Employers and Job Seekers Find JobNet a Great SIOP Benefit
Clif Boutelle
It began with a conversation at the 1999 SIOP conference in Atlanta between then-President
Elaine Pulakos and Linda Sawin, who at that time was chair of the Placement Committee. While observing the popularity of the Conference Placement Center, they wondered if it were possible for SIOP to offer placement services on a year-round basis, rather than only in April at the conference or through ads in
TIP.
At that moment, what eventually turned out to be JobNet began to take shape. It seemed like a natural progression of our placement service, Pulakos recalled, and I think its growth and use since then bears out our initial premise.
From there Sawin ran with the idea. As we began to research what was needed, we first thought we should go to an outside vendor to install a job placement service. But with prodding from Lee Hakel, director of the Administrative Office, it was decided that we could do it ourselves.
Larry Nader, SIOPs IT manager, was the liaison between Sawin and Dacor, SIOPs Internet service provider, which had performed contract computer programming for SIOP in the past.
Sawin looked at the project from the users standpoint and Nader provided the technical expertise. The development of such a complex system was a huge undertaking, but we persevered, Nader said. After several months of trial and error and fine tuning, we were finally ready to go, Nader added.
To be honest, there were days when I thought we might not be able to get the job done, but Larry and Lee were phenomenal, Sawin said.
The result was JobNet, an electronic placement service accessed through the SIOP Web site, which went online in December of 2000 with about 16 job listings. Its been growing steadily ever since. Currently there are about 110 positions available on JobNet.
JobNet offers job-seeker subscribers the option of placing a resume in a password-protected database that can be accessed only by employer subscribers.
Employers can post jobs for 3, 6, or 12 months and can advertise single or multiple jobs. The fee for posting jobs begins at $400 for a single posting for 3 months for employers. Those who want to post their resume on the site can do so for $25 (for members) or $60 (for nonmembers.) Fees may be paid online using a credit card or by telephone, fax, or U.S. mail.
Position descriptions are available for viewing at no charge on the SIOP Web site and can be accessed through the JobNet designation on the home page.
I think JobNet is one of the best things we have done at SIOP, said Pulakos. We (at Personnel Decisions Research Institutes) use it regularly, and we have hired people through JobNet. It works!
It has worked for other employers as well. Diane Lepley is the corporate staffing director for Chicago-based RHR International, which, with its more than 70 doctorate-level business psychologists, specializes in human behavior and its effect upon corporate performance.
Weve had good success in hiring I-O psychologists, and JobNet plays a key role in our employment strategies, Lepley said. Though not a SIOP member, she has attended every SIOP conference since 1998, recruiting at the Placement Center. She sees JobNet as an extension of that, allowing her to post jobs and recruit SIOP members year round.
JobNet is a logical place for us to recruit because we employ a large number of psychologists and SIOP is a great place to find qualified and talented people, she added.
Ron Gross, CEO and president of Censeo Corp. in Orlando, which specializes in Internet-based assessments, recently posted an opening on JobNet for someone with an I-O background and was pleased with the response. We received about 12 applications and a high percentage were very well qualified. With other services, you receive more applications, but not nearly the percentage of qualified people that comes through JobNet.
In the summer of 2003, David Pollack had a good job with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and was not really looking for a new job. One day he saw a position on JobNet that interested him. The job description fit my training as an I-O psychologist, so I applied, he said. In September of 2003, he started his position with Sodexho, a Maryland-based food and facilities company, where he is developing and validating a new hiring process.
This is a great position and it wouldnt have happened if I had not looked at JobNet, he said.
Heidi Glickman, manager of executive development at Wal-mart Stores, Inc., the worlds largest retailer, has experienced JobNet success both as a job seeker and as an employer. Three years ago she posted her resume on JobNet and that led to her current position at Wal-mart. Now she uses JobNet when she is looking to bring on board people with I-O backgrounds to help run assessment centers and perform leadership development tasks.
I find JobNet to be very valuable and greatly appreciate the service, Glickman added.
Allison Carter, manager of human resources at Qwiz, Inc. in Atlanta, a global leader of pre-employment assessment solutions, is yet another employer sold on JobNet. Its a fabulous service and the one place I go when we are looking to add I-O psychologists to our team, she said.
Weve advertised positions in traditional publications and Web sites but did not receive the qualified people we were expecting to attract. SIOP and JobNet leads us to skilled and experienced candidates that make our job searches more efficient, Carter said.
JobNet has been successful beyond our hopes, said Sawin.
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