A very busy space. The true demand is that you have lots of passive talent signing up. These folks are highly valued, but it's not clear how you get passive seekers (who aren't interested in moving unless they get excited) to make a change. Active seekers are already in the ATS' of ALL your recruiting companies. They aren't that valuable. So, you have lots to do here.
Your competitors at Hired.com and elsewhere are investing big money to compete to move passives into active mode. I wish you the best of luck, but competition here is brutal and it's not clear what your unique value proposition or edge is here.
Lastly, "anonymous job searches" is the way of the passive seeker, but it's very hard to get them to make a decision. The chain of interaction requires much more ways to engage than their filling out a few boxes on what they do and where they live/email. If you could bring to the surface things that passives like but will not reveal to just anyone, you may be able to create an edge. However, it's tough meng. It's tough out there for a recruiting platform.
Unlike hired.com, this guy tells me two questions in that since I'm not in SF, NY, or LA I should move on.
Which I actually appreciate. Other places waste my time. I don't know how my appreciation translates into revenue for him, so we're missing any decent feedback loop besides nice HN comments.
The "passive seekers" you refer to are what I like to call window shoppers.
Recruiting platforms like this one almost always appeal to window shoppers. Many window shoppers are folks who simply want find out if the grass is greener on the other side. In most cases they're window shopping because they don't really know what they want and they're not motivated enough to figure it out. For example, many of these folks are not looking to work in a particular vertical, or to solve a particular type of technical challenge. Instead, they're looking to see if they can earn $xx,xxx more per year or get into a hotter startup.
I wouldn't say that there are no good window shoppers, but they're rarely as attractive as the folks who are happily employed but open-minded enough to explore a great opportunity if they encounter one. Non-window shoppers are more likely to be people you meet in person. You pique their interest by telling a compelling story about your business or the technical challenges you're trying to solve, not by leading with compensation and your fridge's awesome collection of imported beers.
It's amusing that so many companies don't see these networks of window shoppers for what they are.
Absolutely. Honestly, I was really surprised at the number of people that signed up that aren't on the market, still work at their job & couldn't use one of our competitors. Including founders and PM's.
The V1 is definitely not the end implementation, there are a lot of challenges ahead. It's just a great way to connect people at a relatively small scale. With curation and reaching out for more information from talent.
Also, when I click on "tech talent", this is confusing:
"What role are you looking for? We only accept high quality companies that are actively hiring."
It sounds like you're trying to qualify me applying...but you're actually talking about which companies you may or may not refer to me. I understand you're trying to make your value prop clear, but it's just confusing at this point.
yes I take full stack to mean that they can work at all 7 layers of the OSI stack - i.e. they could design and build/supervise the installation of a network that the code they write can run on.
Whereas some take it to mean they can do basic server coding and html/JavaScript
"Full Stack Developer" is the equivalent of "5 years of experience" in whatever new language or tech was announced last week. When I see companies advertise that, I know they are clueless right up front.
We quietly launched about a week ago and have already seen good quality and experience from technical talent. With 50+ engineers, designers, PM's on the platform. Some with 15 years of experience in their field or previous experience leading teams at well known companies
Co-founders of startups are signing up to find something new, PM's at tech companies are looking to join startups and engineers that think they might want to try something new are getting options.
We speak to every signup to evaluate if they're right for the platform and if we can find the right role for them. Once a company and employee are matched, they can communicate directly through their own process.
We want to get out of the way as much as possible. We're really involved with companies and check back in. Can check Linkedin, etc. We wait to see how the employee fits within the company.
If we connect companies with high quality hires they'll want to pay so that they can continue working with us. This will likely only scale to a certain size.
Why is github or online portfolio a requirement? It doesn't explain what's being verified, or what we should do if we don't have either of those things.
[+] [-] taariqlewis|11 years ago|reply
Your competitors at Hired.com and elsewhere are investing big money to compete to move passives into active mode. I wish you the best of luck, but competition here is brutal and it's not clear what your unique value proposition or edge is here.
Lastly, "anonymous job searches" is the way of the passive seeker, but it's very hard to get them to make a decision. The chain of interaction requires much more ways to engage than their filling out a few boxes on what they do and where they live/email. If you could bring to the surface things that passives like but will not reveal to just anyone, you may be able to create an edge. However, it's tough meng. It's tough out there for a recruiting platform.
[+] [-] danielweber|11 years ago|reply
Which I actually appreciate. Other places waste my time. I don't know how my appreciation translates into revenue for him, so we're missing any decent feedback loop besides nice HN comments.
[+] [-] 7Figures2Commas|11 years ago|reply
Recruiting platforms like this one almost always appeal to window shoppers. Many window shoppers are folks who simply want find out if the grass is greener on the other side. In most cases they're window shopping because they don't really know what they want and they're not motivated enough to figure it out. For example, many of these folks are not looking to work in a particular vertical, or to solve a particular type of technical challenge. Instead, they're looking to see if they can earn $xx,xxx more per year or get into a hotter startup.
I wouldn't say that there are no good window shoppers, but they're rarely as attractive as the folks who are happily employed but open-minded enough to explore a great opportunity if they encounter one. Non-window shoppers are more likely to be people you meet in person. You pique their interest by telling a compelling story about your business or the technical challenges you're trying to solve, not by leading with compensation and your fridge's awesome collection of imported beers.
It's amusing that so many companies don't see these networks of window shoppers for what they are.
[+] [-] brackin|11 years ago|reply
The V1 is definitely not the end implementation, there are a lot of challenges ahead. It's just a great way to connect people at a relatively small scale. With curation and reaching out for more information from talent.
[+] [-] timcederman|11 years ago|reply
[hiring] [tech talent]
I have no idea what either are going to do.
Also, when I click on "tech talent", this is confusing:
"What role are you looking for? We only accept high quality companies that are actively hiring."
It sounds like you're trying to qualify me applying...but you're actually talking about which companies you may or may not refer to me. I understand you're trying to make your value prop clear, but it's just confusing at this point.
[+] [-] brackin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dyadic|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] walshemj|11 years ago|reply
Whereas some take it to mean they can do basic server coding and html/JavaScript
[+] [-] silverbax88|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kurrent|11 years ago|reply
http://i.imgur.com/h20L66f.jpg
there seems to be no clear choice for that
[+] [-] thinkt4nk|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] opendais|11 years ago|reply
So I'd guess the only unique bits are any connections they might have.
[+] [-] brackin|11 years ago|reply
Co-founders of startups are signing up to find something new, PM's at tech companies are looking to join startups and engineers that think they might want to try something new are getting options.
We speak to every signup to evaluate if they're right for the platform and if we can find the right role for them. Once a company and employee are matched, they can communicate directly through their own process.
[+] [-] pauldino|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brackin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eroo|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brackin|11 years ago|reply
If we connect companies with high quality hires they'll want to pay so that they can continue working with us. This will likely only scale to a certain size.
[+] [-] fiatjaf|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brackin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] phantom_oracle|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brackin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Smutchings|11 years ago|reply
Best of luck, it's an interesting concept. (And one I could have done with a few years back).
[+] [-] MadMoogle|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lauradhamilton|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brackin|11 years ago|reply