International Association of Employment Web Sites

This issue of the IAEWS newsletter is jam-packed with important notices and opportunities for Members.  They include:

• A review of the Member Congress-West in San Francisco on September 17th;
• An update on the IAEWS-only meeting with the head of the policy division of the OFCCP on September 11th;
• Information on how you can participate in the new Member Working Group on Customer Privacy & Security;
• Information on how you can add your input to the Association’s private study of mergers and acquisitions in our industry; and
• Guidelines for nominating yourself or a peer to serve on the IAEWS Board of Governors for 2008.

Member Congress-West a Huge Success!

Almost 80 Members representing over 2,000 job boards attended the 2007 Member Congress-West in San Francisco on September 17th.  The Conference Chairman was Aaron Matos.  Our sponsors were Adicio, Arbita, Jobster, NationJob Network, TopUSAJobs.com and OnRec.com.  In addition, Adicio sponsored the Keynote Address, Arbita sponsored the Member Reception, SimplyHired sponsored the Best Practice sessions, Boxwood sponsored the lanyard for delegate badges, and JobTarget provided the power stick with the conference presentations.

Among the highlights of the program were:

A Keynote by Dick Bolles, author of What Color is Your Parachute?, who challenged us to expand the scope of our services to include career self-management as well as job search.  Bolles explained that people no longer look to their employers for career support, and that our industry has a window of opportunity to position itself as a reliable and effective resource for such essential assistance.

A Round Robin in which Members were able to interact with their peers on four important topics:

• Is the OFCCP Final Rule still a problem, and if so, what are you doing to limit its impact?
• Web 2.0—what will it look like in our industry?
• What are the best methods of building brand among employers/recruiters and job seekers?
• What is the single greatest challenge facing our industry and what are you doing about it?

By all accounts, the round robin was the single most popular segment of the program as virtually everyone gave a little and gained a lot.

A Plenary Discussion on customer privacy and security.  The consensus of the participants was that phishing, hacking and other attacks on job boards were widespread and that the challenge is too large and important to deal with in a single meeting.  As a result, it was decided to:

• form a Member Working Group to address all aspects of the issue on an ongoing basis; and
• set up an early warning system in the IAEWS to alert Members of external attacks and threats.

For more information on how to participate in these initiatives, please see below.

A Reception where Members were able to get to know one another socially and discuss their opportunities, challenges and potential business alliances.

So, what’s next?  The Member Congress-East, of course.  It will be held in Orlando, FL on November 14th, immediately following the Kennedy Recruiting 2007 Conference & Expo.  For additional information and to register for the Congress, please call Pamela Joyce-Spear at 317.916.9424.  The registration fee is just $179 for one delegate, $169/person for 3-4 delegates and $159/person for 5 or more delegates.

The Member Congress-East will be followed by a special add-on session: Cashing Out or Cashing In—The Financial Dynamics of M&A Activity in the Online Employment Services Industry.  This separately priced session will provide a research report developed exclusively for IAEWS Members by Kennedy Information and a private briefing and discussion with the study’s author.  The add-on session will run from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on November 14th and be followed by a reception with invited venture firms and investment banks.  The cost of participating (i.e., receiving the report and attending the briefing and reception) is $595; the cost of receiving the report alone is $395.

Exclusive IAEWS-OFCCP Meeting

Thanks to the hard work of our OFCCP Working Group co-chairs Ted Daywalt and Hope Gurion, we were able to set up a private meeting with Roger Ocampo, the Branch Chief for Policy Development & Procedures in the OFCCP.  IAEWS Members participated in person and via the IAEWS tele-bridge.

The following were among the points made by Ocampo during the 2+ hour session:

• The goal of the OFCCP is for employers to conduct continuous self-audits.  In other words, the Agency believes that it’s not enough for employers to avoid discrimination; they must also take affirmative steps to monitor their own performance and fix problems when they occur.

• The record keeping for OFCCP is the employer’s responsibility because the Agency expects employers to monitor the data as a part of their self-audits.

• The requirement for data storage is greater internally than externally.  In other words, employers must keep a record of every resume they receive directly, while they need only store the resumes of candidates who meet the “basic qualifications” when identified in an external resume database.  “Basic qualifications” is obviously an inexact phrase, but it can be construed to mean less than the minimum qualifications for job performance.

