Interview with a blogger - Colin Minto

Colin Minto is a recruitment technology specialist.  He first entered the recruitment industry in 1997 with Securicor Recruitment Services.  In 2003 he joined the online recruitment arena as the Sales and Marketing Manager at jobs.co.uk.  He then became MD for RE-source.uk.com Ltd, the technology subsidiary of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).  When he left the REC he founded Bornto (more on that in the interview below) and his mission is to "support traditional recruiters to analyse, understand and correctly integrate technologies and innovations into their operational processes and online and emerging technology providers to navigate and penetrate the global staffing markets".  Colin is regarded as one of the UK’s leading authorities in traditional/online recruitment software and solutions and e-HR technologies and he utlilses his blog to showcase his knowledge and expertise.

How long have you been blogging?
I have been blogging since March 2007.

Why did you start?
I started because I wanted to use all the communication channels available to highlight to traditional recruiters that employers are making better use of technology to self hire, and in certain circumstances, are already bypassing professional recruiters, plus encourage the monitoring of developments in the online recruitment industry, which has seen press ownership of the major generic and niche job boards increasing and escalating concern regarding job board cost increases as a result.

What do you do, work related, when you aren't blogging?
Advise traditional recruiters through Bornto - a business I set up with Gareth Osborne, ex CEO of The REC on all facets of web, online recruitment, recruitment software and innovative technology, including mobile internet functionality and business activity and performance data analysis to improve operational efficiency.

Do you think blogging has helped your business?
Absolutely. I have joined and stimulated lively debate on key technological topics that impact on the recruitment industry, which I hope has enabled recruiters to understand how technological developments in the recruitment, online recruitment and employer markets are effecting and will affect their ongoing operations. It has also generated custom.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge about writing a blog?
Writing a blog is easy for someone like me who has a passion for the recruitment industry and technology and innovation applications in general because there is so much material available. The biggest challenge, however, is optimising your site. When you submit your blog to the multitude of blog search engines and directories, the majority invite you to link back to them for increased ranking, which normally involves displaying a button link. I simply copy their code into the blog html to avoid filling my entire blog with hundreds of buttons but can never be sure if after completing a sometimes long winded application process, that my efforts will be rewarded with more traffic. Come on someone, market an all encompassing blog optimisation tool, I haven’t found one yet!

What's another blog that you read and why do you recommend it?
I read Dan’s Blog because it’s gritty and witty. With Dan you know what you are going to get. He says it as it is, but extremely professionally. He has a wealth of knowledge in the recruitment technology and innovation arena, a passion he shares with me, so it is a good read.

What do you want your reader’s to know about you?
I am truly passionate about the ongoing success of the traditional recruitment industry and since leaving the REC have continued to commentate on the threats and opportunities technology and innovation represent to recruiters by forming Bornto. I (we) would like more recruiters to join the technological debate, so watch out for some unique and recruitment industry specific initiatives from Bornto to encourage recruiters to engage with and benefit from the application of more technology and innovation in the recruitment process.

If you knew someone was thinking about starting a recruitment related blog, what advice would you want to give them?
Use Blogger from Google because it is extremely easy to master and when you start posting keep them professional. It disappoints me that some bloggers are too aggressive with their views on other people’s opinions. I’m all for free speech but let’s populate the information universe with quality discussion and debate, so every day remains a school day and we can all share and learn from each other.

Is there a question you wished I asked you?
What’s your business utopia and the answer would be; a fully informed traditional recruitment industry in terms of technology and innovation and how it can improve operational efficiency, streamline costs and increase profitability.