Everyone remembers their first job, but maybe not how they got it. Now several young, tech-savvy entrepreneurs are changing the way teens and 20-somethings connect with businesses that need employees.
Nicolas Stefan is one of the co-founders of Sprouthire, a Burnaby-based startup that pairs job seekers – primarily students, youth and young adults – with entry-level positions in the Lower Mainland. Unlike most job sites where it’s “post a job and hope for the best,” Sprouthire offers tools for both sides to facilitate the hiring process.
It’s like Match.com for businesses and prospective employees.
“It differentiates us from the other job boards – there are plenty of them, but none of them are doing what they can to connect the employer with the employee,” said Stefan, 22, who has largely overseen the growth of the site over the last year alongside co-founders Michael Ho and Bobby Singh.
The idea was hatched last April by Ho, a local entrepreneur who Stefan met at the Crankworx mountain biking festival several years back. Stefan, who graduated from Capilano University with a degree in Business Administration in 2013, he wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do in his career, but he liked Sprouthire and asked to join the team.
“I proposed to him what I had to offer as far as contacts, resources, capabilities, and it sort of stemmed from there,” he said.
According to Stefan, the turnover rate in industries with many entry-level positions can be quite high, making it expensive to repeatedly post job openings on some boards.
“It’s very time-consuming and very costly to constantly be hiring for these positions,” he said. “We recognize that is a problem and we’ve reversed the business model.”
Rather than paying to list positions with no guarantee of finding a qualified candidate, Sprouthire allows businesses to post jobs and review prospective employees for free, and only charges them if they ultimately decide they’d like to contact a job seeker. Stefan said they still can’t assure you’ll find the right person for the job, but you won’t have wasted any money if your search is fruitless.
“We’re not a placement agency, but we allow you to assess the employee as thoroughly as possible that you can essentially come to a decision whether or not you wish to employ them before spending a single penny,” he said.
For job seekers, Sprouthire offers an array of features to find jobs that are relevant to their skills, close to home or school, and fit into their schedules. The site boasts proximity-based searching, showing users job openings near where they live, and Stefan has plans to better map out potential jobs.
“We want to incorporate a map feature and integrate TransLink (information) incorporate bus route features,” he said. “You input your home address, and every time you look at a job on the map, it’ll show you the suggested walking route, bus route, bike route and time so you can plan around that.”
Additionally, Sprouthire provides the ability to create a visual resumé – a more colourful way to show off your skills and experience than a traditional resumé – and the guys are hoping to popularize the Vesume, a 60-second video pitch to tell employers about yourself.
“It’s for anything that doesn’t fit in a traditional resumé,” said Stefan. “It’s your cover letter. You can tailor it specifically to each job that you apply for.”
Stefan has done presentations at local high schools about Sprouthire, encouraging students to sign up. He recognizes that both sides of the business rely on each other.
“A coffee shop only has to concern itself with getting clients to buy coffee. For us, we have to concern ourselves with the users, as well as people willing to post jobs,” he said. “Without one, the other won’t come.”
The site is currently offering a $500 bursary to one lucky student to put toward post-secondary education. To enter, applicants must explain in 300 words or less why they think Sprouthire is innovative for finding jobs.
“It could be because it takes time away from commuting to the mall to hand out resumés or it could be because we’re a tech generation and they understand how to use the site,” said Stefan.
Submissions will be accepted until 9 p.m. on Monday, June 30, and the winner will be announced on Canada Day.
While all three co-founders have backgrounds with other startups, Stefan said Sprouthire is still a leap of faith for him. He said he’d like to grow the people-oriented site from its Lower Mainland roots into a nationwide job matching site.
“I’ve never done anything that I’ve considered a career,” he said. “Everything that I had before this were these part-time jobs.
“For me, this is my pride and joy.”
For more information, visit sprouthire.com.
