JobStreet foray in India

Another new JobStreet innovation. This article is quoted in India.

Quoting from Sify.com

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Job portals don social networking colours
Priyanka Golikeri/ DNA MONEY
Tuesday, 01 April , 2008, 08:27
Last Updated: Tuesday, 01 April , 2008, 08:54

For Priya Sharma, a 23-year-old M. Com student from Mumbai University, job search has become more attractive than what it was when her sister went job hunting about three years ago. Then, a click of the mouse would throw open a homepage listing the number of vacancies in different industries.

"But now, it's more than just finding the number of vacancies in each sector and pasting resumes accordingly. It incorporates a whole host of value-added services that make online job search more appealing," says the Thane resident.

Well what she means is that you can send the CV to the prospective employer through a mobile phone, get interviewed online, or even enter into discussions with other online job seekers.

A thriving job market is making portals give much more than the usual services that were offered a few years ago, says Anand Iyer, chief executive officer of Jobstreet.com.

According to a survey by Chennai based human resource consulting firm Ma Foi Consultants, about 1 million new jobs are likely to be created this year in the organised sector.

"I'm sure nearly half of these jobs are in the 0-8 years experience bracket. And generally, people in this segment are the ones who track jobs through portals. This is because they have a greater risk taking appetite than those in the above 10 years experience bracket and look for quick jumps," Iyer says.

According to Sanjeev Bikhchandani, co-founder and CEO of Naukri.com, the turnover of online job portals is estimated to touch Rs 325 crore in 2008, up from about Rs 240 crore last fiscal. "The online job market, which includes about 500 big and small portals, is witnessing a growth of 30% per annum. This spells huge opportunities to tap more job seekers via introduction of inventive approaches."

As per a survey in 2007 by staffing solutions company Kelly Services, about 40% of the 3,000 working professionals who were interviewed had got jobs through online portals. "Other than companies, recruitment agencies like us often post our requirements on portals," says Vishal Chhiber, head-HR, Kelly Services.

Jobstreet recently introduced a feature through which a job seeker who is registered with the portal can forward his resume to the email ID of a recruiter by SMSing APPLY, followed by the recruiter's ID. "The SMS service will recognise the mobile number as that of a registered member of Jobstreet and email the resume from website's database to the company applied to," says Iyer.

The website has also classified jobs in three different sections on the basis of industry, specialisation and location. Iyer says the additions would make the site user friendly and help in doubling the daily traffic of 4,000-8,000 users currently.

WhereIsMyBoss.com, or WIMB has introduced online video interviewing to ensure that time and distance cease to be impediments for conducting job interviews. Naveen Chander, chief operating officer, WIMB, says, "The candidate and recruiter can log on to the site at a scheduled time and the interview can be conducted through a webcam."

According to Vikramjit Singh Sahaye, country manager of Yellojobs.com, the site is planning to introduce a service in mid-April through which users can interact with each other by participating in forums and discussions about jobs and vacancies. "This would make it like a social networking site and enhance its appeal."

Naukri.com and recruitment consulting company Careernet are planning to introduce niche sites targeted at education seekers and companies wanting to recruit freshers.

Naukri will start an education site called Shiksha in June where students can seek career options from universities, computer training institutes, and colleges. "Students can get to know the different courses and number of seats available in each of the institutes listed on the site," says Bikhchandani.

Similarly, Careernet is launching a campus network in mid-April for companies seeking freshers.

"The site would target entry-level candidates. Companies wanting freshers can publish their requirements online and students can accordingly seek jobs that match their skill sets," says founder and CEO Rishi Das.





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