Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Two Ideas for Career Websites

Despite the plethora of career-related websites, I believe that creating these could enable someone to do well by doing good:

APlayer.com.
Many sites attempt to match employee with employer but none use the most potent predictor of how well an employee will do on the job: simulation.

APlayer.com would make it easy for an employer to upload a simulation of a task(s) the employee must do well on that job.

Candidates whose resume and application match the job description would be invited to participate in that online simulation.

High-scoring candidates would be invited to in-person interviews.

InterviewFinder.com.
Nearly every job seeker hates looking for a job: networking, cold-calling prospective employers, creating resumes, filling out applications, getting letters of recommendation, etc.

Career counselors looking for more clients would, on interviewfinder.com, offer to handle the entire job search except for the interview, of course.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I am going through job hunting now, and would gladly pledge a percentage of my salary for helping me find a job. Many sites are fee based, and are cost prohibitive for the unemplotyed. That is the best 2 ideas I have ever come across.

ST said...

I like the APlayer.com idea. Some of the best interviews I've had were, in part, simulations or problem solving right in the interview. I didn't get all of those jobs, but I still thought they showed what I could do versus just talking my way into it.

One problem would be once potential employees got wind of the website, they would help each other solving the problems. Better, would be to do it in person, but then would have to be invited in of course.

I did one where they invited several people in to do a generic computer programming test, i.e. it wasn't for a specific programming language, but you wrote psuedo code for the answers. I did then get invited in for an interview, but didn't get that job.

That puts it upon the job interviewer, that if you can "prove" you can do the job somehow in the interview, you have a better chance of getting the job.

Marty Nemko said...

Many jobs get hundreds of applicants. It's unrealistic to have them all come in for simulations. It's worth the risk of there being some cheating in exchange for having a no-hassle trial they do at home. Those who pass, of course, when invited to in-person interview, will get an in-person simulation.

ST said...

You're right, I agree, and if there were some sort of secure registration procedure (meaning you are who you say you are, and an "acknowledgment-that-you-received-no-help" check box :) ), it would at least cut down the temptation to cheat, and right, even if they did, that wouldn't be as many as inviting everyone in for a simulation and they would be found out anyhow if they couldn't do it in person.

I'm all for it. Maybe it's something an enterprising soul could attempt and sell to companies.

 

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