Barn Raising

It's a place where a barn can be raised by the neighbors. It's a place where the collective good will can be harnessed to do even greater things. It's a place where synergy happens as a result of the fact that actual human beings divert their resources for the good of the overall community.

Free speech and the oportunity to exercise it are consequences rather than examples of having a community. Britain's famous Hyde Park, where all sorts of speakers are allowed to set up and use their soapboxes, happens because there is a community. It is not, in itself, a community.

It takes seeing a community in action to really understand what we're talking about here. Our industry has plenty of Hyde Parks and plenty of conferences. There is, very obviously, an underlying community of Recruiting Industry professionals who allow and support those various opportunities for free speech. The business jargon about community, however, has blurred the distinctions terribly. A community in action is a marvelous thing to see. It's about barn raising and improving the "commons" and not about individual benefit. The benefit follows, it doesn't precede.

We're able to talk about this because there's finally a real, fleshy example of community happening at Recruiting.com. Jason Davis, the driving inspiration behind the blog collection at Recruiting.com, is a generous self-effacing fellow who believes in sharing credit and success as a way of doing business. It is this ethic that allows community to be created at Recruiting.com Jason D. sees future benefit in what he's doing but is having so much fun with his all volunteer force that magic just keeps happening.

Jason Goldberg, the other community minded recent addition to our industry, is the CEO of Jobster. Jason G. shares information about his work, understanding that ideas only generate six months of competitive advantage. He gives them away freely in his blog which is a real community builder.

When the two Jasons (D & G) get together on a barn raising, you know that the community will benefit. Here's what they're up to:

With Jobster's sponsorship, Recruiting.com has organized a "Best Blogs of 2005" competition for our industry. Sparked by a note from Joel Cheesman, the competition is a way to recognize everyone who is contributing to the daily radical evolution of our industry. It's a real and useful opportunity with real awards (the big winner gets a trip to Vegas while the category winners get award logos and Starbucks certificates so they can keep writing).

We're a part of the judges panel that includes Dave Lefkow (Jobster), Jason Davis (Recruiting.com), Jim Durbin (kforce).

Although interbiznet has been nominated in a variety of categories (thanks), we're removed from consideration as are Recruitng.com, Jobster and kforce.

Participate in this delicious barn raising and become a part of the community. Blogs can be nominated by sending a note to: blogawards@recruiting.com.  It's acceptable to nominate your own blog.

The categories are:

1. Best Third Party Recruiting Blog
2. Best Corporate Recruiting Blog
3. Best Recruiting Research Blog
4. Best Job Seeker Blog
5. Best Recruiting Law Blog
6. Best Group Blog
7. Best Recruiting Advice Blog
8. Best CEO Blog
9. Best Technology Recruitment Blog
10. Best HR Blog

Visit Recruiting.com to vote.

Keep your eye on the barn raising and spread the word about the Best Recruiting Blogs of 2005 contest.

- John Sumser © TwoColorHat. All Rights Reserved.

Don't forget to read the Bugler!

For many HR Directors, internet job boards were a failed experiment. Essentially, too many candidates. Not enough qualifications. And absolutely no guarantee that any of them would fit comfortably into your corporate culture.

Referrals from trusted associates, on the other hand, have always been the safer route. Unfortunately Employee Referral Programs tend to limit the scope of your search. The solution, devised by companies like H3.com, is in developing a Talent Scout Network-a small group of good people, both inside and outside your company, who know lots of other good people.

Talent scouts are a breed of people who keep their ears to the ground, who know your industry, and who always seem to know who's coming and going before anyone else. They're people who don't just connect you to a good candidate. They connect you to an entire community of good candidates. Like having a squadron of headhunters, but without the high headhunter fees.

A free white paper from H3.com discusses the new phenomenon of talent scout networks. And the success that HR directors are having with them.

To get a copy, visit H3.com.

• Learn how to cultivate and maintain a talent scout network.
• Learn how they're helping HR work more efficiently with hiring managers.
• Learn how they're helping to slash recruiting costs.

At H3.com you can also experiment with the system by launching a risk-free search.