Recruiting’s buzzword for 2013 just might be consolidation.
Setting the table last year, Indeed was acquired in September. Then, another intriguing buy came in December when Beyond bought JobCircle.
Intriguing, because this wasn’t an established player gobbling-up a hot, new startup. Both companies have a long history in the online employment space. So, it smelled more like News Corp buying Dow Jones than its MySpace acquisition back in the day.
I’ve known Joe Stubblebine, the now-former CEO of JobCircle, since the late ’90s when he launched the site. He’s been in the trenches, is well-respected, and wouldn’t sell his baby on a whim.
So, I set-up an interview to find out a little more about the deal and what the future holds:
JobCircle had gotten good at putting on brick-and-mortar job fairs throughout the northeast, and even put on a well-received social media event in Philadelphia, so I expect Beyond’s presence in the physical world to benefit as a result.
“Partnering with Beyond.com gives us the opportunity to bring our proven track record of developing engaging recruitment and enrichment events to a much larger audience,” said Stubblebine.
When you look at the advantages traditional job boards have over tech-focused players, face-to-face relationships come to mind. It’s a relationship that’s typically hard to scale, but it looks like Beyond is going to take a shot at making it work.
