There is more to the job search space than just job boards. Applicant tracking, sourcing tools and talent networks are some other businesses you can go into (to name a few). This post is about thinking outside the box a little and coming up with other ways to add value to job seekers and/or recruiters.
I’ll give 2 of my own examples to show you what’s possible.
EXAMPLE #1: Jobcasting
Lets start with Jobs in Pods. Its a service I created back in 2007 that lets employers “podcast their jobs” through audio jobcasts about what its like to work there. Over the years its been used by many Fortune 500 companies such as GE, Intel, McDonalds, Walgreens, & Nestle Purina who wanted to share their own stories by letting us interview their star employees. To date, Intel’s jobcasts have been the most successful generating over 100,000 downloads since they started. They even created a page on their career site showcasing them.
I turned the site over to Peter Clayton last year . He is a veteran podcaster and now produces all the shows. Employers are charged $300-$400 per jobcast so its a nice margin business but is rather labor intensive since the audio is produced by a human each time. Its not a large business but it offers tremendous value to employers by really showcasing their employment brand. I think its a great example of using new media in the recruitment marketplace.
EXAMPLE #2: Hidden Jobs:
Back when i used to blog a lot more about job searching I would write some posts that highlighted articles which mentioned companies who are growing/expanding and have announced they are going to hire. Many times they put out a press release or got an article written in a business journal. I noticed these posts got a lot of traffic so I decided to create a service around it. Its called Hidden Jobs App.
Its an app and website. I sell the app in iTunes for .99 cents. Its gotten some traction and I sell 15-20 per month, and I earn a few bucks from the adsense blocks on the site. I am expanding the app to include more features as I roll it into Career Cloud as one of our mobile products.
So think about other ways to add value in the job search or recruitment process. Go beyond job listings and you just might uncover something that is worthwhile to pursue.
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