The Hunt For Green Apples

Imagine a giant fruit and veg market supplying a major city. One that works really badly. Totally sucks.

This market only opens at night and there are no lights to guide the thousands trying to find what they need. It has many hundreds of separate halls, each selling only a few things – some only sell root vegetables, others just stone fruit. And maybe 10 have apples.Now, you’re trying to find small green cooking apples. One hall, somewhere, has these.

Each of the hundreds of halls is completely separate from all the others and when you go to one, the wholesalers only tell you about what they have to sell. The people stumbling around in the dark have no idea what they’ll find in each sealed hall until they open the door and walk inside – what a waste of time.

Who owns these ‘halls’ in perhaps the most important market place in any country, the jobs market? Three types exist:

1. Recruitment agencies, there are thousands and each has a few jobs and a few candidates for sale – usually not exclusive to just their agency.
2. The many different newspapers with job ads in particular industries or sectors.
3. Finally, lots of job boards and many community sites that host jobs.

Total chaos.

There is a better market place and it’s here today – one that is brightly lit, fast and user friendly. It’s job boards – seek.com.au and mycareer.com.au. They will work if we stop sabotaging them with the thousands of other ‘halls’ that just get in the way.

Without all the clutter of newspaper ads and too many recruiters, you will find the ‘green apple suppliers’ in a few seconds: and then start the real job – spending time finding the best at a good price.
200 Australians have it in their power to make it happen now: the senior people in HR. A few more in the United States and the UK, but still a small number of people. Forward this article to them, start making a difference.

Worth it? You do the maths – millions are in the wrong jobs and companies are screaming for skills.