The Social Recruiting Market Is The Recruiting Market

Josh Bersin recently posted "Social Recruiting goes Wild" on Forbes.com in which he provides a good, comprehensive list of web services in today's social recruiting market.  His underlying point that the social recruiting tools and services market is strongly growing, with LinkedIn as the shining beacon on the hill, slightly misses a more salient point that experienced corporate recruiting leaders, like myself, have known for some years now.

The social recruiting market is the recruiting market. Any recruiting tool or services vendor that does not have a social dimension has been losing relevance or has been irrelevant for years. The vast majority of recruiting tools and services vendors have either been focused on social or have added social to their core offering.

A few comments on some of the vendors he lists:

Jobvite: I am on record many times as a strong enthusiast and multiple repeat customer of this comprehensive corporate recruiting platform (including my applicant tracking system of choice since December 2007).

TalentBin: My most recent recruiting team took a swipe at using this service.  We found the concept to be innovative, but the implementation a bit tedious.

ViewsOnYou:  I am trying this out now. Too early to tell how well it works. Seems like a great concept, but it relies on me spamming my Facebook friends to respond in order for it to work. I hit up a bunch of my FB friends so far (all former colleagues) and am waiting to see how that goes before I spam any more of them.

BranchOut:  I was an early adopter and noticed they like to experiment with different ideas. The basic idea makes plenty of sense: leverage the Facebook social graph and build a professional network app to compete with LinkedIn. Their core problems are two-fold:

(1) The predominant flavor of FB is casual and non-work related (photo sharing, news links, random statuses), which leads to most users eschewing the mixture of their professional life into their FB login experience;

(2) BranchOut prioritized viral user acquisition over the fundamental stickiness of its app. As a result, they over spammed the entire FB user base, flushed their brand value down the toilet, and now the active user numbers are in calamitous free fall.

I am glad I did not spend any money on BranchOut, either as a corporate recruiting leader or as an individual user.  It was about a year ago that I spoke with one of BranchOut's sales people who gave a long winded pitch but never sent me the paperwork they said they would to set up a corporate subscription.

Bersin's summary analysis is generally correct. I also appreciate his inclusion of web services addressing the contract/temporary/part time talent market, which has been growing for many years. However, much like the iPad market is the tablet computer market, social recruiting is recruiting. To not say so leaves an elephant in the room.

Tapatio or Cholula?

Tapatio or Cholula? Choose wisely. Choose now.

Great Weather

We've been having great weather the past few days here in the San Francisco Bay Area. This weekend is already starting off with some fanatic sunny skies and warm temps.

I actually prefer slightly cooler temps to the heat, but this is some nice weather that the family and I will certainly enjoy.

What is B82?

What is Apple's mystery accessory, code name B82?

Something tells me that a Bluetooth remote control with built in microphone so you can talk to Siri on the new AppleTV is far too little to really inspire, excite, and keep so secret.

Theoretically, the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, can all be made to work as a remote microphone to talk wirelessly to a new Siri powered AppleTV.

I think B82 has to be something like a wireless, 3D motion sensing, tactile feedback dedicated game controller to work with iOS games displayed on big flat panel TVs. Part of my speculation of a game controller is because the Apple announcement this coming Wednesday at Yerba Buena Center is going to take place across the street from the huge Game Developers Conference.

Here's a darker thought... would Apple dare to follow Microsoft to create their own version of Kinect?

So, what is B82?

Bill Maher Unbaptism

SOPA and PIPA must be stopped

Clay Shirky is awesome as always. SOPA and PIPA must be stopped.

Happy New Year!

First and foremost, I am thankful that 2011 has been a good year for me and my family. Not without its challenges, but all things considered, unquestionably a good one. Of the many things that took place in 2011, I am so proud and pleased to welcome my beautiful and joyful son to the family this past year.


The next biggest thing for me in 2011 was changing jobs. My career made a fairly big jump from enterprise software to the wonderful world of video games. Glad to be a Jobvite customer again for my fifth time (and completed my fourth implementation as project lead).


