Associated Northcliffe Digital (AND) have just announced the acquisition of Broadbean, the UK's leading job posting solution. In 2003 AND acquired Conkers.net, the UK's other job posting solution.
AND is the digital division of the Daily Mail and General Trust and among other things owns a sizable stable of UK job boards including jobsite.co.uk.
UK recruiters and commentators are already expressing their concerns (and here) over a job board business owning the job posting supply chain in the UK. In Australia this is the equivalent of Fairfax or News Digital buying Adlogic and JobAdder. No doubt there will be more news on this soon.
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
India PR Jobboard
Welcome to the world of Public Relations. If you are looking for a job opening in the Indian PR industry, you might find it here. This job board is an experimental free job board started by India PR Blog to list available public relations and related jobs in India (in agencies and corporate communication departments). This job board highlights PR job vacancies as posted by the HR/contact persons of PR agencies and corporates or by those who need the services of a PR professional/freelancer for short-term projects.
These posts are available at this page, or through the combined India PR Blog RSS feed, or when readers subscribed to this blog on their email (see subscription box on the blog’s upper right-hand corner), thus accessible to hundreds of PR professionals across the country reading this blog.
More than job recruitment or facilitation service, take this as a social community of recruiters and candidates in the PR industry.
How do you add a new job posting? Click the orange color ‘Post a Job’ button above. On the web form that opened up, fill up the details, follow the instructions, and you are done. Remember to preview your job posting before finalising it.
DISCLAIMER: India PR Blog does not take responsibility of any job posting on this board and all responsibilities are with the recruiters who post the particular job openings. The job board just provides a common platform and the blog does not take any part between the interactions of recruiters and candidates. Candidates should contact the recruiters mentioned on each job post directly. Please inform any abuse or write any suggestion to the Editor at India PR Blog.
These posts are available at this page, or through the combined India PR Blog RSS feed, or when readers subscribed to this blog on their email (see subscription box on the blog’s upper right-hand corner), thus accessible to hundreds of PR professionals across the country reading this blog.
More than job recruitment or facilitation service, take this as a social community of recruiters and candidates in the PR industry.
How do you add a new job posting? Click the orange color ‘Post a Job’ button above. On the web form that opened up, fill up the details, follow the instructions, and you are done. Remember to preview your job posting before finalising it.
DISCLAIMER: India PR Blog does not take responsibility of any job posting on this board and all responsibilities are with the recruiters who post the particular job openings. The job board just provides a common platform and the blog does not take any part between the interactions of recruiters and candidates. Candidates should contact the recruiters mentioned on each job post directly. Please inform any abuse or write any suggestion to the Editor at India PR Blog.
IT Jobs
One More Job Board! WHY?
Yes, there are over 80,000 job boards and everyday new job boards are launched. A search result for key word “Job Board” in Google will yield a million results. Even after combining all the job boards across the world there is less than 50% chance of getting help for a technology recruiter or a candidate. But in reality if the job boards were working for technology recruiters, would we be needing the recruiters at the first place?
More and more technology recruiters are working long hours to serve their clients. Job boards form a miniscule part of their sourcing strategy.
The intention is not to coach, but the success of a technology recruiter lies in networking and having his own dynamic searchable candidate pool. We are providing those tools so that your resume database becomes dynamic and network within them. Also, experienced technology professionals when seeking opportunities are comfortable within their network to make career moves. As more and more companies are growing globally, a single 'dot com' address that serves their sourcing strategy is required to attract top IT talent.
Therefore the idea is to empower the IT community by providing unique tools for the technology recruiter and for the candidates to maximize their skills globally. Moreover there is a push from industry to all the major governments to have favorable immigration policy for Technology professionals or so called speciality skills.
Our focus is only in Global technology talent acquisition space. – iitjobs.com
Yes, there are over 80,000 job boards and everyday new job boards are launched. A search result for key word “Job Board” in Google will yield a million results. Even after combining all the job boards across the world there is less than 50% chance of getting help for a technology recruiter or a candidate. But in reality if the job boards were working for technology recruiters, would we be needing the recruiters at the first place?
More and more technology recruiters are working long hours to serve their clients. Job boards form a miniscule part of their sourcing strategy.
The intention is not to coach, but the success of a technology recruiter lies in networking and having his own dynamic searchable candidate pool. We are providing those tools so that your resume database becomes dynamic and network within them. Also, experienced technology professionals when seeking opportunities are comfortable within their network to make career moves. As more and more companies are growing globally, a single 'dot com' address that serves their sourcing strategy is required to attract top IT talent.
Therefore the idea is to empower the IT community by providing unique tools for the technology recruiter and for the candidates to maximize their skills globally. Moreover there is a push from industry to all the major governments to have favorable immigration policy for Technology professionals or so called speciality skills.
Our focus is only in Global technology talent acquisition space. – iitjobs.com
Customize your local jobboard
You can now customize your job board to match the colors of your company and your website! Combined with the already built-in feature of using your logo on your simplicant job board, you can now make the look and feel of your job board fully match your company’s website.
This feature is accessible through the Job Board page in the Settings area. We are using the Yahoo! UI color picker, which makes the whole process of customizing colors simple and intuitive.
This feature is accessible through the Job Board page in the Settings area. We are using the Yahoo! UI color picker, which makes the whole process of customizing colors simple and intuitive.
Local Colarado Job Board
About a year ago, I started a job board here on ColoradoStartups.com. I wanted it to be free and only allow startups to post on it. Since then, 207 jobs at startups have been posted on my free job board to date. The bad news is that that only drew 59 applications in total from my readers. Not that great, but still a decent service to the community at no charge.
As of tonight, this job board will be shut down. But…. there’s good news too.
The good news is that I’ve replaced it with a much more functional job board that brings job posters many new benefits. Previously, job posts were only seen on ColoradoStartups.com. With the new job board, your posts are seen across the country on startup oriented job boards. For example, they’ll be seen as usual on ColoradoStartups.com, but also on the Texas Startup Blog, Kentucky Startups, North Carolina Startups, and so on. Better yet, this is a quickly growing list of startup oriented blogs which are perfect for reaching your audience. Better still, your ads will be seen whenever anyone searches for your keywords or geography across the entire SimplyHired.com network, which includes thousands of sites like MySpace, GigaOM, LinkedIn, VentureBeat, and the New York Post. Not bad, eh? In a nutshell, job posts on ColoradoStartups.com will now be seen much more widely.
