The times they are a changing - 10/2001

As the industry surrounding online recruitment and advertising becomes more sophisticated and the avenues better understood, so it becomes less of a threat.

As little as twelve months ago you could not open a recruitment or HR magazine without reading that the recruitment industry was facing ëdoomí. While it is true that with the advance of technology there have been many changes, perhaps the most noticeable being ërecruitment in real-timeí, the perception of the Internet is thankfully changing. Now it is widely recognized that the Internet is a useful recruitment tool that offers greater access to candidates in an increasingly competitive global job market. Far from hurting the recruitment industry the Internet has helped the recruitment industry meet the demands of the 21st century.

As if the Internet didnít suffer enough, the offline media worried that not only would their advertising revenues be sacrificed but the medium itself! The power of the sensational press made the most out of this new medium called the Internet.

Perhaps the same was written about TV. Did headlines read ëThe end of Radioí? What about videos? ëThe death of the cinemaí! Established media will always tend to act defensively against a new or complementary communications medium.

And so it has turned out that the once feared Internet, that relies so heavily on other media has become one of the largest sources of new advertising revenue. Online recruitment sites in particular have brought new business to radio, television, broadsheets, magazines, posters. The search engines and ësurfing the Internetí play a relatively small part of attracting visitors to sites.

So where does this leave advertising on the Internet? The Internet job boards, for example, have enabled recruiters to advertise many more of their jobs than was once practical or even possible in other medium. Traditionally, recruitment firms would purchase part or full page in trade press, newspapers and magazines (the same space it takes to advertise a jobsite) and most still do!. The Internet has BROUGHT NEW SPECIFIC JOB ADVERTISING TO THE FORE. The offline magazines are not losing out on pages of job advertising. The Internet is host to advertising that is UNIQUE to the web.

Perhaps the ultimate irony is that most offline media, television and radio have their websites and embraced the Internet. These websites strategically fulfill a different need and can often address a different audience. When abroad you may download your favourite TV program off the web, but at home chose the TV in comfort. The same can be said for news and radio. We live in an increasingly mobile world. The Internet is an extremely effective mobile communications tool. Lets stop seeing the Internet as a threat (or a joke)! Time to throw down the sword and let the pen (or is that a keyboard) take over.

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