Unhappy job applicants/candidates share their unhappiness with their friends, coworkers, and on often, all over the  internet.

Smart companies understand at any point in time, a job candidate is a past, current, or future customer; and similarly, a past, current, or future customer can at any time become a candidate.  So – smart companies invest a lot of time, money, and effort to create a strong well regarded employment brand/marketing effort to attract qualified candidates, and also to build their overall market brand and customer base.

One large software employer, located in the greater Seattle area stated in their 2009 US SEC 10-k filing  stated:

“As of June 30, 2009, we employed approximately 93,000 people on a full-time basis; 56,000 in the United States and 37,000 internationally. Of the total, 36,000 were in product research and development, 26,000 in sales and marketing, 17,000 in product support and consulting services, 5,000 in manufacturing and distribution, and 9,000 in general and administration. Our success is highly dependent on our ability to attract and retain qualified employees. None of our employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements.”

The company’s employment branding pitch to candidates for full time employee roles  is:

You have unique experiences, skills and passions—and we believe you can bring them all <here> for a rich, rewarding career and lifestyle that will surprise you with its breadth and potential. Just imagine the excitement and satisfaction of what you can do, where you can go, and the difference you can make with the resources of <companyx> behind you.

In addition to the 93,000 full time employees the company had as of June 2009, each  year the company also employs  an estimated 62,000 contract/contingent staff via 3rd party vendor firms, for roles the company has deems “non-essential.”

While the company limits each contingent employment contract to 12 months or less, the company’s third party staffing vendors  advertise an insatiable demand for contract software design engineers; software design engineer in test; and also  marketing, content, IT, and other operations roles, many of which require various combinations of  industry experience, training, graduate degrees, and/or professional certification.

Approximately one year ago, the company’s procurement office became responsible for the company’s contingent staffing and aggressively commoditized the process of  hiring contingent workers, including high skilled professionals, for roles which often require extensive experience; graduate degrees;  specialized industry certifications; and/or a combination of the above.  Also commoditized was the pay rate range for each position.

The end result is  one contract opportunity is often posted by ten different contracting agencies, none of whom offer the contingent employee any real employer paid benefits (i.e., paid or even subsidized health insurance, paid time off, etc.)

So – imagine the excitement and satisfaction of what you can do, where you can go, and the difference you can make with the resources of <companyx> behind you if hired for one of the jobs posted this morning by one of the company’s third party contingent staffing vendors:

Seeking Experienced Project Coordinators w/5-7 experience

Location:Redmond, WA
Employment Type:9+ Month Contract
Wage:$15.00 – $17.00 hourly

Description:
Large, well-known software company on the eastside is looking for qualified and experienced Project Coordinators. Please email resumes to the email above and our recruiters will contact you to set up an interview should your qualifications meet what we are looking for.

Managing and maintaining busy calendar
Coordinating planning, execution and review meetings with hosting local events
Gathering and managing reports
Coordinating the monthly reporting and processes (including producing show &amp; tell coverage presentations)
Updating content in the Infrastructure components
Help with support as required
Being the key go-to person for team members looking for existing materials and responses.
Supporting the development of new team efficiency systems and processes such as new briefing book and coverage report template

5-7 years business administrative experience, preferably in a high tech industry and in a team-oriented environment.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Experience in managing projects with team members
Microsoft Office proficiency (especially Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and SharePoint proficiency.
Must have ability to work independently while maintaining accountability with multiple stakeholders.
Organized, action-oriented team player and flexible learner able to multi-task.

Don’t have 5-7 years of  business administrative experience including experience in managing projects with team members, but you do have a university degree, plus the ability to get at least a 9 month hardship deferment from repaying your no doubt hefty student loans?

Seeking Tech Savvy Administrative Assistants

Location:Redmond, WA
Employment Type:9+ Month Contract
Wage:$11.00 – $13.50 hourly

Description:
If youre looking for a great way to start off your administrative career then you are in the right place. We are currently seeking qualified Assistants for a large software organization located in the Eastisde Area.

Assistant
We are looking for an Administrative Assistant to provide coordination, heavy calendaring, scheduling, and handling travel arrangements.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Other duties may be assigned.

Provides administrative and organizational support in a fast paced environment, particularly in support of special projects, which may include but is not limited to:
Mail delivery, shipping and building deliveries.
Fill office requests and maintain an appropriate inventory of supplies.
Maintaining heavy calendaring and scheduling.
Compile and develop records, charts and reports using knowledge in computer office applications (MS Office Suite, SharePointe, Outlook, Visio, spreadsheet, publishing and word-processing).

BA preferred, however, open to High School diploma or equivalent experience plus 3-4 years of demonstrated successful work-related experience in administrative support.
Excellent communication skills.

However – if you have both the skills and 4 – 6 of prior executive assistant experience, plus an interest to support one of their execs already fairly high up the executive ranks, this might be the opportunity for you:

Challenging Career Executive Assistant Position

Location:Redmond, WA
Employment Type:9+ Month Contract
Wage:$17.00 – $20.00 hourly

Description:
Challenging career position for an Executive Assistant in a prestigious, well-known Software company on the eastside.

Job Description:
Performs a variety of complex administrative functions for all levels of management including external business partners.
Manages schedule(s), coordinates travel arrangements and processes business expenses.
Coordinates meetings and events, department financial operations, personnel operations, and facility operations.
Manages procurement of goods and services including computer equipment, office supplies, reference materials, and vendor relationships.
Provides general office support.
Serves as the department/group contact.
Completes special projects as assigned.

Qualifications:

4 to 6 years demonstrated work experience in a fast-paced, senior management level administrative capacity.
Ability to interact in a professional manner with all levels of management; demonstrated ability to change direction in response to changing work situations.
Must be proactive, able to deal with ambiguity, self prioritize work resources, and juggle multiple tasks in a manner transparent to the team.
Must have the ability to work independently to achieve results with a high degree of accuracy.
Ability to work successfully in a team environment and build effective working relationships inside and outside of the group that involve contact at all levels of management.
Able to work collaboratively with other internal and external administrative and CS assistants within the team and across the company.
Ability to be entrusted with the knowledge and handling of confidential information.
Should be detail oriented and extremely organized.
Extensive knowledge of and proficiency with Microsoft Office including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, and would be preferred.
BS preferred.

If the contractor receives $20/hour gross, even with the 3rd party agency vendor markup the cost to the company would still approximately be less than $65,000/year, which is below market base pay for a full time, direct hire for that role, and does not include valuable employee benefits such as company subsidized health insurance; paid vaction and sick days; paid federal holidays, etc.

Smart companies understand at any point in time, a job candidate is a past, current, or future customer; and similarly, a past, current, or future customer can at any time become a candidate.

Smart companies also understand how expensive it is to rebuild a tarnished brand, and to rebuild a customer base after losing unhappy customers either due to personal experience, bad word of mouth, or given the above pay rates, a lack of disposable income.

We can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we’re in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There’s no substitute for innovation, of course, but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either.  - Steve Ballmer