The only downside is that the posting price has gone from free to $5 per listing. Using this new technology, this is the minimum that SimplyHired will allow us to charge. So of course, we picked that number since we love startups and don’t really do this for the money! This is still a great bargain as your listing is valid for 60 days, again, across the entire network. Just $5 for 60 days.
I hope you will continue to list your openings here on ColoradoStartups.com. I think the new job board will perform better for you. If you have any questions, just fire away in the comments.
It’s live, so you can post a job on the new and improved job board right now if you’d like to.
As of tonight, this job board will be shut down. But…. there’s good news too.
The good news is that I’ve replaced it with a much more functional job board that brings job posters many new benefits. Previously, job posts were only seen on ColoradoStartups.com. With the new job board, your posts are seen across the country on startup oriented job boards. For example, they’ll be seen as usual on ColoradoStartups.com, but also on the Texas Startup Blog, Kentucky Startups, North Carolina Startups, and so on. Better yet, this is a quickly growing list of startup oriented blogs which are perfect for reaching your audience. Better still, your ads will be seen whenever anyone searches for your keywords or geography across the entire SimplyHired.com network, which includes thousands of sites like MySpace, GigaOM, LinkedIn, VentureBeat, and the New York Post. Not bad, eh? In a nutshell, job posts on ColoradoStartups.com will now be seen much more widely.
The only downside is that the posting price has gone from free to $5 per listing. Using this new technology, this is the minimum that SimplyHired will allow us to charge. So of course, we picked that number since we love startups and don’t really do this for the money! This is still a great bargain as your listing is valid for 60 days, again, across the entire network. Just $5 for 60 days.
I hope you will continue to list your openings here on ColoradoStartups.com. I think the new job board will perform better for you. If you have any questions, just fire away in the comments.
It’s live, so you can post a job on the new and improved job board right now if you’d like to.
Using Job Boards Abroad !!!
In the life of an online multiple job poster there are days, on which everything goes wrong. Today seems to be one of them. Against my usual Job Board Experience articles habit, I will even mention the name of the job site I am talking about: it is infoempleo.com, one of the major Spanish national job portals.
Anyway, I am well aware that there will always persist language barriers and/ or difficulties when you are working on an international level. However, publishing two different job roles from two different customers (with, of course, two different logos, locations, job titles, texts, etc.) should be a standard procedure for any job site and should not require many explanations, neither in English, Spanish nor Esperanto.
But we recently sent two positions to infoempleo (the site is, by the way, part of the European Recruitment Alliance), one for a client in the Netherlands and one for a customer in Germany. The first ad was sent at the beginning and the second at the end of november. Today our customer care people had a look at the site to control the ads. They found out that the text from ad number one had been integrated in the company layout from ad number two…
When my colleagues called our customer care representative in Spain, the person said that she did not speak English (however, we usually correspond in English) and passed them to another person. This person - who spoke English very well - obviously felt unable to help us and, in the middle of the conversation, hung up the phone. Later on, my colleagues were told that the connection had been cut (which I doubt very much) and that, unfortunately, the person had left the building for a while (which I strongly believe).
Anyway, I am well aware that there will always persist language barriers and/ or difficulties when you are working on an international level. However, publishing two different job roles from two different customers (with, of course, two different logos, locations, job titles, texts, etc.) should be a standard procedure for any job site and should not require many explanations, neither in English, Spanish nor Esperanto.
But we recently sent two positions to infoempleo (the site is, by the way, part of the European Recruitment Alliance), one for a client in the Netherlands and one for a customer in Germany. The first ad was sent at the beginning and the second at the end of november. Today our customer care people had a look at the site to control the ads. They found out that the text from ad number one had been integrated in the company layout from ad number two…
When my colleagues called our customer care representative in Spain, the person said that she did not speak English (however, we usually correspond in English) and passed them to another person. This person - who spoke English very well - obviously felt unable to help us and, in the middle of the conversation, hung up the phone. Later on, my colleagues were told that the connection had been cut (which I doubt very much) and that, unfortunately, the person had left the building for a while (which I strongly believe).
Posting Your CV/Resume on a local Job Board
When you are writing your first draft of a resume you are most likely thinking in terms of using just one version of your resume for all niche job boards that you want to post to. But, you should think about carefully about targeting your resume for keywords on the niche job boards that you are posting to and using multiple iterations of the resume to use a larger amount of keywords. You don't need to change your personal or core content but you should think about using descriptive terms that fit the niche job board and/or position you are seeking with alternative resumes.
In many cases, when posting your resume on a niche job board you may be asked if you want to post an additional iteration of your resume. Many people will not take advantage of this, which is a mistake. The hiring manager is typically searching for a candidate using a specific set of keywords that matches a job – if you incorporate multiple resumes you can incorporate a broader set of keywords – ensuring that your resume will be pulled up via a search, when the hiring manager uses a matching set of keywords.
You may also find multiple jobs when doing a search on a niche job board that you are interested in and well qualified for, but your resume may not be a good match for the job description. If you incorporate multiple resumes in your marketing campaign you can target each one for a specific job opening and make your overall search process much less time consuming and more effective.
But you don't want to utilize a resume that portrays your experience inaccurately or mislead hiring managers. However, emphasizing certain aspects of your skill set in one resume versus another can again expose you to more positions – as an example, using business development versus sales manager in your objective description will give you a broader reach when hiring managers incorporate both or either of these terms in their search process via the niche job board.
Think like an online marketer – the broader your reach the more exposure you will have to hiring managers and recruiters.
In many cases, when posting your resume on a niche job board you may be asked if you want to post an additional iteration of your resume. Many people will not take advantage of this, which is a mistake. The hiring manager is typically searching for a candidate using a specific set of keywords that matches a job – if you incorporate multiple resumes you can incorporate a broader set of keywords – ensuring that your resume will be pulled up via a search, when the hiring manager uses a matching set of keywords.
You may also find multiple jobs when doing a search on a niche job board that you are interested in and well qualified for, but your resume may not be a good match for the job description. If you incorporate multiple resumes in your marketing campaign you can target each one for a specific job opening and make your overall search process much less time consuming and more effective.
But you don't want to utilize a resume that portrays your experience inaccurately or mislead hiring managers. However, emphasizing certain aspects of your skill set in one resume versus another can again expose you to more positions – as an example, using business development versus sales manager in your objective description will give you a broader reach when hiring managers incorporate both or either of these terms in their search process via the niche job board.
