Summer is coming. Over the next 4 months, millions of American and Canadian students will be hunting for that perfect summer job. The first job search is a rite of passage – full of bewilderment and teenage uncertainty. In talking to current students, we found that today’s application process hasn’t changed much in the past 25 years. As it goes, someone helps you write your first resume, a list of varsity sports teams and school club experiences. You paper malls with resumes or apply to whatever you find on the online job sites. You don’t really know whether you like the stock room or sales floor, so you apply to both and it’s inefficient and takes forever. Somewhere on the other side of that computer screen, there’s a manager flipping through dozens of the same pieces of paper, scheduling time-consuming interviews, deciphering cookie cutter profiles for the ideal responsible, enthusiastic, amiable candidate. For employers, this process is a time drain and it’s expensive; for you, it’s frustratingly disconnected.
Young people today are digital natives, accustomed to bilateral technology like social media and e-commerce. Still, recruiting for temporary jobs rests on blind, one-way applications. It’s become so terrible that standard web applications are now known as Black Hole websites, for the way they bulk-dump heaps of job applications. Today’s hiring managers want not just to see when and where a candidate worked but also to quickly understand how these people will fit into their team, in character and schedule. The traditional forms don’t allow for that level of personal interaction. Even in some companies who have instated Employee Referral Programs, the professional networking system for student jobs is still undefined and, therefore, unreliable.
At WorkJam, we want to redesign the application process. In the case of the student job seeker, under our platform, they will be able to:
- Find jobs that fit around their school schedules
- Build performance records and proof of character to enhance otherwise limited work experience
- Grow a professional network based on their established social network
By bringing together lessons from enterprise software, social media platforms, and video games, we’re building a more personal and accurate bilateral way of filling jobs. At WorkJam, we’d like to give people and companies more control and visibility over the hourly job market, starting with the Service and Retail industries. With less uncertainty and a clearer picture, we can move towards eliminating misplacements and underperformances, generating cash value for employers and employees.
This is just one part of WorkJam’s multi-threaded strategy. Over the next few blogs, we’ll take a look at other facets of the big idea. As a team, we’re tackling the operational and socio-economic issues facing today’s wage-based Workers and Employers. Stay tuned to learn more.
