Getting paid to go on a job interview... by the company
that's interviewing you???! Sounds like a far-fetched fantasy for
candidates, but that's what start-up NotchUp.com
is basing it's whole business model on. Candidates (preferably happily
employed ones) can sign up for free, put up their (LinkedIn) profile
and calculate what their interview fee would be with an interview-price
calculator. This is based on your industry, job, highest educational
degree, years in industry, time in current position, and current
salary.
This platform is meant to cut out the recruiters and headhunters.
Since companies need only pay the interview fees set up by the
candidates they choose to interview, the comparable fees are supposedly
lower than the recruiter's traditional placement fee which is a
percentage of the new hire's first-year salary. As a recruiter, I
should really discredit this model (after all, it's going after my
job!), but I'm a fair person and see that everything has its merits and
disadvantages.
First off, sure -- throw money into the mixture - and changing the
roles of who gets paid, you'll get some interesting results. I'm sure
in some cases companies -- esp. start-ups who's future depends on
excellent talent can save money in placement fees by paying lower
interview fees. Passive candidates (happily employed who are successful
at their job) who otherwise would not put their profile up may be
enticed to put their profile up if there's money in it for them. In
it's best light - it may work well over regular online job boards and
with a companies that work with lame recruiters who just slap up job
ads everywhere and wait for whatever comes in - only to send out
high-volumes of low-quality candidates to their client.
Now, here's where I see the model lacking:
First off, the point is to attract good candidates right? Good
people aren't attracted just by a few hundred dollars for their time.
They are attracted to good opportunities that help grow their careers
and their strengths. I'd say 9 times out of 10 the candidates I recruit
are attracted to the opportunity, the challenges, and the company
rather than just the money.
Secondly, recruiting and headhunting isn't just about getting the
right candidate to the job or vice-versa. I doubt any recruiter would
be paid just for that. (Contingent recruiters usually get paid ONLY
when THEIR candidate gets hired, and they usually provide a guarantee for
up to 3 months - it varies of course). The hard work doesn't
end there (which is where NotchUp does). Job interviews don't
automatically lead to a job offer. And a job offer doesn't necessarily
lead to a successful hire. There's a whole process in making the
successful hire go through. Recruiters and headhunters manage people
(candidates, HR managers, hiring managers, other decision-makers),
people's expectations, timing, and other factors that are crucial in
making a successful hire. A lot of wasted time, energy and money (in
terms of lost productive work time for everyone) happens not only in
the search for getting that first interview, but in the follow-through
that happens after the initial job interviews. This is another part of
where recruiters and headhunters provide value and service.
In the end, I seriously doubt this online platform will make a dent
in the demand for good quality recruiters and headhunters out there who
provide very targeted, high quality service for their clients. It
certainly won't replace third party recruiters. If anything, this will
probably become just another tool for recruiters to use in research.
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