Think like an online marketer – the broader your reach the more exposure you will have to hiring managers and recruiters.
Go for smaller Job Boards
I was clicking through my e-mail a few weeks back and spotted a message from Monster.ca, a leading online job board. They proudly announced having more than 2,000,000 Canadian resumes in their database. After crunching some numbers I let out a respectful “whew”: that’s one resume for every eight people in our entire workforce.
In fact, it’s even more congested. At any given time maybe 10% of all employees are actively looking to change jobs. Add in the 1.4 million unemployed and what you really have is 3,000,000 or so very serious job-seekers.
Keep in mind that many candidates post more than one version of their resume to each job board they use. Assuming 2 versions per job site, that'd make it 1,000,000 unique resumes from about 3,000,000 job hunters. “Whew” again: a whopping 1/3 of Canadian job-seekers appear to have put their resumes online.
Fooling around with these figures got me thinking about the big job banks these days. I mean, there's no doubt that hunting for work online is a hot ticket. That's because most published ads for jobs have shifted from newspaper classifieds to the Net. Today you absolutely have to use job banks as part of your overall job search.
But what kind of numbers are you actually up against when you visit the big sites? Like when you upload your resume to Workopolis.com and Monster.ca, or search for the perfect position on Working.Canada.com or Hotjobs.ca?
Take Workopolis, for example. According to Susan Hayes, Director of Marketing and Communications at Workopolis, their site has 35,000 jobs posted. Another 6,000 reside on their Workopolis Campus section (for students and entry-level folk). Last month alone the site overall attracted 2.1 million unique visitors. And get this—of those visitors, 82% applied for at least one job. That adds up to nearly 1.7 million people going after 41,000 jobs.
Here's one more way to look at it. Assuming every applicant responded to at least three jobs each over the course of the month (a reasonably conservative figure), the total would be 5 million resumes submitted. That's a pretty daunting pile for some poor HR flunky to dig through.
In fact, it’s even more congested. At any given time maybe 10% of all employees are actively looking to change jobs. Add in the 1.4 million unemployed and what you really have is 3,000,000 or so very serious job-seekers.
Keep in mind that many candidates post more than one version of their resume to each job board they use. Assuming 2 versions per job site, that'd make it 1,000,000 unique resumes from about 3,000,000 job hunters. “Whew” again: a whopping 1/3 of Canadian job-seekers appear to have put their resumes online.
Fooling around with these figures got me thinking about the big job banks these days. I mean, there's no doubt that hunting for work online is a hot ticket. That's because most published ads for jobs have shifted from newspaper classifieds to the Net. Today you absolutely have to use job banks as part of your overall job search.
But what kind of numbers are you actually up against when you visit the big sites? Like when you upload your resume to Workopolis.com and Monster.ca, or search for the perfect position on Working.Canada.com or Hotjobs.ca?
Take Workopolis, for example. According to Susan Hayes, Director of Marketing and Communications at Workopolis, their site has 35,000 jobs posted. Another 6,000 reside on their Workopolis Campus section (for students and entry-level folk). Last month alone the site overall attracted 2.1 million unique visitors. And get this—of those visitors, 82% applied for at least one job. That adds up to nearly 1.7 million people going after 41,000 jobs.
Here's one more way to look at it. Assuming every applicant responded to at least three jobs each over the course of the month (a reasonably conservative figure), the total would be 5 million resumes submitted. That's a pretty daunting pile for some poor HR flunky to dig through.
Hospitality Jobs
HospitalityJobsite.com is the premier Travel & Hospitality destination within the Beyond.com Network of more than 15,000 industry and local job sites. In becoming a member of HospitalityJobsite.com, you will receive all the benefits of a local job board with the power of a larger network.
The Focus of One, the Power of Many
The Beyond Travel & Hospitality Channel consists of 59 career communities that attract and connect job seekers and employers based upon their needs and interests.
By leveraging our network, we provide maximum visibility of your job postings, allowing you to easily and cost-effectively reach a higher quality of relevant active, passive and difficult to reach candidates without the need to contract with multiple job boards.
Visit our premier Travel & Hospitality Channel community, HospitalityJobsite.com, and discover what it means to Go Beyond!
The Focus of One, the Power of Many
The Beyond Travel & Hospitality Channel consists of 59 career communities that attract and connect job seekers and employers based upon their needs and interests.
By leveraging our network, we provide maximum visibility of your job postings, allowing you to easily and cost-effectively reach a higher quality of relevant active, passive and difficult to reach candidates without the need to contract with multiple job boards.
Visit our premier Travel & Hospitality Channel community, HospitalityJobsite.com, and discover what it means to Go Beyond!
Education Jobsite
EducationJobsite.com is the premier Education destination within the Beyond.com Network of more than 15,000 industry and local job sites. In becoming a member of EducationJobsite.com, you will receive all the benefits of a local job board with the power of a larger network.
The Focus of One, the Power of Many
The Beyond Education Channel consists of 29 career communities that attract and connect job seekers and employers based upon their needs and interests.
By leveraging our network, we provide maximum visibility of your job postings, allowing you to easily and cost-effectively reach a higher quality of relevant active, passive and difficult to reach candidates without the need to contract with multiple job boards.
Visit our premier Education Channel community, EducationJobsite.com, and discover what it means to Go Beyond!
The Focus of One, the Power of Many
The Beyond Education Channel consists of 29 career communities that attract and connect job seekers and employers based upon their needs and interests.
By leveraging our network, we provide maximum visibility of your job postings, allowing you to easily and cost-effectively reach a higher quality of relevant active, passive and difficult to reach candidates without the need to contract with multiple job boards.
Visit our premier Education Channel community, EducationJobsite.com, and discover what it means to Go Beyond!
Job Boards
Peter Weddle is a speaker and author on job boards and internet recruiting. In an article from CareerJournal.com, October 12, 2008, he writes: "An online community creates the same sentiment of membership at a spot in cyberspace, " a Web site " that a traditional community creates in the real world … These groups have three characteristics in common:
people share a common outlook,
get information and support and
believe they can be themselves without risk of criticism.
"When a Web site establishes a ’brand’ that has all of these characteristics, it is transformed into an online community.... " (Reprinted with permission from Peter Weddle, WEDDLE's LLC, www.weddles.com).
people share a common outlook,
get information and support and
believe they can be themselves without risk of criticism.
