Jobster.com took a giant leap into Web 2.0 this week, first announcing that employers can post jobs on the site for free on a new more LinkedIn-style platform, and second confirming that the company will be the exclusively working with social networking site Facebook.
“We spent the last twelve months designing the new Jobster to meet the needs and expectations of the digital generation,” said Jobster CEO, Jason Goldberg.
“The digital generation has widely embraced social networking, user generated content, and video; Jobster is bringing these technologies to career development and humanizing the job search process. The digital generation has demanded more efficient business models and Jobster is committed to bringing innovations to the employment category”
New Web 2.0 additions to the site include digital profiles and resumes, “Superstar Tags” that allow job seekers to better highlight skills and attributes, the ability to upload video profiles, the ability for users “fave” each other as a recommendation tool, and jobseeker profile URLs that can be sent to prospective employers.
“We believe that people hire people not resumes, and that people go to work for people not for job descriptions,” said Goldberg. “That is why we are embracing digital career profiles which utilize user generated content, tag-based data and navigation models, and video, to help bring the real person behind the resume and the job description to life.”
The new ad-supported platform has been compared to how PlentyOfFish brings potential lovers together without charging couples to connect. TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington thinks Jobster’s move is a direct assault on established job sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder, both of which charge employers nearly $500 per listing:
Given that Jobster already has a large footprint in the job listing space, this is more than an experiment. It’s a full frontal assault on Monster’s business model. This can also hit LinkedIn indirectly if people start focusing on Jobster as a more interesting place to keep their resumes and contacts. Monster will probably be keeping an alert eye on how Jobster is doing, and this may also force them to update their aging platform and pricing models to more modern standards. For employers and job seekers, this is nothing but good news.
But equally intriguing is Jobster’s arrangement with Facebook, will begin this spring. Facebook is a favorite with the job-seeking college crowds, and an exclusive relationship with “the other Myspace” is only a boon for Jobster’s ambition.
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