden Jobs App. “Look for companies that are hiring-expanding and get your foot in the door”.

The Hidden Jobs App is a free website and mobile app that directs job seekers to articles, press releases and news stories about companies that have announced hiring plans. It’s an essential tool for any job seeker and recruiters for that matter. The site is currently tracking over 700,000 new job leads. All of which have been announced in the past 90 days.

http://hiddenjobsapp.com
http://hiddenjobreport.com

For more information, contact info@hiddenjobsapp.com

Today, I was fortunate enough to be a guest on “Making Recruiters Your Ally” with Adrienne Graham. I was a bit nervous during the podcast, but hopefully that did not take away too much from the information I shared. (Smile) I always get nervous before presenting. (Always, always, always!) Please overlook that as you listen and if you deem my advice worthy, please pass it on. Thanks! And oh, for more great advice (or rather, better advice), listen to the “Views From The Top” podcast each week. I highly recommend it.

I was fortunate enough to get a heads-up on a new initiative that Monster is launching this weekend. They have created a Facebook app called “BeKnown” which (in my words) gives users a professional face on Facebook. Initially I thought it was a “me too” move, as at first peek, I thought it was their answer to “Branch Out.” However, after a closer look under the hood, it looks like a major play by Monster to try to dominate the space quickly (before Linkedin does it).

Where I think Monster has an advantage is that they are launching this app in 19 languages covering 35 ccountries (verses BranchOut’s 1 supported language and Linkedin’s 6 supported langauges). Plus a few other goodies Linkedin and Branchout do not have. Such as:

• Beknown lets you claim and manage company profiles
• They offer social job posting referrals with reward functionality (although that is pending). This alone will make it a compelling app for many people, maybe ushering a new crop of recruiters to those who are successful with it. Just sayin’… In case that was unclear, they will soon have an option that pays you $X.00 when you refer a hire.
• Integrated semantic job search (Seems to work well from what I saw)
• Skills endorsement (surprised Linkedin doesn’t have this on their app. Is it pending? I wonder.)
• I like the badge thing thing they have going as well (although BranchOut had it first) I suggested that they let people suggest new badges like… umm… when you are mentioned in the media you get a badge. (Fingers crossed for that one.)
• I LOVE that I can use a different picture on my BeKnown profile and not be restricted to the pic on my Facebook profile. Its not that I’m ashamed of it, just that I think its a wonderful option that will help a lot of people out. (wink)
• I like that you can import your profile from Monster and Linkedin into your BeKnown profile.
• I like the separate messaging system that comes with BeKnown because it helps me keep my professional messages and personal messages separate.

Right out of the gate however, I thought that they would have one BIG hurdle to overcome. Since the Monster brand is so well known, I think a lot of recruiters will think of this app and say, “Wow! Now I can search Facebook the same way I search Monster.”  And if you are thinking that, let me advise you that you cannot.

My understanding is that BeKnown is a social network and as such, you have to be connected to people in order to connect with them. (A’ la Linkedin) However, you can do a search for specific people and validate that you know them.  I do wish that it provided vanity URLS or even unique URLS so that I could add it to my email signature for example, http://beknown.facebook.com/jimstroud but maybe in the future. (Sorry, that was a random thought.)

I think that this is an interesting play for Monster and comes at the right time. If they want to swoop in and dominate, now is the time, as I am sure Linkedin has  a few tricks up their sleeve to give them a run for their money. Right now though, I am wondering if Linkedin will now have to play catch-up when I thought that they would be the ones to do this on a large scale first. (And certainly before an upstart like BranchOut.) Just my two cents…

Jim

P.S. I am curious to hear from jobseekers! Does a Facebook app from Monster get you excited? Please leave me a comment and let me know? Thanks!

Have you subscribed to The Hidden Job Report yet? If not, why not? I would really like to know. And just in case you have no idea what The Hidden Job Report is all about, a sample report is below. Click here to get it in email every week. Enjoy…