"When a Web site establishes a ’brand’ that has all of these characteristics, it is transformed into an online community.... " (Reprinted with permission from Peter Weddle, WEDDLE's LLC, www.weddles.com).
Job O Matic
Online job boards have been increasingly used by blogs as an additional monetization strategy. I was checking my Feedburner stats today when I came across an ad for Simply Hired’s Job-a-matic, a website which helps you to make money from your site through ready-made job boards.
Initially launched in January 2007, Job-a-matic might not be new to some of you out there. I’ve never written about Job Boards as a way to monetize a blog or website before and I’ll thought it’ll be interesting to examine their potential in general.
Part of the reason why I decided to focus on Job-a-matic was because they offered Feedburner flare integration. Many Dosh Dosh readers are bloggers and Feedburner users as well, so I thought this would be particularly relevant.
How does Job-a-matic Work?
It basically allows you to monetize your site’s audience by selling job listings on your own customized job board to employers who are looking for talents in a specific field.
According to Job-a-matic, putting up a job board on your site adds value to your readers because these targeted listings provides an additional service/feature that is directly beneficial for them.
Initially launched in January 2007, Job-a-matic might not be new to some of you out there. I’ve never written about Job Boards as a way to monetize a blog or website before and I’ll thought it’ll be interesting to examine their potential in general.
Part of the reason why I decided to focus on Job-a-matic was because they offered Feedburner flare integration. Many Dosh Dosh readers are bloggers and Feedburner users as well, so I thought this would be particularly relevant.
How does Job-a-matic Work?
It basically allows you to monetize your site’s audience by selling job listings on your own customized job board to employers who are looking for talents in a specific field.
According to Job-a-matic, putting up a job board on your site adds value to your readers because these targeted listings provides an additional service/feature that is directly beneficial for them.
In 2009 How do we find Employment
Unfortunately, people do what they are told. And what they do to search for a job is dictated by the same personnel jockeys and HR people who dump millions into the job boards rather than do their jobs themselves. Just as personnel jockeys don't really recruit, job hunters don't really job hunt. Everyone dumps crap into the Big Jobs Data Base, waiting like some dope at the roulette wheel for their number to come up. Is it any wonder companies cry, "Talent Shortage!" and job hunters cry, "Job Shortage!"? People who are really good at their work and who have a smidgen of social sense know their next job will come from a personal contact. Studies consistently show that 60% or more of jobs are found and filled through personal contacts. Job boards handle only about 2%. Ironically, the smaller, more local job boards deliver more matches -- maybe because they are closer to their communities and have a real relationship with them.
Smart people devote time every day to cultivating their reputations and relationships in their professional communities. Good managers find new hires through people they trust. That will never change, but few people will ever get it. My message to really talented people who are active in their professional communities: Don't worry about competition. You have none. To those sitting around waiting for job boards to deliver jobs, and for companies to come to them, 2008 is going to be a very tough year. As the economy suffers pain, companies will be able to afford to hire only those people who can show they will contribute to the bottom line. If you can't do that, you're toast. Sorry.
Smart people devote time every day to cultivating their reputations and relationships in their professional communities. Good managers find new hires through people they trust. That will never change, but few people will ever get it. My message to really talented people who are active in their professional communities: Don't worry about competition. You have none. To those sitting around waiting for job boards to deliver jobs, and for companies to come to them, 2008 is going to be a very tough year. As the economy suffers pain, companies will be able to afford to hire only those people who can show they will contribute to the bottom line. If you can't do that, you're toast. Sorry.
Preparing A CV for A JobBoard
Choose Your Vocation Destination
A resume serves many purposes: it's your calling card, your personal marketing toolkit, and an abbreviated summary of your entire employment history. If your resume is well-designed and persuasive, it can serve as your ticket to a better career.
However, on the other hand, if your resume is awkward, error-riddled, or just plain ugly, even the most exceptional employment history may not be able to persuade the hiring manager to give you further consideration. When a single piece of paper is representing you to potential employers, every detail should be just right.
It is often assumed that the hiring decisions are made objectively, and that the candidates who are most qualified for the open position will inevitably rise to the top and be selected. In reality, though, this is not always the case.
Hiring managers are only human, and the human mind tends to process information in a more subjective manner. Even seemingly small details can have a big impact, so it's well worth it to take the extra time to craft an exceptional resume.
The bad news? Even the most experienced candidates will likely be passed over if their resumes and application materials make an unfavorable impression on the hiring manager. The good news? Keeping a few simple guidelines in mind, you can easily retool your resume to make it more persuasive and effective. With some thoughtful, carefully targeted revisions, even the resume of a less-qualified candidate can catch the interest of a hiring manager.
The Resume Rules
Every position you apply for represents a different opportunity, and each position is deserving of a uniquely tailored resume. To save time, you can use the same basic template for every resume.
It is very important, however, that you customize the details of your resume to address the unique requirements of each job you are applying for. Hiring managers are much more likely to be responsive to application materials that speak directly to their organization's needs.
An obviously generic resume, on the other hand, may be taken as a sign that you weren't sufficiently interested in the position to invest any extra time in the application process. Even a few personalized details can vastly increase your chances of success. You can use the following guidelines to customize your resume for each company you are contacting.
Align Your Objectives with the Company's
The functional resume format that begins with a statement of your objective as the first heading is more popular than ever. But surprisingly few candidates take the time to modify their objective statement for each position applied for. This will convey the impression that you know what you want and you'll be on the right path toward your career goals with this position.
Find Out What The Company Needs -- and Be It
Scrutinize the position description or the company's mission statement, and then tool every statement in your resume to address these needs. Don't stretch the truth, but make sure you frame your experience in a way that is as consistent as possible with the company's stated needs, values, and goals. Every word in your resume, cover letter, and other application materials should resonate with your potential employer's requirements.
Put the Spotlight on Results
Sure, it's important to outline your past employment experience and responsibilities in your resume. But it's even more important to highlight tangible results you've achieved. Experts suggest that you include a separate 'results' heading with bullet points that list achievements such as stellar rates of appetizer, dessert, and drink upsells or dramatic customer satisfaction improvements.
Ruthlessly Eliminate Spelling, Grammar, and Word-Use Errors
Nothing will guarantee your failure faster than a resume that is riddled with glaring mistakes. Make use of every resource available to identify and get rid of errors, including word processing programs, university writing centers, tutors, or even professional resume consultants. The time and money that you expend to fix these problems will be repaid many times over.
