What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas…

Since leaving Vegas there has been something on my mind and I just can’t stop thinking about it. It was new and exciting and different – it made my heart pound, my thoughts race and now, when I am in webinars or reading a newspaper or when I was on vacation last weekend – it doesn’t go away. 

(And before your mind goes racing – I was well behaved and spent most of my spare time at the Poker and Craps tables – leaving vegas with $500 of their money)

The IT is Mobile Recruiting.  I know it isn’t a totally new concept – but it was like for the first time the bigger scope of what could/will be slapped me across the face.  It was like my freshman year of college when I realized that had to be a recruiter because of the impact it has on an organization, or 2002 when I went through CareerXRoads ATS Evaluation & Selection training at Cornell and fell in love with the business impact of ATS and KNEW it was an industry I wanted to be a part of.

But you probably are a little lost so let me back up a bit…

Last month the team at Kennedy Information’s Recruiting 2009 Conference was held at the gorgeous Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.  Even though I didn’t speak this year, I had a great time with the somewhat smaller crowd learning how different organizations were overcoming the challenges of the economy and reconnecting with and learning from the great minds that shared their insights.  I am probably one of the few people that REALLY loves conferences.  I love meeting new people, and hearing different ideas and perspectives on both the industry and the world.  I love knowing that I am smarter when I walk out then when I walked in.  There is just something so mentally fulfilling about learning.

As usual, the first day I dabbled between conversations with facinating people, general sessions, breakout sessions and walked around the vendor space to see what was exciting a new with everyone this year.  Dinner was amazing (I tried something new!) and the Fremont Street experience was twice as nice since they were testing out a new show and we got to see both.  All in all it was a great day with informative events.

On the second day, I knew I had to leave early after lunch so I made sure to hit a few of the sessions that had really seemed interesting to me and I am glad I did.  By far the best session of the event was Joel Cheesman’s breakout session on mobile recruiting.  Not because it was particularly showy, but because I appreciate the laid back presentation style and loved the topic.

Mobile recruiting is a totally new world that we have not even started to grasp here in the US – yet is a world that seems so obvious to anyone that knows anyone that is under the age of 35.  (I used to say 30, but I turn 30 in a few weeks and now must say 35)  I tried as hard as I could and can not think of anyone I know that doesn’t have a cell phone.  In fact, I don’t know anyone that doesn’t have a smart phone.  As he talked, my mind started racing about all of the potential that is untapped and quickly trying to come up with strategy’s that could be easily integrated with out ATS.  I honestly felt stupid for not getting it before this point although that was not his intention at all.  

There are those of you who are going to totally disagree with this and that is fine.  To you I ask you to read Maren Hogan’s great blog posting this morning on why social media use isn’t really about today at all, rather it is about knowing what we are doing and being on the cutting edge when the time comes. I can’t help think that mobile recruiting is any different.

I can see a day where there really are no longer job boards – peoples matching jobs are simply texted/messaged to their phones instead of the email and they can automatically submit their interest – no online job search needed.  I can see marketing and recruiting in consumer product organizations finally actually getting together on something instead of just talking about it. I can see…. 

There are so many more things I could say and go on and on about my ideas of the future and where this could lead – but I invite you to check out the free (no registration needed) whitepaper by mjob and see if your mind goes through the same crazy process mine is going through after about this.  (The odds are no – but you will likely still find it really interesting, I promise!)