With all of the layoffs loss of jobs in Las Vegas, there is one industry that seems to be recession proof….the adult industry.   After seeing several billboards pop up on the I-215 I had to check it out.  I went to their website and they display their entire recruitment campaign online.  Here is an example of one of their billboards:

It is risque, but not as bad as the one that I saw that reads “Get Tugged.  Get $1,000.”  Anybody remember the issues the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino had when they put up some similar style billboards?  It wasn’t long before the Nevada Gaming Control Board required them to be taken down.  But the PR that they got from the campaign, probably gave them the ROI (Return on Investment) they were looking for.  Keep in mind, these things are not cheap….typically $3-5 grand per billboard, per month.

And no, Bait Work is not discriminatory.  They have employment opportunities for women as well:

Well, we just completed another successful Opportunity Boulevard Career Fair on August 21, 2008.  We had over 40 employers in attendance and well over 2,000 highly qualified jobseekers walk through.  Our business model is just starting to take shape:

• We have become the leading career fair for professionals – Almost all of our attendees come professionally dressed, not wearing the shorts, tee-shirts and flip flops found out other job fairs.
• Our clients receive VIP service from the moment they arrive – From curbside drop-off to a gourmet lunch, private interviewing booths to our special ‘after hours’ event at the Green Valley Ranch Drop Bar.
• Our jobseekers find real employers with real jobs – Employers such as Wynn Resorts and Aliante Station who have nearly 10,000 job openings are on hand to meet, greet and interview candidates.
• Job-seekers looking for career advancement are able to meet with leading educational institutions right on site
• A professional resume write provides free seminars to job seekers guiding them on writing a better resume
• Various employers provide free seminars – from navigating the government application process to entering the sales profession

Producing best-of-class career fairs is no easy task.  Hundreds of man hours are invested by our sales and events planning team to ensure it goes off without a hitch.  Our partners invest sweat equity producing radio and television spots, newspaper display ads, email marketing campaigns, post cards and banners.  Through true collaboration the event is always a success.

There are many other job fairs in Las Vegas as we all know.  But employers are quickly learning the value of a quality event.  Because, as employers, we exhibit at career fairs to make hires right?  They are not just about handing out company swag. 

Although most industries in Nevada are on hiring freezes, or worse yet, staffing cut-backs – many jobs remain vacant including nursing jobs, doctor jobs and teaching jobs.  Because there is such a critical shortage we have no options or choices.   

Recruiting in these ‘hard to fill areas’ remains a challenge.  It is purely due to supply and demand.  Nevada simply does not have enough.  So – we must go to other markets to find these professionals and encourage them to relocate.

However, some companies take the opposite approach and look to recruit from the local community during these challenging times.  And they do so by offering unnecessary wage increases.  Or worse yet… sign on bonuses. 

Let me tell you – this is wrong!

• It is wrong for your existing workforce, who will now question your loyalty to them
• It is wrong for the shareholders who will face an unanticipated rise in the cost of labor
• It is wrong for the competitor – who will feel required to follow suit
• It is wrong for the industry – as all will now need to adjust to compete and still not change the supply/demand issue
• It is wrong for the community – who will ultimately pay for the inflation caused by the increased cost of labor

So during these challenging times it is necessary to maintain the integrity of the recruiting process.  It is best to spend the time ensuring that the workplace environment you offer is better than the competition.   This way jobseekers will gravitate to your company because it is a great place to work, not because you offer a quarter or dollar more per hour. 

We are officially live with “jobs” on the Las Vegas Sun website:

As I have mentioned in past blog posts, we have been actively working on expanding the Recruiting Nevada Network.  All clients posting ads on RecruitingNevada.com will now get automatic cross-posting to the Las Vegas Sun website.  This will have a tremendous amount of impact on our local level reach. 

Much, much more to come later…….

There is officially an overabundance of Las Vegas job fairs being held.  There are several, if not dozens, being held each month.  I have seen some days where there are 2-3 different events going on in different areas of town.  This is true over-saturation. 

