The Employment Opportunities List

I admit it. I’m a data geek.

I remember back in University being exposed to the wonders of SPSS. In those days, I was looking at a wide variety of viewer response data and running cross tabs based on different demographics, in order to understand the effectiveness of various advertising campaigns (no I did not start my career in HR). It was the 1980s and if you wanted something, you had to write code to make it happen, right up my alley. The training I received back then created a great groundwork for me to move to studying things of an HR nature, like employee engagement and other human resources activities that need response data to plan a course of action.

So it is with some satisfaction I report data I’ve gathered regarding The EO List.

Before I reveal anything, let me tell you that there is other data I’d love to have that we can’t obtain, yet. For example, exactly how many network members have found their job specifically through The EO List? We can’t calculate this because neither the job seekers or the employers who circulate definitively tell us when they’ve made their match through our connection. Also the successful job applicant could be a friend of a friend of a member of the network. Furthermore, a certain percentage of EO jobs are also posted elsewhere. We have to rely on reading the tea leaves, including testimonials and network growth to provide the evidence that our methods work.

Another challenge… We’ve always operated on a principle of minimum information, meaning that we don’t carry a lot of information about the people who join the network. The absence of this data means that we don’t know whether a member is currently an active job seeker, a networker or just likes to read our blog posts. We also don’t know if a member is looking for a junior or senior HR job. (Note, as we upgrade the site and look for ways to be more useful, we may start asking for more information). We have done surveys in the past, but only a portion of the membership responds and it is hard to know whether our data is statistically accurate.

Even with these limitations, we do have some data that can be used to help understand the value of the network.

First, here is the trend of network growth over a three plus-year period, starting in 2009 when we moved to our current e-mail distribution system. This data is based upon the recorded successful distribution figures within the system.

There are some important points to be made regarding this chart.

1. Our growth has occurred in regular, continual and remarkable pace. There have been no wild fluctuations, no spikes in membership size and no points of attrition. We must be doing something right. New people come, and people don’t leave!
2. Our network size has nearly quadrupled in the three years. This shows that networking works. Our membership grew almost entirely by word-of-mouth.
3. The regularity of growth suggests that it will continue to grow for many years to come. By how much, well, that’s the question, but I like the trend.

Second, here is the trend of the level of weekly job postings during the same period:

There are some important points to be made regarding this chart.

1. The size of the HR job market available to the network has increased over time, doubling on average from 2010 to now.
2. The quantity of weekly postings fluctuates from week-to-week at a fairly predictable rate. The largest spikes in postings occur close to holiday periods when we don’t circulate every week.
3. The quantity of weekly postings has dropped by about in 2012-13 from 2011-12. This may be in part because it has become more difficult to find “hidden” HR jobs. It may also be an overall decline in the volume of HR positions.

The more interesting analysis however comes when you look at these two charts together and start to ask questions about what they mean. In particular,

1. Currently, are there exponentially more job seekers than available jobs in comparison to a few years ago? If yes, how might we use this data to prove that?
2. How has network growth impacted our overall reach? Previous studies have suggested that the reach is at least three times that of the network, due to the level of forwarding and networking encouraged in our method. How might we determine the real size?
3. Can we suggest that there is a direct relationship between the network growth itself and the size of the circulation, e.g. do people who are in the network share what they learn in terms of opportunities causing the long-term upward trend in the quantity of jobs? If yes, how do we prove that?
4. Given our size now, has our method impacted the search field in HR in any way? Do more firms do their own search? Do search firms find this a more effective way to find candidates?

The more we know, the more innovative we can be, the more we help ourselves and those around us. What are you thoughts on this review of data? What can we explore next? Do next?

Many followers of the EO Blog will remember a campaign we undertook in 2010 to help my childhood friend, Brian Oughton, find a job. The blog that launched the campaign was called Four Life-Changing Minutes.

The campaign was hugely successful, and the EO network sent Brian dozens of good leads, helped with ideas and opened new doors. After being out of work for a year, he was re-employed within no time!

I believe the campaign worked because:

1. It was an easy ask of participants.

2. Brian was not in competition for a job with anyone in the EO network.

3. It was a compelling story.

4. The fact that strangers cared enough to help him gave him the confidence boost he needed to his part well.

I’ve often thought about trying the campaign again, but with someone in an HR role. The challenge with doing so is avoiding playing favourites within the network. After all, there are a lot of unemployed folks in the network and we try to avoid favouritism by sticking to the practice of circulating all jobs we receive to the entire network.

Well, the right opportunity to support a fellow HR Professional has come. I’d like you all to meet Victorio Milian. I know Victorio personally and heard about his challenges with his job search during a recent Drive-thru HR broadcast. I met him in 2011 at HRevolution and regularly connect with him on Twitter. I was a part of his great experiment, Project Social HR. He is a HR Professional living in New York City and is looking for a talent management/HR business partner role. I like his style which is casual, full of good humour, yet professional and to the point. He is looking for an HR role in food service and/or retail. He has great experience which you can review on LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/in/vmilian.

This is how you can help:

1. Connect with Victorio on LinkedIn. In your invitation, tell him you saw this blog and want to help. You can add whatever you like to the message, including asking questions that may help you to help him. Networking works best when you get to know people, so find out what types of things you have in common. Who knows, good connections are as much about the informal as the formal, and maybe you have relatives in the same city, or have been to the same rock concert, or restaurant, or you have other similar interests. Because Victorio organized a blog circle last year, I am aware that Victorio visited Toronto a few years ago and has an appreciation for the impact of our multi-cultural society on employment practices.

If you need me to facilitate getting to know Victorio, no problem. Just send the request for introduction to me and I’ll forward to Victorio.

Work on the connection. The more you know about him, the more you can help him. The good news is that Victorio is an extremely easy person to get to know.

2. Go to LinkedIn and do a people search on two different topics: “Foodservice” and “Retail” industries. See if you have connections in the New York City area. If you have connections, then click on Victorio’s profile and select the feature “Forward this profile to a colleague” and send the profile to your connection. In the message, type this or something similar:

“One of my colleagues speaks really highly of Victorio Milian and has asked me to help circulate his profile to those in his industry. He has more than 10 years of experience at great companies in the foodservice or retail sectors. If you are aware of an opportunity that may be suitable, please feel free to connect with Victorio directly or forward it on as appropriate. Even if the hiring thought is only preliminary, it is my understanding that Victorio is happy to discuss further.”

3. If you work in the foodservice or retail industries, and you have operations in the New York City area, please forward his resume to your U.S. connections.

4. If you are a Twitter user, send out the following Tweet– I read the “4 More Minutes” blog at http://eolist.com/2013/03/13/four-more-minutes & I LinkedIn #hirevictorio #TEPHR #hrblogs

5. Tell anyone else you know that is savvy on LinkedIn to read this blog.

Here’s the truth. We here in Toronto believe we are at the centre of the universe. Let’s prove that we are. Our connections take us around the world, and I strongly believe that with a little bit of elbow grease, we will open up a connection that will help Victorio make the perfect landing. Ultimately, you help yourself when you help others. Please pay this one forward.