Don't Send Your Resume Out There Alone
While experts agree that your resume is probably the single most important part of your application package, a well-written cover letter can also be enormously helpful. A succinct opening paragraph should demonstrate awareness of the company's business and current needs. In closing, draw attention to a few of your most impressive qualifications, express gratitude for their consideration, and request a meeting to discuss the opportunity further.
A resume serves many purposes: it's your calling card, your personal marketing toolkit, and an abbreviated summary of your entire employment history. If your resume is well-designed and persuasive, it can serve as your ticket to a better career.
However, on the other hand, if your resume is awkward, error-riddled, or just plain ugly, even the most exceptional employment history may not be able to persuade the hiring manager to give you further consideration. When a single piece of paper is representing you to potential employers, every detail should be just right.
It is often assumed that the hiring decisions are made objectively, and that the candidates who are most qualified for the open position will inevitably rise to the top and be selected. In reality, though, this is not always the case.
Hiring managers are only human, and the human mind tends to process information in a more subjective manner. Even seemingly small details can have a big impact, so it's well worth it to take the extra time to craft an exceptional resume.
The bad news? Even the most experienced candidates will likely be passed over if their resumes and application materials make an unfavorable impression on the hiring manager. The good news? Keeping a few simple guidelines in mind, you can easily retool your resume to make it more persuasive and effective. With some thoughtful, carefully targeted revisions, even the resume of a less-qualified candidate can catch the interest of a hiring manager.
The Resume Rules
Every position you apply for represents a different opportunity, and each position is deserving of a uniquely tailored resume. To save time, you can use the same basic template for every resume.
It is very important, however, that you customize the details of your resume to address the unique requirements of each job you are applying for. Hiring managers are much more likely to be responsive to application materials that speak directly to their organization's needs.
An obviously generic resume, on the other hand, may be taken as a sign that you weren't sufficiently interested in the position to invest any extra time in the application process. Even a few personalized details can vastly increase your chances of success. You can use the following guidelines to customize your resume for each company you are contacting.
Align Your Objectives with the Company's
The functional resume format that begins with a statement of your objective as the first heading is more popular than ever. But surprisingly few candidates take the time to modify their objective statement for each position applied for. This will convey the impression that you know what you want and you'll be on the right path toward your career goals with this position.
Find Out What The Company Needs -- and Be It
Scrutinize the position description or the company's mission statement, and then tool every statement in your resume to address these needs. Don't stretch the truth, but make sure you frame your experience in a way that is as consistent as possible with the company's stated needs, values, and goals. Every word in your resume, cover letter, and other application materials should resonate with your potential employer's requirements.
Put the Spotlight on Results
Sure, it's important to outline your past employment experience and responsibilities in your resume. But it's even more important to highlight tangible results you've achieved. Experts suggest that you include a separate 'results' heading with bullet points that list achievements such as stellar rates of appetizer, dessert, and drink upsells or dramatic customer satisfaction improvements.
Ruthlessly Eliminate Spelling, Grammar, and Word-Use Errors
Nothing will guarantee your failure faster than a resume that is riddled with glaring mistakes. Make use of every resource available to identify and get rid of errors, including word processing programs, university writing centers, tutors, or even professional resume consultants. The time and money that you expend to fix these problems will be repaid many times over.
Don't Send Your Resume Out There Alone
While experts agree that your resume is probably the single most important part of your application package, a well-written cover letter can also be enormously helpful. A succinct opening paragraph should demonstrate awareness of the company's business and current needs. In closing, draw attention to a few of your most impressive qualifications, express gratitude for their consideration, and request a meeting to discuss the opportunity further.
Organising a Job Hunt
Landing a dream job requires patience, dedication, and organization. This is true for getting a job at all levels of the hospitality and foodservice industries. Close attention to detail and organization are key. Keeping excellent track of contacts, managing the overall success of interviews, and organizing vital information such as phone numbers and locations are all an absolute must.Staying on top of the game could make all the difference in landing the perfect position. Here the reader will find some helpful job-hunting tips as well as ideas on how to keep all of the important information at the job seeker's fingertips.
The Interview
So what about the all important job interview? One of most useful pieces of advice that can be given is to be upbeat and personable in the interview. Whatever level of employment an applicant wants to achieve, these industries are very people oriented. One must be friendly, outgoing, and balanced. These are the traits that will tell the interviewer how well an applicant will handle their daily responsibilities, other employees, and most importantly their company's guests.
Tips for a successful interview can be found simple - the best thing a resort or restaurant applicant can remember is to relax and be likable. Meet every interview question with a well thought out, competent answer to ensure an excellent interview.
The Follow Up
A key component to keep in mind after each interview is to send a thank you letter to the interviewer as soon as possible, and a good rule of thumb is to mail it within 24 hours of the first meeting. It needn't be complex - for example:
Dear Mr Shapiro
It was a pleasure to meet with you yesterday. I appreciated the opportunity to talk about the growth of the company and your plans for expansion. Having had some time for reflection, I believe my experience at XYZ Corporation is especially relevant to this role, and would place me in a unique position to lead the team in the front of house area.
My role at XYZ places me in direct contact with customers on a daily basis, and as Supervisor of the front of house team, many problems and queries are referred to me for resolution. This means I have developed both good problem-solving skills and significant people skills in dealing with the more challenging visitors to the hotel.
I also know the impact that good team work can make to this area of the business from my original experience at XYZ when I first joined them. Having seen the importance of team work gave me a perspective no amount of theory or academic learning can replicate, and my team leading skills have benefited enormously from the experience, although at the time it was hard work!
I am confident I have the skills and experience you need for this role, and I do hope to be able to prove how I can help the organization achieve its goals. I wish you continuing success.
Kind regards
The Interview
So what about the all important job interview? One of most useful pieces of advice that can be given is to be upbeat and personable in the interview. Whatever level of employment an applicant wants to achieve, these industries are very people oriented. One must be friendly, outgoing, and balanced. These are the traits that will tell the interviewer how well an applicant will handle their daily responsibilities, other employees, and most importantly their company's guests.
Tips for a successful interview can be found simple - the best thing a resort or restaurant applicant can remember is to relax and be likable. Meet every interview question with a well thought out, competent answer to ensure an excellent interview.
