Recruitment firm sees web opportunity

A new recruitment platform is aiming to turn job-hunting on its head and give it a more modern approach.

Jobbio takes a more dynamic and flexible approach to recruitment, allowing jobseekers to privately connect with companies they would like to work for.

"We're out to try to fix recruitment," said co-founder Stephen Quinn. "We think it's broken in lots of different ways. We think there's opportunity from a company and a talent perspective. I think we've developed what we believe is a simple, easily affordable way to fix a lot of the ways we see as problematic."

One of Enterprise Ireland's high potential start-ups, Jobbio was developed by Stephen and his brother John Quinn, former owner of Champion Sports.

Jobseekers can set up a free profile with Jobbio, outlining their relevant qualifications and skills on a “live bio” rather than a CV, which is a combination of text, images, videos and links, and can allow users to connect to their social networks if they want. They can also choose which companies they want to privately connect with, to be kept up to date with any potential opportunities.

“Sending paper CVs or attachments to an inbox isn’t the way forward,” said Stephen.

Companies can set up similar profiles to sell their company and brand. Posting jobs to the site is free for companies, who can also search through the candidates who have expressed an interest in working for them; where the fees are incurred is when firms want to connect with relevant candidates.

For each connection, the company pays €2, meaning it is possible for them to hire a new employee at the fraction of the cost of recruitment consultants.

Companies can also organise applications digitally, allowing them to revisit former applicants should a similar job opportunity arise.

The idea is to eliminate costly careers portals for companies and offer the same set of tools to any company, regardless of size, to recruit easily and more efficiently than traditional recruitment methods.

“We’ve captured that data and capture it on a live basis,” said John. “It’s live information on both sides, and totally private.”

The new platform went live last week, and an app will be following in the coming weeks, initially for iOS and followed by Android.

Jobbio has about 10,000 users registered already, with more than 130 Irish and international employers signed up, including Kerry Group.

The firm has raised €450,000 in funding from UK-based venture capital firm MXC Capital, and recently opened offices in both London and Dublin.

The majority of the development for the platform will be done in Dublin.