This issue of SAI&C coincides with the launch of South Africa’s first web-service that is solely dedicated to the recruitment of technical personnel. Listening to Technews Publishing’s editorial director, Darren Smith, you can see his face light up as he speaks of the real value that the new service will bring to readers and advertisers of the publisher’s magazines.
"The skills shortage in South Africa is not news, but as a media player we are consistently exposed to queries from businesses and vendors alike, as they seek to fill important roles in their businesses with technically proficient and experienced people. Our research has shown a huge demand for a cost-effective and highly efficient job-placement service," he says. "At a recent strategy summit held by the SAIMC (SA Institute of Measurement & Control), this skills deficit was top of the agenda, and as a result many key industry players expressed a need for an 'alternative' recruitment service, as well as a need for experiential training and mentoring programs."
"With in excess of 30 000 readers of our various print magazines, not to mention their burgeoning online counterparts, Technews is extraordinarily well placed to put the technical job-seeker in contact with the right employer. A massive campaign, across all of our titles, has been put into place to promote the service. Live data feeds from the techcareers.co.za will also be linked into the online magazine websites, thus drawing readers' attention to the latest high-technology positions available."
The timing of the launch is no coincidence. The normal year-end lull in new vacancies (as staff postpone their move to new positions until after the payment of annual bonuses) is normally flushed out with the old-year. The result is a huge new-year headache for departmental managers and HR departments. The fourth-quarter launch of the new site gives both recruiters and job-seekers the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the structure of the site before the big rush.
"There is absolutely no charge for job-seekers (applicants) to register their CV and details on the site," says Smith. "Registration is completely confidential, and no information will be passed on to any person without the explicit consent of the applicant. From the perspective of the person looking to recruit someone, the costs of advertising a vacancy on the techcareers.co.za website are considerably lower than conventional recruitment services."
RSS feeds
Coinciding with the much anticipated launch of Microsoft's new browser, Internet Explorer Version 7, Technews is ensuring all its websites are 100% compliant with the new browser. The sites are also compliant with most other browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, etc, as well as mobile browsers.
For the first time, IE7 will include support for RSS feeds (really simple syndication). RSS allows the 'push' of selected information to the user, effectively notifying the user when a website has been updated.
All Technews' magazine websites now include RSS web feeds.
Graeme Bell
Managing Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
| Tel: | +27 11 543 5800 |
| Email: | malckey@technews.co.za |
| www: | www.technews.co.za |
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