MetroJacksonville: Job Board???

[JayBird]

First let me start by saying that this is 100% self-servingly motivated. Last week after getting fed up with the unqualified people that a Jacksonville placement agency was sending us, I resorted to the famous Craigslist to post an opening that we needed to fill. After sifting through over 300 resumes I did find one that was close to what I was looking for, and was amazed how many people have degrees (though I did wonder the authenticity of some) and 10+ years experience replying to an "entry-level" position. And the person we hired on Friday wasn't the best fit, but they were the most fitting person for what we immediately needed. Today, their first day on the job, they called at 10:45am to say it really wasn't something they wanted, which was kind of assumed because they were suppose to start at 7:30am.

That got me to thinking, what about putting a board on the forums specifically for local business looking for employees? And maybe the reverse where people could post resumes or what they are looking for. My biggest problem with Craigslist is the amount of scams and email trash that you get. I got over 300 resumes, but the email I made just for it got well over 1200 emails in just the five days it was up. That is ridiculous in my opinion. I think it would be nice if you could at least know that it was someone local, or looking to move locally, someone that may even share the same community/civic pride as you or your business does, and plus another resource never hurts.

Has this been discussed before? Any thoughts?

[sheclown]

What a great idea

[Bolles_Bull]

What kind of job are you looking to fill?

[BridgeTroll]

First let me start by saying that this is 100% self-servingly motivated. Last week after getting fed up with the unqualified people that a Jacksonville placement agency was sending us, I resorted to the famous Craigslist to post an opening that we needed to fill. After sifting through over 300 resumes I did find one that was close to what I was looking for, and was amazed how many people have degrees (though I did wonder the authenticity of some) and 10+ years experience replying to an "entry-level" position. And the person we hired on Friday wasn't the best fit, but they were the most fitting person for what we immediately needed. Today, their first day on the job, they called at 10:45am to say it really wasn't something they wanted, which was kind of assumed because they were suppose to start at 7:30am.

That got me to thinking, what about putting a board on the forums specifically for local business looking for employees? And maybe the reverse where people could post resumes or what they are looking for. My biggest problem with Craigslist is the amount of scams and email trash that you get. I got over 300 resumes, but the email I made just for it got well over 1200 emails in just the five days it was up. That is ridiculous in my opinion. I think it would be nice if you could at least know that it was someone local, or looking to move locally, someone that may even share the same community/civic pride as you or your business does, and plus another resource never hurts.

Has this been discussed before? Any thoughts?

Wow... where to start?  Sounds like you see plenty of applicants... quality/qualified people are hard to find.  Are they lacking education?  Skills?  Motivation?  Someone I know very well has been looking for another job as the one she is at is lower paying, poorly managed, etc.  Her experience has been low balling employers.  She gets plenty of resume "hits"... plenty of interviews... but when salary negotiation begins employers are simply uninterested in paying.  They appear to nearly always hire a less qualified person for a lower price... only to have them not work out after 60-90 days and the job reposts.

[JayBird]

What kind of job are you looking to fill?

The position was "Junior Tax Associate", nothing glamorous but being that they were starting at $48k + benefits I thought for sure we'd get some good responses. I thought wrong.

Wow... where to start?  Sounds like you see plenty of applicants... quality/qualified people are hard to find.  Are they lacking education?  Skills?  Motivation?  Someone I know very well has been looking for another job as the one she is at is lower paying, poorly managed, etc.  Her experience has been low balling employers.  She gets plenty of resume "hits"... plenty of interviews... but when salary negotiation begins employers are simply uninterested in paying.  They appear to nearly always hire a less qualified person for a lower price... only to have them not work out after 60-90 days and the job reposts.

I hire a lot, and I have been trying to expand in Jacksonville because that is where I now consider my home to be. In 2002 when I originally moved to Jax it was to open up an office (brand new presence) in the Tradeport on Vantage Way by JIA. The company loved the area, loved the lesser wages (and they were higher than what others were giving) but after several years of ups and downs they closed the office in 2007. Because they still have the lease, they are still paying rent on a vacant bldg until someone subleases or the lease expires (believe Jan 2015) which shows how much they wanted to close. That was a global company based out of London and I worked from home for 2 years before leaving to go to another company. Now I split my time between NYC and here, and it is still hard to expand here. The old company got tired of the lack of motivation, the high sick call rate, and the general lack of manners. What shut this office down was the call center for their retail services cards, they had huge turnover and ended up becoming management-deficient because no one would last. everyone wanted flex schedules and part time hours. Of course about a year after they closed, the job market hit the dirt. However they moved that call center to New Castle, DE and it has expanded three times since. If Jax had made a better personnel impression, those 1800 jobs would be here right now. There still exists a certain business etiquette and every company I know in Jax misses that mark by a long shot. Which isn't anything bad against Jax, maybe they are just more geared for creative type jobs. But for the companies that still have coat and tie dress codes, Jax continues to be lowered on the list.

