COVID-19 Free Jobs Forum, a place to find work opportunities
COVID-19 has put a dent in the Indian economy, with several industries suffering and tens of thousands of people going out of work. Now, to help out in this crisis, Suyash Jain and Rajat Agarwal, a duo working at B2B e-commerce company Bijnis, have deployed a solution that is helping job-seekers connect with recruiters and put them back to work. Here's more about it.
Problems with hiring talent
While building the field sales team for Bijnis, Jain and Agarwal faced a major challenge - shortage of talent on job portals. They noted that the candidates they needed were not easily available on sites like Naukri, Monster, and Shine, while dedicated job agencies provided leads that were way too random, ultimately failing to meet their specific demands.
However, things changed in April
In April, Jain saw the news of thousands of field sales workers (the role he and Rajat were hiring for) losing their jobs. So, to find out workers who may be out of work but suited for their role, he created a Google Form for the same and shared on a Facebook group. In no time, Jain had a list of over 100 job-seekers.
Then, they started a forum to simplify job marketplace model
After receiving a positive response from that form, the duo collaborated on COVID-19 Free Jobs Forum to help people affected by COVID-19 layoffs get back to work. This is also a Google Form but one that job seekers can use to submit their work history and details while job givers can use to register their interest in recruiting, finding the right candidate.
Database of job seekers created, shared with recruiters
Using the newer form, Jain and Agarwal have managed to compile a database of candidates looking for jobs across a range of profiles, cities, and other domains. They share this database with verified recruiters reaching out either directly via LinkedIn or through the form. After that, those recruiters easily scour through the list, pick, and connect with the candidate matching their requirements.
Over 8,000 candidates, 400+ recruiters registered
After initial hiccups, it has managed to draw significant traction through platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook. "We already have a live database of 8,500+ applications divided across domains, salary, and job location," Jain told NewsBytes. "This database is live shared with 400+ HRs from companies who are currently hiring for free." The entire service is free for both recruiters and job seekers.
Efforts to ensure data remains safe
Despite being a very small team, Jain and his colleagues give utmost priority to data security and share data only with verified recruiters. "Our responses sheet is accessible to anybody on request and view basis only. Also, before giving access to any mail ID we cross-check whether they are currently hiring or not," Jain said in a Medium blog post about their work.
No plans to monetize
Jain added, "We don't have any plans to monetize this initiative as we did it to help out people as well to understand our leanings by building a simplified Job Marketplace," which keeps the demand and supply at perfect equilibrium.
