September 8, 2011

We’re a small but merry and dedicated band here at HARBOUR HQ. We generally prefer to keep things pretty low key (publicity wise) and just get on with our job, building the business one client at a time, doing the very best we can every day. We’re quite late coming to the ATS market, which we believe has great plusses for us (no unwieldy legacy codebase; no expensive infrastructure; years of learning from others mistakes) but also means that driven 95% by client needs (under our guidance ) we don’t have an R&D arm to play with sexy stuff and launch “industry firsts”. And I’m not grumbling – just saying that’s all.

Anyway – the other week we picked up that LinkedIn had been refining a new feature with a couple of US based ATS. In short “Apply with LinkedIn” allows an applicant to circumvent the standard application form and puts their profile into the ATS – in this instance replacing the application form and/or the CV. And we thought “well that’s pretty cool – how about we integrate that?”. So we did.

Now I’ll be straight and say that it’s definitely not for everyone – and even then it’s frustratingly limited (the ability to load your own screening questions, ideally dynamically according to which role is being applied for, would be a boost rather than the limited “set it once” check box facility that’s offered for us to use – although we think we may be able to work around that given some time), but it’s still a very interesting development.

Does it make it “too” easy for people to slap an application in without considering their appropriateness for the role? Yup.

Does this mean the CV is dying? Nope – not at all. Well at least not IMHO. Great post about this (& other related stuff) with good comments (& one from me) here: http://garethjones.me/2011/09/06/linkedin-profile-vs-the-cv-face-off-2/

So what’s so great about it then? Well firstly I firmly believe that you shouldn’t knock something ‘til you’ve tried it (well – for most things that is). And if Recruitment is about kissing frogs (you know, to find your Prince and all that – nothing xenophobic intended in that analogy!) then who knows, maybe you could pull in that application from that very busy certain someone who could be your ideal candidate. And of course if the persons not right then you’ve got access to their LinkedIn profile to see if someone they know might be  :)

But the biggy for me – the real game changer – is what this means to people accessing your careers pages and application facility from a mobile platform. Now I’m sure I don’t have to wax on about how mobile is changing the face of our internet interaction, and whether you’re a “mobile is 100% where it’s at” or more a “it’s a channel with massive potential, but still very much just part of the mix” kinda person then we all agree that it has to be considered more and more. And the problem to date is “how do you get someone to apply when they don’t have their CV on their phone/iPad/Tablet?” Well here’s an answer. Simples.

What you'll see accessing yell.jobs from your mobile/tablet

And with a bit of clever behind the scenes magic we’ve also configured the page so that people accessing the site from a mobile don’t even get the option to “Apply” in any other way – why add to their frustration when they wouldn’t be able to upload a CV anyway (which of course they can always do from their PC by sending themselves the job using the “send to a friend” facility)

So – there we have it – a nice little feature for one of our nice clients (and one or two more to come close on the heals) – and you can see it all here: www.yell.jobs

Oh – and our claim to being the first? We don’t know of another UK based ATS that has yet got this running for any client. We like to think that’s because our size and focus and all round awesomeness means that this kind of quick turnaround and client / candidate focus sets us apart. But if you know of another UK ATS that has done this then do let me know – pretending we’re something we’re not or claiming kudos for something that isn’t deserved really isn’t our style. We’ll leave that for the competition

No – not mine! This is a request for you to spend two minutes giving a vote to a business of which I am a big fan. Of the product, the packaging, the service, the owner and particularly the product (yes – I know that was twice ). But this vote is not for any of that (although I’m sure Kate wouldn’t mind if you voted for her for any of those ) – it’s for a competition looking for “… the most resourceful, original, exciting and disruptive small businesses in the UK”. Let me see if I can explain why I want you to vote Gower Brownies:

Gower Cottage Brownies is in every sense a cottage business. Running from the back of her family cottage on the Gower, Kate Jenkins makes IMHO the worlds best chocolate brownies (clearly Kate went to the Cuprinol school of branding ). Just a few years ago Kate thought she’d see if she could sell a box or two of her home made brownies in her local community co-operative shop – today she’s turning over in excess of £120,000, has plaudits as long as my arm and celeb fans that include amongst them John Barrowman, Emma Forbes, Andi Peters, Phil Jupitus, Jeremy Vine and plenty of people who know food – such as Gary Rhodes, Delia Smith and Gregg Wallace. Oh, and they’re a pretty big hit with many members of the Welsh and English rugby squads!

So why the vote? Well Kate’s done this pretty much singlehandedly. Not always all the production and packaging bit – she’s got @TheBrownieBitch in the evenings and weekends and nowadays a couple of “Brownie Elves” to help out more and more, but what has impressed me is the way that Kate  has truly leveraged social media (and in particular Twitter) to build the business. With nearly 3,000 followers and 43,987 tweets she has spread the word, built a face for the brand and used her loyal following network to propel the business and it’s profile. From her followers hounding Phil Jupitus to “stop by” when he’d tweeted he was having a day out on the Gower to making Kate aware that John Barrowman was filming down the road and passing on the info that he’s partial to chocolate.

The product’s good. I mean reaaallllly good – Kate has many awards and is becoming a regular star attraction at the Good Food Show. The service is great, the packaging classy and the delivery prompt. And you need all of these things to make a success in a very crowded marketplace. But:

-        Is Kate resourceful? Having spent £0 on advertising and marketing the brownies have been reviewed from the Guardian and the Sunday Times to the BBC Good Food Guide and Kate’s had spreads in Ideal Home and Woman & Home (with more in the pipeline).

-        Are brownies original? I don’t know, but you’ll never have tasted better & I believe they do make an original gift (unless you work with me, in which case it’s no longer original)

-        Exciting? This business is, in my opinion, at that point where it could go through the roof. Hell, John Barrowman is trying to get Kate to send them to his family in the US -  so yes, I’d say it’s exciting.

-        Disruptive? Kate’s use of twitter has definitely broken through barriers and propelled the business far beyond that which would have been possible pre-social media, breaking into the gift market and beyond, so I think that’s pretty disruptive.

-        And this is definitely a small business!

So there you have it – my case (as long winded as usual) as to why I think that Gower Cottage Brownies deserves your vote in the Smarta 100 for 2011. So please take a minute or two and follow the link through. Help a small business and a lovely business lady. And you never know – if you haven’t tried a heavenly Gower Cottage Brownie then maybe voting here will bring that moment all the closer for you.

[N.B. voting closes 20-9 @ 6pm – and if you think that what you’ve read makes this a worthy nomination then please pass the link on. Ta.]