Why 2010 Changed Internet Recruiting
- Monster bought Yahoo HotJobs
- Kenexa bought Salary.com
- We started Recruiter.com as a new company
- Jobing bought Recruiting.com
- The .jobs extension may be broadly adopted for job search
The largest recruiting related domains (Recruiter and Recruiting) both changed hands, but when you add in the major job seeker, HR, and salary transactions, you can see that something is happening here. There seems to be a trend beyond coincidence.
For us, it just happened to be the right time for Recruiter.com. You would think that as part of the trend, we might have precise insight into the causes, but it felt more like circumstance. However, when you look at four major circumstances that just “happened to be the right time,” there must be some real reasons. Here are four guesses as to why the Internet recruiting landscape changed so much in 2010:
- The jobs and economy experienced dramatic shifts in the years prior to 2010. This along with increasing Internet usage changed the monetization equations and metrics around online recruiting and job search.
- Easy, immediate distribution of content leveled the playing field. When every individual is a publisher, brand becomes even more important. Big domains are a way to establish a big brand.
- Each company is looking to “buy at the bottom” and capitalize on an upswing in employment (let’s hope) over the next few years.
- Peer and professional networking and job referrals have always been the most important source of job placement. Social media drove that process online, creating new opportunities and expectations for the future of online job search. Mobile and consumer devices furthered the penetration of the Internet as the primary vehicle for job search, making online job search even more important.
All told, it’s been one heck of an interesting year for the online recruiting industry. Why do you think all of these things happened in 2010? What’s in store for 2011?