[JobHunters.ng]From Side Project to a Startup. Would this Idea even Fly?

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Hey everyone:

I am super excited to share this project with the Radar community and can’t wait for your thoughts and comments especially from @mauri the Number 1 Radar trouble maker telling me how she thinks i would pickup my pair of shoes ,grab it on both hands and run back to Radar for help 2 months from now when i get fucked or How @akindolu thinks we got lots of mediocre startups in the ecosystem and don’t need one more. Lol just fucking around people, no bad blood.

So this was and is still a side project just wondering if it’s time to build a startup around it. A few months back i wanted to prove myself that i could fuck some rules up and get away with it so i got into a challenge/bet with a friend to Increase response rate from recruiters by at least 20% and possibly get him an interview to a job opening of his choosing within 2 months. This was after spending hours and applying to hundreds of jobs on multiple job sites with little or no response…

Yea, With the help of some awesome guys we kicked ass, did a few applications, got him the interview and drank some beer.

Enough blabbing, straight to the idea.

Job Hunting SUCKS. Even my grandmother knows that. In fact, it’s exhausting, painful and expensive. From the browsing to the scanning, photocopying and applying most job seekers end up spending hours browsing through various job sites, applying to every job they see with little or no success. Job Sites are great, yes they are but one thing Job seekers do not realize is that most companies do not advertise on these job websites. They hire internally or through local newspapers. So even if they were checking daily on job listing websites they are only accessing a small percent of the jobs out there.

As JobHunters, our mission is to bring the jobs to these job seekers(more like pushcv but in a different way).Using a few metrics provided by them we help them search and apply to the jobs they prefer for a small fee.

Think of Emeka, who stays in Ogba but works in Ajah with a daily spend of around N1000 as transport to and from work and an average of 2 hours each day spent in traffic. Emeka prays for a new job every single day but barley has time to hunt. For a small fee, we hunt down the job Emeka wants, at his preferred location and salary while he focuses on working and living.

This is just a side project, we are available in certain areas in Port Harcourt, I do understand that to tackle a market like this with such an approach is extremely hard and i am likely to get fucked.

What do you think about the approach?

  1. Is there any value in something like this?
  2. Would you recommend your friends to use such a service? If yes can you PM me an email already. Would love to hear their thoughts?
  3. Generally, is this worth pushing?
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A couple of initial thoughts

  1. I might be wrong here, but it seems to me like you’re setting yourself up for potential failure and/or liability. For something like this to even be feasible, there has to be clear definition of several points such as when your role in the recruitment process ends, what constitutes a successful transaction (I.e getting the person an interview or a job offer), a fixed timeframe, what happens if you can’t secure anything for your client within the stipulated timeframe, etc.
  2. In order to be even remotely successful at this, you’ll have to screen potential candidates to ensure you attract pple that are “hireable”. No small feat in this time when a lot of people carry about certificates that aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. This could easily rack up the expenses in man power to carry out the screening.
  3. You might have gotten an uptick in the response rate for your friend, but that is hardly a scientific judge of your abilities as a “job seeker”, plus most large companies have entire departments whose sole function is to recruit new employees and I don’t see them handing over that responsibility to a third party.
  4. Like you said, a lot of companies never advertise openings, perefrring to get referrals from existing employees, promote from within, etc. Do you have a way of discovering these non-advertised openings in the different companies?

Having said all this, I’m not one to knock someone else’s dreams as I know how hard it is to come up with an original idea. Still searching for mine.
If you really believe in this, I say go for it. Just a couple of things to keep in mind while you do.

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Hi @muyiscoi you rock bro. Thanks for these thoughts means a lot.

1.Talking bout role, we sure won’t be promising a job offer, our goal is to get users an interview but nonetheless we state clearly that the real value we provide is to search and apply(increase response rate +save time) not an interview. Though we intend to run a transparent application process. Users sees the jobs we applying to on their behalf, How we going about the application process then review. If we doing anything below what they would do on their own or don’t see any value they can cancel order and get a refund not withstanding how far we have gone in the application process.

1b. Timeframe: They buy a package of say 100 job search, we apply to jobs based on their metrics as these job comes. Most people miss out on offers because they don’t get the right info when they should and how they should. We search, stay on the radar, apply as the job comes and notify them of each application.

2 & 3:That’s more like Head Hunting. We probably should leave that to the Big boys for now

  1. Yes, we build relationship with companies within our operational demography.Have a few niggers whose sole job is to go get job news from listed businesses and dailies.

Thanks man for your thoughts once again,Possible you inbox me at least a contact job hunting. Would love to get reactions from as many of these guys as i can. Thank you Muyiwa

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Like they always say, nothing is new under the sun…

And while there is definitely no shortage of job listing sites, Mentat, a company launching out of Y Combinator’s Summer 2016 batch, does things a little differently.
The company specializes in helping people who know they want a new job, but either haven’t been able to organize themselves enough to take the leap, or are literally too busy to find and apply to one.
To help these people, Mentat will take over and optimize their LinkedIn and resume, then literally write cover letters and have one of their advisors apply to jobs for you, by hand.
The company also pairs you with a dedicated, real-life advisor to talk via phone, chat and email as much as you want during the process. The company has about 50 advisors on staff who have expertise in tons of different industries, so they can give you the best advice for the specific industry you want to work in.
So where does the tech come in? Mentat says they are using machine learning to match job seekers with potential jobs, as well as matching them with one of their advisors with a similar skill set.
The whole package costs $249, and Mentat will literally give you a money-back guarantee that you’ll get at least one interview. They also have a free tier which is similar to a traditional job site, and lets you find and apply to different jobs.

