Hasta La Creative!

Former ad man Justin Cignac‘s attempts to improve the job market for creatives are now a bit more comprehensive.

The original purpose of the project Working Not Working was to empower agency-bound creatives to “free themselves from self-promotion” by going freelance and to help those who hire them “stop conducting exhaustive searches when qualified creatives are ready and waiting.”

Yet, after conducting an internal survey which found that “80% of the freelancers on the site would leave their beloved freelance lives for ‘the right’ full-time role”, Cignac and team created The UnJobBoard.

Not only are the gigs listed on UnJobBoard official–they’re only visible to the community’s own “vetted talent”. The team also worked to simplify them in order to avoid those lengthy, wallpaper-dry job descriptions that no one reads in the first place, helping employers to create custom posts quickly and manage them alongside lists of their favorite freelancers.

The gigs listed currently run from internships to one ECD position.

Screenshots after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

I have been applying to various agencies, consulting firms, digital design houses, and the like, and one of the so-called Human Resources’ policies has moved on my “corporate irritation scale” from irk’d off to pissed off.  For the sake of this writing, I include only the personnel departments at advertising, marketing, online agencies, vendors, and companies as the places I’ve been focusing upon.

When did it become standard for HR Departments to determine  they need not respond to applicants? Doesn’t this seem a bit counterproductive, especially at a time when companies are refocusing their entire efforts on personalizing relationships, speaking to their audiences on a one-to-one basis?

Professional glut

During the past year, many professionals have been let go, from  C-level executives on down. Thus, there’s been a glut of qualified pros searching. As a professional, when I fill out an application and submit my résumé (usually using Taleo or some other third-party vendor), a cover letter, and samples in a nice package, it’s  indicative I either know your company well and am an “enthusiast,”  or I’ve researched it enough to realize there’s strong potential for both parties to  match on various levels, creating a win-win situation.

Thus, I submit what’s  required when I apply at XYZ. Not two seconds later, I receive an e-mail stating that after review, if my qualifications are a match, I may hear from someone. Otherwise, due to the volume of applicants, I will not hear another word.  First off, this is not only rude, but belittling. I have 11 years experience, and if I qualify, you may contact me? I cut my chops. I have respected your requests, filled out your paper in addition to submitting my own, and you “may” get back to me? It’s at this point I regret applying, job or no job.

A week passes.

Follow-up is key (if you can)

I call the office switchboard. I’m dumped into the HR general voicemail. No once calls back. Knowing I already have no contacts within the organization, I try to figure out if there is another way to get past the wall of silence. I begin to dial the main number with a ploy to speak to the Marketing VP I just looked up on LinkedIn.

While waiting, I wonder what’s transpired. Is the job closed? How many applicants applied? Are they still accepting applications?  Was my résumé submitted correctly? Was there something that screamed out I was wrong for the position? Did I make it to the final first cut, only to be weeded out due to my salary requirements?

I leave a voicemail for the VP. After a couple weeks without contact, I make a note on my spreadsheet that no one ever responded and move on to another opportunity.

Social media

Surprisingly, I see a lot of HR people using social media, especially on LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogs. To me, this states that HR departments are versed in basic social-media tenets:

• Listen.
• Ask questions.
• Listen some more.
• Initiate on-to-one communication.

HR departments use social media to recruit. Why then is it so difficult to get anyone to respond? Why do I have to call the VP of Marketing to get a response, knowing at this point my job hopes have just been shot down?

HR peeps I know say it’s due to the massive amount of résumés they receive, and they’re too busy.I have to say this is a cop out.

Everyone is busy, everyone does more with less, and times are tense. However, most people at a business (with one exception) cannot risk ignoring anyone who contacts them, especially in an industry as fickle as this one.

WWJD, or what would Jeff do? (the solution)

As HR is capable of using social media for recruiting, then why not use social media to keep job posts updated?
It’s efficient, simple, and effective. Set up a blog page with job updates. Send out Twitter updates that a position’s been filled. Write a Facebook App that will cross-reference a job number with a status update. Have a prerecorded job line that applicants can call to learn of any updates.

Problem Solved.

Jeff Louis: Media Planner, Brand Project Manager, blogger, and aspiring writer. Please leave a comment or follow him on Twitter. As always, thanks for reading.

Here is some news that many laid off and jobless workers are going to like. North Carolina Technology Association has announced the launch of an interactive job board at its website.

The Job Board is beneficial to individuals specifically looking for technology jobs as well as traditional positions within technology companies. Both members and non-members can use the NCTA Job Board to reach qualified candidates.

For job seekers, NCTA’s Job Board is a free service that provides access to employers and jobs in the technology industry. In addition to posting their resumes, job seekers can browse and view available jobs based on their search criteria and save jobs for later review. Job seekers can also create a search agent to provide email notifications of jobs that match their criteria.

With the launch of the Job Board, employers and job seekers alike are urged to capitalize on the new feature as their postings will be among the first viewed by potential candidates.

(Source) Press

Advertising is tough to get into. The application process is often subjective and sometimes creative directors want to make sure that your personality is match for the company. With the economy slowing down, it’s even harder to get an interview. So how do you break into the business? Unfortunately, I don’t have great advice. But, here’s what some high ranking ad and brand people from companies like R/GA, Yahoo, Google, JWT and Crispin had to say. These folks are members of VCU Brandcenter’s board of directors talking directly to grad students getting ready for the ad biz. If you pay close attention, there’s even some Yahoo/AOL buyout banter.