Probably the biggest downer of the year for me and many others was the loss of Steve Jobs. Most people knew he was a tyrant to those close to him, yet he lead and inspired so many to build and create and transform so much of the modern world. He remains at the top of my personal most admired list. Now if only I had the time to read through the authorized biography... (I'd previously read two earlier, unauthorized biographies). 


Like many folks, I am now surrounded by Apple technology:  MacBook Pro for work, older iMac at home, an iPad 2 and iPhone 4, and that doesn't count my wife's Apple gear that's around. I must say that while I do like and use my iPad 2 a lot, I really love love love my iPhone 4. It's not perfect, but my iPhone 4 is probably the most satisfying piece of electronics I have ever owned. I'm sure a new iPhone 4S would be a great upgrade, but I still marvel at how great the iPhone 4 is and how I can easily carry it around essentially everywhere.


2011 was a year of regional revolutions around the world. Come to think of it, both 2001 and 1991 were also years of great change in the world order. Well, good riddance to Osama Bin Laden ("su-prise su-prise"), Moammar Gaddafhi ("spell it anyway you like"), and Kim Jong Il (you funky dirty sick murderous bastard). It was also finally time to let my print subscription to The Economist expire (save a tree or ten).


For New Year's Eve Day, I enjoyed cooking both lunch and dinner for the family. Lunch was pork chops (bone-in center cut, medium thick, brined and pan fried). Dinner was caldo verde (Portuguese potato soup with thinly shredded kale and thinly sliced and browned linguica).  For a late night snack, I was faced with leftover ground beef and only hot dog buns, no hamburger buns.  What to do?  Why, do what any pragmatic foodie would do: make hot dog bun length sliders! Toasted buns, real mayo, a touch of Sriracha sauce, Tillamook swiss cheese, and dill pickle relish rounded out the burgers.

For New Year's Day, I continued to cook for the family.  Breakfast included eggs, bacon, and (canned) baked beans for the family. I then made a rather gluttonous grilled cheese sandwich using the bacon grease, Tillamook swiss cheese, Sriracha sauce, and dill pickle relish. The bread was pan fried to a fantastic crisp.  For lunch, my wife picked up two large live Dungeness crabs from the market, which we steamed up with garlic and ginger for a delicious crab feed at home. For dinner, we had a simple meal of oven fried whole chicken wings, steamed broccoli, and brown rice.


Buh-bye, 2011. Time's up.


I wish a hearty and Happy New Year to all my friends, family, and blog readers. 2012 smells like it's gonna be great!

Thanks Governor Brown

I agree with California Governor Jerry Brown on his recent signing of legislation to ban shark fin soup (a staple at Chinese banquets) and to allow children of illegal immigrants to receive state funded college financial aid.

Now if only he could reverse the upcoming California ban on foie gras...

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

I am very sad to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs earlier today.

Fringe Foods

I honestly have no interest whatsoever in eating a hamburger in which the bun has been replaced by a donut. That's just wrong. That's disgusting.

Look, I'll go on record to say I actually am interested in trying dog meat and horse meat, just so long as it is legal, the meat was legitimately produced, and the dish was prepared decently. I understand I'd have to go overseas to get such dishes.

I'm even interested in some day trying the raw chicken meat dishes that some progressive restaurants are starting to offer.

I would be just fine if I didn't have another bowl of shark fin's soup for the rest of my life. I find the dish bland and the concept of irresponsibly treated sharks as unpalatable. I think I read that there is a proposal in San Francisco to ban shark fin's soup, for environmental / wildlife protection reasons. I think I'm OK with that, my Chinese heritage be damned.

Generally speaking, I don't think it's right for one group of people to tell another group of people to not eat something.  See my previous blog post on foie gras.  But I think shark fin soup is very different than foie gras. I believe the sharks are a threatened species, if not endangered, whereas the ducks for foie gras are domestically raised and in no short supply.  Further, the ducks are definitely get all their parts used for food, whereas the sharks in question may be irresponsibly caught and butchered for just their fins and then tossed back into the sea to drown.

I've tried fried pickles - they are just salt and vinegar bombs. No need to eat them again.

Filipino balut - the bird eggs with developed embryos inside, no thanks. Even Bourdain shuddered from his experience eating it.

Deep fried butter - I don't think so.