Some job fairs are trying to mix it up and move their event to different areas of town each time.  Others slap a ‘diversity label’ on it in hopes of attracting a different type of audience, not realizing they need to change their marketing strategy to do so.  And then you have colleges, universities and high schools holding events to introduce employers to their students.  And this is all on top of the recent barrage of employers hosting ‘open houses’ and ‘career fairs.’

So what happens?  Jobseekers get confused and irritated.  They go to one event, have a bad experience and then assume that all the job fairs are the same.  So they stop attending job fairs because they think they are a waste of their valuable time.  Jobseekers also get confused as to what job fairs are good and which are bad.  If they attend one bad event at the Palace Station, they assume all job fairs held at the Palace Station will be bad.  So the Palace Station becomes tainted.  Same goes with Cashman Field Center.  Simply put – jobseekers don’t know the difference between the promoters.  And they shouldn’t. 

Employers get equally as irritated because they are not certain which events they should be going to.  Some select events based upon price (which I do not feel is a good decision – see below), other based on the ‘diversity label,’ while others look at the true demographics of the jobseekers expected to attend.  I have seen some job fair promoters use celebrity introductions and giveaways to attract employers to their events.  (Never mind if you get good hires – you can meet someone cool and potentially win a trip to Mexico!!)

Anyway you look at it, it is confusing.  Recruiting Nevada has created a ‘calendar of Las Vegas job fairs’ on its’ website for its’ clients and other employers wanting to access it at any time.  We hope this will help sort through the clutter.  Although Recruiting Nevada is a partner in the Opportunity Boulevard Career Fairs, we post our competitor job fair events in the calendar.  If there are other events that we are not aware of, we hope that you will notify us.  We want to make sure that this calendar is the most inclusive calendar of job fairs in Las Vegas.

Side Note (Pricing):  Understand that a successful job fair requires two audiences:  Jobseekers and Employers.  In order for a job fair promoter to get a large audience to an event, they must advertise (and advertise beyond just their own media property).  Many unsophisticated promoters do not understand this and attempt to enter the market using price as a key driver.  It take marketing to get jobseeker attendance.  And marketing costs money.  So ask yourself – should you be measuring success based on the cost of the booth or the cost per qualified applicant/hire?

Today, many job boards make more money from selling resume database access than they do fulfilling their primary business role ….posting jobs.   As much as resume database access may make sense in established markets, it does not make sense for Nevada. 

Why do I say this?  Nevada has been the fastest growing state for 20 years now. 

We do not have the established, skilled and deep talent pools of mature markets.  Therefore, we must recruit talent to our area, rather than recruit talent from our neighbors.  

If we recruit talent from our neighbors, they in turn, must react to fill their newly created vacancies.  They typically do so by recruiting talent from another neighbor, who in turn duplicates the same action (or reaction).  You see where this is going……..

Wages go up.  Sign-on bonuses become more prevalent.  Retention levels suffer.  And ultimately it hurts the entire industry and has a long term impact on the cost of labor. All along the way deteriorating the service we are delivering our customers.

And at the end of the day, the problem still exists.  There is still a shortage.  And employers are then paying higher wages while creating an even fiercer competitive landscape based on wages – not loyalty.

Access to local resume databases instigates this problem.  Why?  Because ABC company can go in and search for all resumes with DEF Company experience, just to offer them $.50 more per hour.  And then DEF does the same, and so forth. 

And how do those resumes get entered into the database to begin with?  From applicants responding to paid job postings from ABC and DEF Companies.  In essence, employers are paying to create the resume databases their neighbors are feeding from. 

We are proud to announce that John Sumser’s Recruiting Roadshow will be coming to Las Vegas.  The date will be February 27, 2008 and will be held at Green Valley Ranch, where we host the Opportunity Boulevard Career Fairs. 

Stay tuned for more details and registration information. 

My position on resume search always draws some criticism.  Some, primarily agencies and job boards that sell resume database access, feel that resume search is beneficial to the jobseeker.  I disagree.  I would agree – if, and only if, the jobseeker ‘opted in’ and wanted their resume to be found.  In most instances however, that is not the case. 