The Follow Up
A key component to keep in mind after each interview is to send a thank you letter to the interviewer as soon as possible, and a good rule of thumb is to mail it within 24 hours of the first meeting. It needn't be complex - for example:
Dear Mr Shapiro
It was a pleasure to meet with you yesterday. I appreciated the opportunity to talk about the growth of the company and your plans for expansion. Having had some time for reflection, I believe my experience at XYZ Corporation is especially relevant to this role, and would place me in a unique position to lead the team in the front of house area.
My role at XYZ places me in direct contact with customers on a daily basis, and as Supervisor of the front of house team, many problems and queries are referred to me for resolution. This means I have developed both good problem-solving skills and significant people skills in dealing with the more challenging visitors to the hotel.
I also know the impact that good team work can make to this area of the business from my original experience at XYZ when I first joined them. Having seen the importance of team work gave me a perspective no amount of theory or academic learning can replicate, and my team leading skills have benefited enormously from the experience, although at the time it was hard work!
I am confident I have the skills and experience you need for this role, and I do hope to be able to prove how I can help the organization achieve its goals. I wish you continuing success.
Kind regards
Online Job Boards
Online job boards have surpassed traditional media as tools for hiring at small and mid-sized organizations, according to a recent study by the Inavero Institute for Service Research.
The survey included responses from hiring managers and human resource professionals on more than 1,000 hiring experiences across industries.
More than half of the respondents said they had used an online job board in the past year. But local newspapers still remain a leading recruiting tool, with 47 percent of hiring managers employing the medium during the same period.
Hiring managers use newspapers 75 percent of the time when recruiting hourly employees.
In contrast, 72 percent of salaried employee recruiting situations involved an online job board as part of their search strategy.
Local newspapers are used 55 percent of the time when recruiting blue-collar workers and lead to the most job hires, but referrals, a company's Web site and online job boards are also applied in many blue-collar hiring situations.
Online job boards are utilized in 40 percent of recruiting situations involving blue-collar positions.
The main tool used to recruit white-collar, full-time jobs is online job boards, helping 68 percent of hiring managers locate prospective employees. Referrals and the company's Web site were also often managed to fill these positions.
Positions with annual salary levels of $60,000 or higher require significantly more time to fill than lower salary positions. More than 20 percent of positions at that level require eight weeks or more to fill, compared to only 9 percent when the position offers a salary of less than $60,000.
Industry and regional job fairs led to the highest number of candidates interviewed, averaging 5.2 interviews per situation when they were included in a candidate search.
But only 4 percent of recruiters eventually hired the candidates from the industry/job fair while 12 percent of the hires were generated through online job boards.
The survey included responses from hiring managers and human resource professionals on more than 1,000 hiring experiences across industries.
More than half of the respondents said they had used an online job board in the past year. But local newspapers still remain a leading recruiting tool, with 47 percent of hiring managers employing the medium during the same period.
Hiring managers use newspapers 75 percent of the time when recruiting hourly employees.
In contrast, 72 percent of salaried employee recruiting situations involved an online job board as part of their search strategy.
Local newspapers are used 55 percent of the time when recruiting blue-collar workers and lead to the most job hires, but referrals, a company's Web site and online job boards are also applied in many blue-collar hiring situations.
Online job boards are utilized in 40 percent of recruiting situations involving blue-collar positions.
The main tool used to recruit white-collar, full-time jobs is online job boards, helping 68 percent of hiring managers locate prospective employees. Referrals and the company's Web site were also often managed to fill these positions.
Positions with annual salary levels of $60,000 or higher require significantly more time to fill than lower salary positions. More than 20 percent of positions at that level require eight weeks or more to fill, compared to only 9 percent when the position offers a salary of less than $60,000.
Industry and regional job fairs led to the highest number of candidates interviewed, averaging 5.2 interviews per situation when they were included in a candidate search.
But only 4 percent of recruiters eventually hired the candidates from the industry/job fair while 12 percent of the hires were generated through online job boards.
Job Board Sites
More and more people have been turning to the Internet for their everyday common activities including almost everything from reading news to ontaining information and research about local businesses. During this evolving everyday use of the Internet we have saw exponential growth of Internet job board sites from approximately less then a thousand during the early nineties to recently over thirty thousand sites. In fact most people now rely on the Internet as their primary method of job seeking compared to the more traditional methods still available such as newspapers, journals and agencies.
A more recent trend in job board sites or employment search engines is the emergence of the ability to search various sites at the same time. In these cases the web site that the job seeker searches does not search a local database of stored job opportunities but actually searches multiple databases from external web sites and then returns the result to the user all incorporated into one browser. These web sites can provide a one stop site for virtually millions of available jobs, and are also beneficial to the job sites that they search from because they send taliored traffic to these sites, allowing these sites to more effectively use their resources and produce results for thier clients (potential employers).
The expand of the online Job Board Sites and employment search engines has also lead to the creation of niche style web sites for specialized markets such as engineering for example. These sites tend to offer the same great services as the larger more generalized searches but instead they focus their attention on one career field and often do a better job because they usually know what market to target and a user does not need to filter through thousands of jobs that they are not really interested in.
The evolution of online job board sites has also led to many great services and are no longer limited to only containing a large list or database of available jobs. Many sites allow a user to generate a profile or enter / upload their resume to the job board site and then have it available to potential employers twenty four hours a day, every day. This way employers can not only post their job ads to the job board site but they can actually search for potential employees as well. So as you see this job finding game can then become a two way street where the job seeker is actively looking for jobs and at the same time potential employers with employment opportunities are also looking for qualified candidates for their job openings.
The majority of job board sites on the Internet have the resume posting option available to job seekers and it is often free because this helps attract employers to post their jobs at these sites. However, should you post your resume to all of the possible online sites or find only a few certain sites? Well that is certainly up to you but you must keep in mind that posting on multiple sites certainly will give you more exposure, thus increasing your chances of getting a great job. There is also a disadvantage to this as you could potentially end up spending all your time posting resumes instead of actually looking for jobs. There are also some web sites such as Resume Rabbit that allow you to post your resume once and they will then post it to multiple career job board sites for you. Saving you time and allowing you to concentrate on the important things instead of spending all of your time entering the same information to every free job board site on the Internet.