Two months ago we considered moving part of my division to Jax permanently, it was an expansion so I put out for four investment bank analysts starting at $63k/yr. and got not one qualified resume. All you needed was a finance degree and any type of office experience. So instead, my budget only allowed for two in NYC and kept the whole division up north. I believe there are qualified people in Jax, it is just a matter of reaching them. For any major change it would also take some understanding that in NYC we all have no problem putting in 100-120 hour weeks. We are scrabbling up that ladder. But, in Jacksonville if they aren't headed towards the door by 5, they start looking elsewhere.

Not to stray too far, but when I read about the city giving incentives to EverBank and Deutsche Bank, I can't help but think how that isn't helping anyone but the pencil pusher in Budgeting. That money would be better spent, in my opinion, going towards career track education, or social events downtown where you network with others in your field.

Right now I work for a huge corporation, we can search locally for 2 weeks, then it goes global. If a position isn't filled within 30 days, our HR rescinds it and we have to decide if we want to repost. Lately, and I think a big part of the blame goes to our staffing contractor, I think we are missing the true talent in Jacksonville. So I was looking to see if there is a better way to reach out to those in finance in Jax, without the hassle of Craigslist or intermediaries.

[thelakelander]

That got me to thinking, what about putting a board on the forums specifically for local business looking for employees? And maybe the reverse where people could post resumes or what they are looking for. My biggest problem with Craigslist is the amount of scams and email trash that you get. I got over 300 resumes, but the email I made just for it got well over 1200 emails in just the five days it was up. That is ridiculous in my opinion. I think it would be nice if you could at least know that it was someone local, or looking to move locally, someone that may even share the same community/civic pride as you or your business does, and plus another resource never hurts.

Has this been discussed before? Any thoughts?

Yes, it's been discussed before.  In the past, we've tossed around the idea of adding a complete classifieds section.   We're currently evaluating our options for revamping the entire site to make it more user friendly in the future, with the hopes of rolling out something within the next few months. We'll take your suggestion into consideration.

[Tacachale]

What kind of job are you looking to fill?

The position was "Junior Tax Associate", nothing glamorous but being that they were starting at $48k + benefits I thought for sure we'd get some good responses. I thought wrong.

Wow... where to start?  Sounds like you see plenty of applicants... quality/qualified people are hard to find.  Are they lacking education?  Skills?  Motivation?  Someone I know very well has been looking for another job as the one she is at is lower paying, poorly managed, etc.  Her experience has been low balling employers.  She gets plenty of resume "hits"... plenty of interviews... but when salary negotiation begins employers are simply uninterested in paying.  They appear to nearly always hire a less qualified person for a lower price... only to have them not work out after 60-90 days and the job reposts.

I hire a lot, and I have been trying to expand in Jacksonville because that is where I now consider my home to be. In 2002 when I originally moved to Jax it was to open up an office (brand new presence) in the Tradeport on Vantage Way by JIA. The company loved the area, loved the lesser wages (and they were higher than what others were giving) but after several years of ups and downs they closed the office in 2007. Because they still have the lease, they are still paying rent on a vacant bldg until someone subleases or the lease expires (believe Jan 2015) which shows how much they wanted to close. That was a global company based out of London and I worked from home for 2 years before leaving to go to another company. Now I split my time between NYC and here, and it is still hard to expand here. The old company got tired of the lack of motivation, the high sick call rate, and the general lack of manners. What shut this office down was the call center for their retail services cards, they had huge turnover and ended up becoming management-deficient because no one would last. everyone wanted flex schedules and part time hours. Of course about a year after they closed, the job market hit the dirt. However they moved that call center to New Castle, DE and it has expanded three times since. If Jax had made a better personnel impression, those 1800 jobs would be here right now. There still exists a certain business etiquette and every company I know in Jax misses that mark by a long shot. Which isn't anything bad against Jax, maybe they are just more geared for creative type jobs. But for the companies that still have coat and tie dress codes, Jax continues to be lowered on the list.

Two months ago we considered moving part of my division to Jax permanently, it was an expansion so I put out for four investment bank analysts starting at $63k/yr. and got not one qualified resume. All you needed was a finance degree and any type of office experience. So instead, my budget only allowed for two in NYC and kept the whole division up north. I believe there are qualified people in Jax, it is just a matter of reaching them. For any major change it would also take some understanding that in NYC we all have no problem putting in 100-120 hour weeks. We are scrabbling up that ladder. But, in Jacksonville if they aren't headed towards the door by 5, they start looking elsewhere.

Not to stray too far, but when I read about the city giving incentives to EverBank and Deutsche Bank, I can't help but think how that isn't helping anyone but the pencil pusher in Budgeting. That money would be better spent, in my opinion, going towards career track education, or social events downtown where you network with others in your field.

Right now I work for a huge corporation, we can search locally for 2 weeks, then it goes global. If a position isn't filled within 30 days, our HR rescinds it and we have to decide if we want to repost. Lately, and I think a big part of the blame goes to our staffing contractor, I think we are missing the true talent in Jacksonville. So I was looking to see if there is a better way to reach out to those in finance in Jax, without the hassle of Craigslist or intermediaries.

