"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 site 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.
2006 has gone by so quickly and before any of us has realised it, it is already the end of the year. This is the time of year we all look forward to: a well-deserved break from work; going away on holiday; spending quality time with friends and family; festivities and celebrations. On this note, we wish you a blessed festive season and all the best for the New Year.
Graeme Bell
Managing editor: Motion Control
Jaime Chan
Editor: Motion Control
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