• It is also possible to diminish the record keeping load if an employer pre-establishes its external database search rules.  In other words, if it has a written policy that it will only review the first 10 or 25 or 100 resumes included in any search results, then it need not keep records of any others.

• Points of contact for OFCCP are 1-800-397-6251 and OFCCP-Public@dol.gov.  Both phone calls and e-mail messages end up in Ocampo’s shop, and he promises to deliver a fast and accurate response to Member questions.

If you would like to join the Member Working Group on the OFCCP, please contact either Ted Daywalt (TDaywalt@vetjobs.com) or Hope Gurion (Hope.Gurion@carerbuilder.com).

Member News You Can Use

IAEWS Initiative on Customer Privacy & Security

At the urging of delegates at the Member Congress-West, the IAEWS is launching the following efforts to help Members deal with the escalating incidence of phishing, hacking, malware and other attacks against our sites and customers:

• Establishing an IAEWS Working Group on Customer Privacy & Security.  This group will explore everything from technological solutions to malicious software attacks to customer education and standards for appropriate uses of resume databases.  Those who would like to serve on this group should contact Peter Weddle.  We hope to launch the Working Group in the next two weeks.
• Establishing an early warning alert system for IAEWS Members.  Since phising and other attacks seem to come in waves that affect large numbers of sites, one of the most effective ways to minimize or even deter the threat is Member notification.  To that end, we have created a new forum in the Members-Only area on the IAEWS site.  Called Industry Notice of Malicious Attack, it enables Members who experience an attack to notify other Members of the situation.  Obviously, this early warning system will only work if (a) Members diligently contribute to the forum as soon as they experience an attack and (b) Members diligently check the forum in order to be aware of the alerts that are posted.

Add Your Insights to the IAEWS Study on M&A Activity

As most of you now know, the IAEWS has commissioned Kennedy Information to conduct a private study of merger and acquisition activity in our industry.  This study will look at everything from valuation formulas to non-compete clauses, from deal breakers to how good will is measured.

The study will collect both qualitative data (by interviewing Members and venture capital, investment banking and other firms) and quantitative data (by surveying our membership).  The collected data will never be attributed to its source (or any single site), but will only be used in aggregate and then destroyed after the final report is written.

That report, entitled Cashing Out or Cashing In—The Financial Dynamics of M&A Activity in the Online Employment Services Industry, will be presented at a special post-Congress workshop on November 14th.  It will also be available for purchase by Members only after that date.

For this study to provide truly useful insights, we need to have wide participation by members in the survey.  Once again, the data that are being collected will be seen only by the study author and will be destroyed once the data are aggregated for analysis and included in the final report.  Therefore, we ask all Members to complete the survey; it will only take 10 minutes of your time, but, as the phrase goes, the resulting information will be priceless.  (If you’re not the best person to complete the survey on behalf of your company, please pass the link below along to that person.)

To participate in the survey, please click here.  The survey will close on October 12, 2007.  If you would like to speak to the study director, please contact Brent Skinner, Research Director at Kennedy.  You can reach him at bskinner@kennedyinfo.com or 800.531.0007, extension 614.

Become an IAEWS Governor

As announced at the Member Congress-West, the IAEWS will form a Board of Governors to assist with the Association’s governance.  It is expected that the seven Governors will convene quarterly by IAEWS tele-bridge to hear about Association’s work and discuss plans and potential initiatives.  Membership of the Board will include 4 Charter Members, 3 Members and the Executive Director.

If you would like to nominate yourself or another Member to serve on the Board of Governors, please contact Peter Weddle at 203.964.1888.  Nominations will close on December 1, 2007.  New Governors will begin serving their one-year term in January, 2008.

Here’s your chance to make a lasting contribution to our industry and the Association that strives to ensure its continued growth and success.  We will be respectful of your time and ask only for a little of your talent.

Have You Posted the IAEWS Icon on Your Site?

Recent reports from Members and the media indicate that IAEWS membership is now having a real and positive impact on employer purchasing decisions for recruitment advertising and other employment services.  So, don’t get left out just because you left off the IAEWS Member icon.  Make sure the icon is prominently displayed on your site and on your print marketing literature.

Jpeg and eps versions of the icon are available for downloading in the Members-Only area of the IAEWS site.