There are still companies with coat and tie dress codes? Thank the Lord I don't have to work for one.

UNF's Career Services department has a pretty thorough job posting service. You obviously wouldn't get folks with a ton of experience, but there are tons of young people in this town looking for a decent job.

[JayBird]

Oh yes, actually every finance company I interviewed with back in 2009 still had those dress codes. Remember, in finance you're meeting with people around the globe. They seem to have a very limited view of what a competent American businessman should look like.

Most of what I hire is entry level, college degree and either a little experience or at least the willingness to learn. Our recruiter supposedly has connections with UNF and UF but we have very few who come from there. As a matter of fact my entire Jax office is comprised of UGA, LSU, UMiami, and UCF grads. UF and FSU aren't even represented. As a gator fan, that irks me on a personal level LoL

[thelakelander]

Wow, a place in Jax with UM fans and little UF or FSU representation?  Where can I sign up?

[JayBird]

^ LoL
Trust me Ennis, you are much happier and the community at large will be benefited much more by you keeping your course

But umm, Go GATORS!

[BridgeTroll]

Oh yes, actually every finance company I interviewed with back in 2009 still had those dress codes. Remember, in finance you're meeting with people around the globe. They seem to have a very limited view of what a competent American businessman should look like.

Most of what I hire is entry level, college degree and either a little experience or at least the willingness to learn. Our recruiter supposedly has connections with UNF and UF but we have very few who come from there. As a matter of fact my entire Jax office is comprised of UGA, LSU, UMiami, and UCF grads. UF and FSU aren't even represented. As a gator fan, that irks me on a personal level LoL

The recruiters and staffing agencies in this city are pathetic. 

[Bolles_Bull]

When you say "junior tax associate" what kind of operation are you running?  Are you looking for a CPA?  Is it some sort of consulting gig? Or is this some sort of tax preparing service a la H&R Block? I know a lot of people that work in personal finance and investment banking in town due to where I work.

Maybe a little more info on the job would help us direct you to the right people.  we'd hate to see those jobs leave jax.

[JayBird]

The recruiters and staffing agencies in this city are pathetic.

+1

When you say "junior tax associate" what kind of operation are you running?  Are you looking for a CPA?  Is it some sort of consulting gig? Or is this some sort of tax preparing service a la H&R Block? I know a lot of people that work in personal finance and investment banking in town due to where I work.

Maybe a little more info on the job would help us direct you to the right people.  we'd hate to see those jobs leave jax.

No I work for a global investment bank, the position I was attempting to fill was dealing with corporate tax policy. Certainly not a glamorous job, but well paying and great room for advancement. And most of our Jr Assoc are still studying for their CPA. Typically, it has an 18-24 month turnaround. Once they get the experience and CPA license they promote or move elsewhere. Yes, I am actually trying to move all of my division to Jacksonville permanently, there are a lot of benefits to the move. However, both at my last company and this present one, Jacksonville certainly has a stigma of being personnel-deficient. No issue for lower end admin/customer service/back office support positions, but not even a consideration when it comes to the operational management positions. Which was why I started the thread, I know there has to be that talent here.

[Bolles_Bull]

Don't you need to log a certain number of hours at a public accounting firm to qualify to sit for the CPA?

I'm asking because I've though of pursuing a CPA designation but thought had to have a certain number of credit hours (typically requirind a masters or MBA to get the hrs) and work for like an E&Y or PWC to qualify.  Maybe its different in FL or the laws have changed?

I figured I'd go for the CFA eventually instead but maybe I'm wrong.

[CityLife]

The recruiters and staffing agencies in this city are pathetic.

+1

When you say "junior tax associate" what kind of operation are you running?  Are you looking for a CPA?  Is it some sort of consulting gig? Or is this some sort of tax preparing service a la H&R Block? I know a lot of people that work in personal finance and investment banking in town due to where I work.

Maybe a little more info on the job would help us direct you to the right people.  we'd hate to see those jobs leave jax.

No I work for a global investment bank, the position I was attempting to fill was dealing with corporate tax policy. Certainly not a glamorous job, but well paying and great room for advancement. And most of our Jr Assoc are still studying for their CPA. Typically, it has an 18-24 month turnaround. Once they get the experience and CPA license they promote or move elsewhere. Yes, I am actually trying to move all of my division to Jacksonville permanently, there are a lot of benefits to the move. However, both at my last company and this present one, Jacksonville certainly has a stigma of being personnel-deficient. No issue for lower end admin/customer service/back office support positions, but not even a consideration when it comes to the operational management positions. Which was why I started the thread, I know there has to be that talent here.

I'm confused...why would a global investment bank be looking to fill a job like that on Craigslist? Can't you just post to your companies HR site and get tons of hits? Or post to more legit sites like Linkedin and the tradional job posting sites? I love Craigslist, but its probably the last place I'd be looking to hire someone for a $48,000 a year job.