Most times, a job-seeker’s resume is searchable because that is just how the job board software is designed.  Recruiting Nevada, however, went to great lengths not to include a resume search feature in its’ software.

Why? 

First – We do not feel it is our information to sell. It is the jobseekers.

Second – None of us would not want our information sold to people we do not know.

Third – We do not feel it is ‘healthy’ for a fast growth community such as Nevada, to instigate local level recruiting.  I will explain this below.

For arguments’ sake, there are some cases where resume search is acceptable.  Websites such as TheLadders charge their jobseekers a fee to make their resume searchable to employers.  The key difference here is – the jobseekers agree, and pay, to have their resume found.  Therefore, the jobseeker can write their resume in a fashion to protect private information. 

But my opinion is that resume search, if permitted, should knowingly be controlled by the jobseeker.  It is their private information and they do not want their information accessible to corporate recruiters, third party recruiters, credit card companies or anyone who offers to buy access.  When was the last time you saw a job board advertising that unless you select ‘private’ while establishing your account, your resume will be accessible to the world.  I never have.

The primary reason I disagree with resume search is that the resumes being sold are resumes uploaded by candidates when they applied to other employer jobs.    Again – resumes that I do not feel a job board has an ownership right to.  These resumes are not the property of the job boards.  At best, the resume is the property of the job seeker and the employers that jobseeker applied to.

The sad part is - employer clients trusted the job board to advertise their job and look out for their best interests, not the next highest bidder’s best interest, or a competitor a few weeks later that just buys access.

It is very rare that you will you hear me compliment newspapers.  But back in the day when newspapers understood their purpose – to introduce jobseekers to employers and employers to jobseekers – no one owned the jobseeker data besides the jobseeker. 

If a jobseeker wished to apply for a job with an employer, it was a private matter between the jobseeker and the employer.  The newspaper was only the medium that made an introduction and advertised the means of communication – an address, fax number or e-mail address.  Nothing more.

Now it appears the majority of those in the employment advertising business find more value in owning and selling jobseeker data than they do in making introductions.  Imagine if a television station would air a commercial for Nike, yet require the viewer to register with them to find out how or where to buy a pair of Nike shoes, only to sell that data to Reebok, Converse and Adidas. 

It doesn’t makes sense, does it?

We always download a list of pre-registered jobseekers for upcoming Opportunity Boulevard Career Fairs a week before the event to get a gauge on the volume and the quality of anticipated attendance.  I was absolutely shocked when I saw we already had 1,500 pre-registered jobseekers.  Typically we have around 800 more than a week away from the event.

The largest volume comes the week prior to the event due to Recruiting Nevada’s aggressive e-mail marketing campaign to jobseekers and the plethora of radio ads played by our partners over at the Nevada Broadcasters Association. 

Some interesting demographics I was able to pull from the pre-registrations were:

• Over 10% of pre-registered attendees are from out-of-state
• There are over 60 Accounting Professionals pre-registered
• Over 120 healthcare professionals are already registered
• A couple of dozen engineers and sales professionals are registered

If these indicators are accurate – I suspect over 4,000 professional jobseekers will attend this event. 

It will be interesting to get the final tally after I return from the International Association of Employment Web Sites Annual Congress in Orlando, Florida.  Yes – I will not be attending the event myself – I had a conflict in my schedule with this conference.  I wish I could be there. 

If you have not registered yet, and wish to do so, you can register here. 

Looking to reach the future Hispanic professional?  Now is your chance.

The Latin Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation will be hosting the 23rd Annual Career Day Program on November 14, 2007 at the Texas Station Casino. 

Last year the event attracted over 100 local businesses who had the opportunity to meet with 325 Hispanic high school seniors. 

Sponsorship is inexpensive at only $100 to provide scholarships for worthy Hispanic students. 

Want more information?  Visit www.lvlcc.com to register.  Any questions – call (702) 385-7367.