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Fancy a Recruitment Chat?
Vacature, one of Belgium's largest recruitment media (magazine + website) has just launched a 'chat bot', which enables anyone to make contact with its job database by adding a contact (carrierrecoach@vacature.com) to a Windows Live Messenger account. You still have to register with Vacacture, but afterwards you will automatically get links to relevant job offers based on your chat conversation.
I think that's a great idea, Live Messenger is widely popular in Belgium, and something like this can only lower the threshold for turning 'passive' into 'active' job seekers.
I have to say I'd think it is kind of strange to chitchat with a possible company.
I guess this evolution is just part of the current time spirit.
But I really cannot imagine an msn conversation with my future boss.
Or as a boss, to chat with a possible recruit without really seeing him/her.
Whilst working for Randstad, I learned that you judge the person in front of you in the first 5 seconds (this is a official research result) and the rest of the conversation is about checking if your first judgement is right.
I cannot imagine doing a first judgement based upon a chat conversation.
Naah, I am not convinced. Not convinced at all...
Update: OK OK I misunderstood. This is a chat BOT, so apparently the bot remembers your preferences and updates you when new jobs based upon your query are available.
Sounds a lot cooler than the msn chat.
Thanks Kristiaan for pointing that out to an audience of 250 people... ;P
Technorati Tags: recruitment, vacature
Posted on February 22, 2007
in Linking context, Living in Belgium
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Comments (3)
Comments
That was fast :)
For the record, you don't actually chat with potential employers, you simply get relevant links to job offers based on your chat conversation (keywords, ...).
For a lot of people, actually going to a recruitment website is really a step they have to take. It helps when you get e-mails with notifications of new jobs that match your profile, but the popularity of e-mail is fading (especially with the new generation). I think customized RSS feeds and IM chat are necessary steps for recruitment media to take.
Posted by Robin Wauters | February 22, 2007 11:00 AMWell, it would surely save me a lot of time. No more driving everywhere. That's good for my wallet and the environment at the same time. Juj. :)
(Sidenote: The bloody bot doesn't speak a word of French, and it keeps repeating the same message over and over.)
Posted by Stijn | February 22, 2007 8:14 PMOk, fair enough. I guess I deserved this one ;)
Posted by Kris Hoet | February 23, 2007 12:49 AM