A more recent trend in job board sites or employment search engines is the emergence of the ability to search various sites at the same time. In these cases the web site that the job seeker searches does not search a local database of stored job opportunities but actually searches multiple databases from external web sites and then returns the result to the user all incorporated into one browser. These web sites can provide a one stop site for virtually millions of available jobs, and are also beneficial to the job sites that they search from because they send taliored traffic to these sites, allowing these sites to more effectively use their resources and produce results for thier clients (potential employers).
The expand of the online Job Board Sites and employment search engines has also lead to the creation of niche style web sites for specialized markets such as engineering for example. These sites tend to offer the same great services as the larger more generalized searches but instead they focus their attention on one career field and often do a better job because they usually know what market to target and a user does not need to filter through thousands of jobs that they are not really interested in.
The evolution of online job board sites has also led to many great services and are no longer limited to only containing a large list or database of available jobs. Many sites allow a user to generate a profile or enter / upload their resume to the job board site and then have it available to potential employers twenty four hours a day, every day. This way employers can not only post their job ads to the job board site but they can actually search for potential employees as well. So as you see this job finding game can then become a two way street where the job seeker is actively looking for jobs and at the same time potential employers with employment opportunities are also looking for qualified candidates for their job openings.
The majority of job board sites on the Internet have the resume posting option available to job seekers and it is often free because this helps attract employers to post their jobs at these sites. However, should you post your resume to all of the possible online sites or find only a few certain sites? Well that is certainly up to you but you must keep in mind that posting on multiple sites certainly will give you more exposure, thus increasing your chances of getting a great job. There is also a disadvantage to this as you could potentially end up spending all your time posting resumes instead of actually looking for jobs. There are also some web sites such as Resume Rabbit that allow you to post your resume once and they will then post it to multiple career job board sites for you. Saving you time and allowing you to concentrate on the important things instead of spending all of your time entering the same information to every free job board site on the Internet.
Choosing A Jobsite
How to choose the right job site or job board
Choosing the right job site for your vacancy is important to the success of your online recruitment campaign. In this article we look at the things you should consider when choosing a job site or job board to advertise on.
10 tips for choosing a job site
The ten tips that follow should, we hope, provide you with enough information and background to be able to make a confident decision about choosing the right job site or job board for your vacancy.
1. Use whatjobsite
Okay, this sounds a bit cheeky, but we really are trying to be helpful. If you were to search the hundreds of job sites and job boards on the web, you’d spend weeks doing it ―we did! By using whatjobsite you’ll quickly be able to create a shortlist of relevant job sites to advertise your vacancy.
You can search all the job sites on our database via the search box above, or if you are looking for a specialist and niche job site use Advanced Search. Also, the whatjobsite job site profiles will answer many of the questions that follow. And remember, we have checked every job site in our search results, so you can be confident in the information.
2. Is it free to search for jobs?
Don’t even look at a job site that charges a candidate to search for a job. Simply move on to the next one. That’s what the candidate will do. Whatjobsite does not include job sites and job boards that charge for job searching.
3. Does the job site offer a ‘jobs by email’ service?
This is another basic. A site that offers a ‘jobs by email’ service ensures candidates are kept up-to-date with new vacancies as they are posted to the site. All job sites and job boards should provide this service. Check the whatjobsite job site profile to see if it provides this service.
4. Is there Account Management?
Does the job site provide a person who will look after you during your recruitment campaign? Make sure they are helpful, efficient and knowledgeable. Your job site or job board Account Manager can be a great source of advice and assistance and can help make sure your recruitment campaign is successful. Again, check the whatjobsite site profile to see whether the job site can provide an account managed service.
5. Check the job site traffic.
The whatjobsite search engine can help you create a shortlist of potential job sites but, as we have said before, you've got to talk to job sites to find out if they really are the right ones to advertise your vacancy. A job site is only as good the job seekers using it and you have to establish that those job seekers are the ones you are looking for.
Most job sites will talk about their job seekers in terms of website traffic, visitors, unique users and registered users etc... (read our article 'Unique users, audited users, relevant users, registered users, email subscribers' to find out more about this.) But, at the end of the day, choosing the right job site comes down to choosing the one with the most number of job seekers looking for jobs like yours. And to find that out, you have to talk to the job site.
6. Check the job site for vacancies like yours... from other employers.
If the job site doesn't carry jobs like yours then it won't be attracting people looking for jobs like yours. If there are jobs like yours, make sure that they are from other employers. Some job sites only advertise jobs from recruitment agencies while others allow recruitment agencies unlimited advertising in order to push up the number of jobs on their site. Such job boards have limited appeal to job seekers. Make sure the job site has real jobs from real employers on it. Whatjobsite does not include such sites.
7. Is there candidate screening or filtering?
One of the most irritating aspects of recruiting online is applicant overload. Simply too many applicants apply. Many job sites and job boards now offer the ability to pre-screen applicants (usually by means of simple questions) to ensure that only those applicants that match your requirements go on to apply for your job. This simple tool can help to reduce the number of unsuitable applicants. Check the whatjobsite job site profile for details.
8. How much does it cost?
What's the cost? How does it compare with other job sites and job boards? Is it more or less expensive? Do you think it's worth it? As a general rule, specialist or niche job sites tend to cost more than generalist job sites. This extra charge might sometimes be worth it, but do check that the specialist has the audience you are looking for. In other words, check those important user statistics before you commit.
Choosing the right job site for your vacancy is important to the success of your online recruitment campaign. In this article we look at the things you should consider when choosing a job site or job board to advertise on.
10 tips for choosing a job site
The ten tips that follow should, we hope, provide you with enough information and background to be able to make a confident decision about choosing the right job site or job board for your vacancy.
1. Use whatjobsite
Okay, this sounds a bit cheeky, but we really are trying to be helpful. If you were to search the hundreds of job sites and job boards on the web, you’d spend weeks doing it ―we did! By using whatjobsite you’ll quickly be able to create a shortlist of relevant job sites to advertise your vacancy.
You can search all the job sites on our database via the search box above, or if you are looking for a specialist and niche job site use Advanced Search. Also, the whatjobsite job site profiles will answer many of the questions that follow. And remember, we have checked every job site in our search results, so you can be confident in the information.
2. Is it free to search for jobs?
Don’t even look at a job site that charges a candidate to search for a job. Simply move on to the next one. That’s what the candidate will do. Whatjobsite does not include job sites and job boards that charge for job searching.
3. Does the job site offer a ‘jobs by email’ service?
This is another basic. A site that offers a ‘jobs by email’ service ensures candidates are kept up-to-date with new vacancies as they are posted to the site. All job sites and job boards should provide this service. Check the whatjobsite job site profile to see if it provides this service.
