With the recent rising and falling of certain “eHarmony for jobs” sites, at least one start-up in the space is doing things a bit differently: Jobstick.
Instead of going after a consumer play, the Bethesda, Md.-based company has opted instead to provide their matching technology directly to employers, similarly to how traditional applicant tracking systems work. By doing so, the company hopes to alleviate many of the costs and challenges associated with competing in an already-crowded job board space, a la Jobfox.
Jobstick Image
So why would a prospective company ditch its well-entrenched ATS in favor of a whole new system? CEO Avi Marcus says you’d be surprised at the number of employers willing to dump their ATS for something better, but instead, Jobstick hopes to get along rather than compete. That is, they’ll be integrating with current ATS infrastructures so employers don’t have to choose an either-or. Popular ATS provider Taleo is already a partner and Jobstick plans on adding more shortly.
The company also won an award at the most recent Onrec conference last month in Chicago, being named “Best New Technology.” On winning the award, Marcus said, “Corporate America is in the midst of an HR crisis, where 9 out of every 10 applicants are unqualified for the job they seek. With this award, Jobstick Filter has been recognized as the top product that can help companies automatically screen unqualified candidates from its applicant pool, all while highlighting top talent for each position.”
No doubt the company has a long way to go to make a dent with an employer market already married to the traditional applicant tracking system and more than a bit confused about this whole “matching thing.” In fact, when we spoke to them at Onrec, they had yet to land a paying costumer. Nevertheless, we like the idea of taking a different approach and circumventing the challenges of driving job seeker traffic so notable to typical consumer plays.
Want more? Checkout a recent story on the company by The Washington Post.
Job Seeker Interface
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September 23rd, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I just wanted to correct a portion of this featured article. Jobstick has not partnered with Taleo. We have begun discussions with several ATS vendors (including Taleo) to become development partners, but there is nothing conclusive to report as just yet.
If you’re interested in learning more about Jobstick, please visit http://www.jobstick.com.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I like the idea, but not sure how receptive the applicant tracking systems will be in regards to partnering with them.