Standout Jobs, a provider of mini-MySpace’s for employers, came out with some new functionality last week. In light of the improvements, they’re also charging customers after a 45-day free trial. New features, according to an official correspondence, include:
- Full customization
- Chat
- Improved SEO (jobs get into Google)
- Streamlined application process
- Modular architecture (integration with ATS)
- Community Correspondence (e-mail distribution)
“This launch is a changing of everything,” said Ben Yoskovitz, cofounder and CEO of Standout Jobs. “We rebranded ourselves in how we wanted to message the company and redesigned the Web site. We rearchitected the product for performance and make it more modular, so companies can plug-in their own applicant tracking system. We’ve learned a lot about the HR space and how we fit into the bigger picture. It’s hard for a start-up in this space to go it alone.”
Pricing for the full license starts at $249/mo. or $2,490/yr. (2 mos. free) with no limits on the number of jobs, candidates or users. However, users will need to upgrade to a “pro” version in order to get full customization of the look and feel for $416/mo. or $4,160/yr. The company is also considering a “enterprise” version at a higher price point for the future.
The pay-to-play model will also open up new marketing opportunities, but the 10-person start-up will stay conservative. “We’re looking at doing some direct marketing,” said Yoskovitz, “But we’re limited in that right now since we haven’t generated revenue up to this point.”
Most interesting, although Standout Jobs receives most of its interest from smaller, more nimble employers, at least one large organization is utilizing the solution in a way not expected. Ericsson in Ireland has set up a microsite to help draw top talent. This is currently an aside to its corporate career center.
And the future?
“We want to keep improving our distribution offering,” said Yoskovitz. “For example, helping companies get their jobs into more places. E-mail is an important component now, but how do we improve upon that. Also, what does career site 3.0 look like? How do we improve the relationship between job seeker and employer? Ultimately, we’re going to have to evolve so that our product fits into the ecosystem of HR. You should see a lot of change from us over the next 6 mos.”
For complete audio of our interview with Standout Jobs, subscribe to iTunes.
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November 3rd, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Joel – thanks for the write-up. I must admit, I quite like the title of the post; although the guys here at Standout Jobs are still going to want the occasional free lunch.
I’m glad you highlighted Ericsson as an example, because I do think more and more larger employers will leverage services like ours to deploy solutions and test the waters out more quickly. If you can try something fast, at a fair price and experiment to gage real results, it makes sense.