4. Is there Account Management?
Does the job site provide a person who will look after you during your recruitment campaign? Make sure they are helpful, efficient and knowledgeable. Your job site or job board Account Manager can be a great source of advice and assistance and can help make sure your recruitment campaign is successful. Again, check the whatjobsite site profile to see whether the job site can provide an account managed service.
5. Check the job site traffic.
The whatjobsite search engine can help you create a shortlist of potential job sites but, as we have said before, you've got to talk to job sites to find out if they really are the right ones to advertise your vacancy. A job site is only as good the job seekers using it and you have to establish that those job seekers are the ones you are looking for.
Most job sites will talk about their job seekers in terms of website traffic, visitors, unique users and registered users etc... (read our article 'Unique users, audited users, relevant users, registered users, email subscribers' to find out more about this.) But, at the end of the day, choosing the right job site comes down to choosing the one with the most number of job seekers looking for jobs like yours. And to find that out, you have to talk to the job site.
6. Check the job site for vacancies like yours... from other employers.
If the job site doesn't carry jobs like yours then it won't be attracting people looking for jobs like yours. If there are jobs like yours, make sure that they are from other employers. Some job sites only advertise jobs from recruitment agencies while others allow recruitment agencies unlimited advertising in order to push up the number of jobs on their site. Such job boards have limited appeal to job seekers. Make sure the job site has real jobs from real employers on it. Whatjobsite does not include such sites.
7. Is there candidate screening or filtering?
One of the most irritating aspects of recruiting online is applicant overload. Simply too many applicants apply. Many job sites and job boards now offer the ability to pre-screen applicants (usually by means of simple questions) to ensure that only those applicants that match your requirements go on to apply for your job. This simple tool can help to reduce the number of unsuitable applicants. Check the whatjobsite job site profile for details.
8. How much does it cost?
What's the cost? How does it compare with other job sites and job boards? Is it more or less expensive? Do you think it's worth it? As a general rule, specialist or niche job sites tend to cost more than generalist job sites. This extra charge might sometimes be worth it, but do check that the specialist has the audience you are looking for. In other words, check those important user statistics before you commit.
Using a Job Board
Job boards represent one of the distinctive features of online recruitment, advertising employers’ vacancies and providing other hiring-related services; this IRS study investigates employers’ experience of using job boards and how they measure up against other recruitment methods.
On this page:
Employers use many different job boards
Frequently used boards
Popular public sector sites
Top performers
Comparing job boards with other recruitment methods
Overall experience is generally good
Better value for money
Larger numbers of candidates
Candidates are also often of better quality
The ability to find the right candidate
Current practice in using job boards
Finding candidates
Managing the recruitment process
Using special services
Numbers and types of job boards
Costs of using job boards
Some hints and tips on using job boards
Case study: Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
Using online recruitment to compete effectively
Branded careers site hosted by Monster
Our research
Table 1: The benefits of job boards in finding candidates compared with other methods
Table 2: The job board services that employers use most when finding candidates
Table 3: The job board services that employers use most in managing recruitment
Table 4: The job board services that employers use most: other services
Additional resources on XpertHR
Employers’ use of job boards: named-practice table.
On this page:
Employers use many different job boards
Frequently used boards
Popular public sector sites
Top performers
Comparing job boards with other recruitment methods
Overall experience is generally good
Better value for money
Larger numbers of candidates
Candidates are also often of better quality
The ability to find the right candidate
Current practice in using job boards
Finding candidates
Managing the recruitment process
Using special services
Numbers and types of job boards
Costs of using job boards
Some hints and tips on using job boards
Case study: Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
Using online recruitment to compete effectively
Branded careers site hosted by Monster
Our research
Table 1: The benefits of job boards in finding candidates compared with other methods
Table 2: The job board services that employers use most when finding candidates
Table 3: The job board services that employers use most in managing recruitment
Table 4: The job board services that employers use most: other services
Additional resources on XpertHR
Employers’ use of job boards: named-practice table.
Loading your CV on Job Boards
Well, what can we do you ask? Well one thing is for sure - the people who run online systems that store sensitive data can take steps to secure the data and access to it. As we’ve seen from the events at HMRC - even governments can get this wrong. For our part we’ve carried out an extensive security review and are implementing the recommendations - I guess that sounds fluffy but it has to - if I told you then The Bad Guys™ would have a better chance of getting in, and we don’t want that. We’ll be making official statements on the issue in the coming year.
Now - what can you do as a user? The most obvious thing is to be careful who you hand out information to - as we’ve seen in the HMRC example even ‘trusted’ organisations can get it wrong. Barring becoming a hermit and eschewing all forms of technology…….anyway, what to do. Here are the basics, I’ll assume you are with the majority and run some variant of Microsoft OS;
Update your operating system regularly with the latest patches
Get a good security scanner - Virus, Trojan, Firewall etc
Use a good spam filter
Do not surf the web using an account with Admin rights
Most of these scams are based around tricking the user into clicking on something that lets The Bad Guys™ install stuff on your machine. Emails with links to software downloads are a marketing and distribution dream come true. For those of us at the other end it means that The Bad Guys™ can take advantage of this and send us very realistic looking emails asking us to click this or that to download the latest widget - which we duly do only to discover we’ve been tricked. Below you’ll find some links to sites with more information on how to protect yourself. If you have questions please post them in the comment section.
Now - what can you do as a user? The most obvious thing is to be careful who you hand out information to - as we’ve seen in the HMRC example even ‘trusted’ organisations can get it wrong. Barring becoming a hermit and eschewing all forms of technology…….anyway, what to do. Here are the basics, I’ll assume you are with the majority and run some variant of Microsoft OS;
Update your operating system regularly with the latest patches
Get a good security scanner - Virus, Trojan, Firewall etc
Use a good spam filter
Do not surf the web using an account with Admin rights
Most of these scams are based around tricking the user into clicking on something that lets The Bad Guys™ install stuff on your machine. Emails with links to software downloads are a marketing and distribution dream come true. For those of us at the other end it means that The Bad Guys™ can take advantage of this and send us very realistic looking emails asking us to click this or that to download the latest widget - which we duly do only to discover we’ve been tricked. Below you’ll find some links to sites with more information on how to protect yourself. If you have questions please post them in the comment section.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)