I just wanted to write a quick post about the first Recruiting.Com awards, for which wurk.net has been nominated, because there are a couple of things about these awards that have really caught my attention.

Firstly, the number of blogs nominated - in all, Jason has listed 10 categories, and spread across these categories are at least 60 (there’s a Microsoft blog or two in there a couple of times ;o) ) of the best recruiting blogs around. I think that’s pretty damn good going, considering that blogging is such a new industry. And how many blogs are there out there that didn’t get nominated? Anyway, I also think that this number will rocket during the next 12 months. Why? Because blogs are about to take off in a big way, with more mainstream exposure and a much, much, bigger audience. Just wait and see.

But what’s also intriguing about recruiting blogs (and especially jobseekers blogs), is that I think the market for growing these is currently wide open. The last few years have seen people concentrate on building job boards, to the point where that market is now pretty much saturated. And also to the point where the focus became directed towards one-upping competitors, generating revenue, and staying afloat in a crowded market. Unfortunately, that meant that any focus on offering career advice went right down the tubes. After all, it was the job postings that made the money. However, with the growth of blogging as an industry, it’s never been easier to offer a pure ‘career advice’ resource. It’s something that people want (and often need), and I think we’ll see more and more of them in the future. And the Recruiting.Com awards are just the kind of thing that this little corner of the blogging industry needs to spread the word.

The other thing that jumped out at me were the prizes. Jason has managed to secure almost $20k worth of prizes, including passes to the 2006 Kennedy Info recruiting conferences, each worth over a grand, plus other fun stuff like a $25 Starbucks voucher for *each* nominee. Not bad going for a first awards. And it just goes to show that there are some pretty big players who aren’t just starting to notice recruiting blogs - they’re actively backing them and actively promoting them.

Exiciting stuff - and I think 2006 is going to be a fantastic year for recruitment blogging. And it starts with these awards.

Just as an aside, one thing I’d quite like to see next year is a category about people who blog ‘about’ their jobs. I’m not talking career or jobseeking advice as such, but people who document their working life. I’m not going to list any of these here, but I tell you, you can find some fascinating work-related stuff going on out there in the blogging world if you poke your nose in and have a good sniff around.

PS: See, I didn’t once say ‘vote for wurk.net‘ at all. I’m just not into this whole begging for votes thing. So I’m not going to try persuading you to vote for us at all. No, not me. Never. ;o))