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Nice Gabriel… Thanks for digging. maybe i just didn’t do an extensive enough research as i didn’t come across this startup even after searching on TC or CB. I was a little bit skeptical you know. If this was a good idea after all why isn’t anybody doing something of such? You just helped me clear a doubt and indeed i should startup after all. It now balls down to EXECUTION.

After a few days of feet dragging i just “completed” what i think to be an MVP for this at JobHunters.ng. Again could you pour your expertise on this? What are your thoughts? Would this approach work here in Nigeria? What do you foresee and what ways are best to approach this better?

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I think an MVP is supposed to be a lean-but-usable realization of your idea, to be used to collect feedback, etc.

If the main idea is to get users to pay you to apply for jobs, then maybe this is not an MVP because I added a job search package to a cart, but I can’t see the cart so I can’t checkout (so I can’t really give feedback on whether this works for me, etc) :confused:

Also, suggestion: maybe the ‘buy a package’ flow should provide some value before asking for money? I mean, say I select the N1,000 package, maybe you should ask for my name, CV, and other relevant details before showing me the button that asks for payment?

Disclaimer: remember I haven’t been able to go through the actual process so maybe I’m just talking out of my ass and maybe said process actually works a lot better than whatever I typed up there. Please feel free to call me out and clarify.

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Hey Man, sorry for that. The cart has now been enabled… You may try again just to get a feel.
Thanks for that suggestion, currently it works 2 ways. If you signup before ordering, you get access to the platform and see options to add all necessary details such as CV et al if not once you buy you get signed up at once. I guess we just have to go with a single flow. Everybody signs Up before placing an order. Your thoughts are real valid. Thanks Alex. You rock

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Contrary to your expectation,I like the fuel driving this startup : if and when it eventually gets launched.
I have always thought Job startups (looking at Jobberman) aren’t really doing much for the applicant.

However,like others have mentioned on this thread earlier : I will like to buttress the importance of a vetting process, which will enable your company present to companies an array of quality talents,every time they need it.
The vetting could be a set of objective test,in an applicants area of specialization.
Please whatever Vetting process you choose to go with,do ensure it is a full online process. Dont be like Jobberman, they even organize Job parties these days.
Also,you can consider putting successful applicants in different grades (A,b,c etc) each grade can come with a wage range and a quality percentage or rating (70-80% ,90+ % etc),alongside a salary range ie Grade A(90% + : N120k) etc

NB : I think the phrase " to and from work " was coined at the last startup I worked - PAIR,though Parrots like @Damie and @wolfofbourdillion use it,without giving credit.Please do give credit to whom its due.

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Wow…! For once, @mauri actually said something constructive… Excepting the last paragraph, that is. :slight_smile:

Anyway, nice one, but the packages don’t really cut it for me. In the first place, there isn’t a sufficient differentiation between any two—only the number of job opportunities/interviews (stop calling them jobs). But really, why would I want 50 interviews? Do I have so little confidence in my ability that I seriously believe it’ll take 50 interviews to get a job?
Another thing I don’t get is the 100 naira you keep mentioning. Am I paying per opportunity, or buying a package?

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Great advice @mauri

I had thought of something like this before but like everyone says, the problem is getting the right candidates.

The truth is, while we are in recession, there are jobs. There are LOTS of jobs.

The issue most times is that the people looking for these jobs do not have any value they can add to the company. I know how many job offers I have turned down in the last month alone and I do not know anybody that can truly add value that stays looking for jobs for months.

So while I think it is a good idea, I think you will be stuck looking for jobs for unworthy candidates. Because the worthy candidates will have job offers either way.

Fun Fact: Everybody that finished the Hotels.ng internship program, that was not in school or NYSC, got a job BEFORE the end of the internship.

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Badass @mauri thanks for thoughts i always knew you would come through.:grin: [quote=“mauri, post:8, topic:9802”]
Dont be like Jobberman, they even organize Job parties these days.
[/quote]
lol… That’s a funny one.
As for the vetting, i see us doing this a few months in. Real great stuff you put up here. Thanks a mill

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Eh per say, not interviews oooo bros Diakon, more like 50 applications on our users behalf you may call them opportunities no qualms. So we apply to 50 openings on your behalf with a focus of at least 20% conversion.

They buy packages more like bundles. N100 per opportunity but in a bundle or pack of 50.

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Everything you said here is golden. Top talents don’t look for jobs.

Despite these, the idea is worth working on because the vast majority of job seekers WILL NEVER BE AS PREPARED AS @StephenAfamO when looking for a job. There are more than 5 million job seekers --nearly unemployable – who will see this as their next MMM miracle.
The big task for @Daniel_Aribiton is to be able to deliver enough job interviews to this half-baked candidates who will be more than the talented but busy applicants you are targeting.

With respect to trainings, I am aware that @somtoifezue’s pushCV and stutern are trying to bridge the talent gap so that more people can become “employable”. While PushCV is doing online development trainings (and monetizing as their business model), Stutern is attempting to institutionalised internships as a way to build experiences for the job seekers.

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