Telstra’s directories and listing subsidiary, Sensis, has today launched a new online job board and career networking site called Link Me, with financial backing from Morgan and Banks Investments (MBI).
At the official launch in Sydney this afternoon, MBI principal Geoff Morgan said the site will completely change Australia’s employment market. It is designed to cut the high volume of job applications that recruiters receive and improve conversion rates, he said.
Under the joint venture, Sensis and MBI will share equal majority shareholding, and an independent management team will be formed, with Morgan to act as chairman.
Morgan would not divulge the capital expenditure, but said it was in the millions and millions and the investment was a serious partnership. It is expected that the venture will be cash flow positive within two years, he said.
The site allows recruitment companies and employers to upload job descriptions, run an online search of the resume database for free and receive a shortlist of candidates ranked in order of suitability, with limited details of their resumes.
For a full copy of the resume and the contact details, recruiters will be charged $50 per candidate, and can only gain access where the candidate has given consent for their resume to be made public.
Candidates can post their resumes on the site for free, and can also create networking relationships with other people in their field. Recruiters can have access to this information for a nominal fee.
Morgan labelled the site as a one stop shop for resumes and said recruitment companies and employers would no longer have a need for their own database of resumes.
He also said the site would differ from traditional job boards by focusing on the job seeker rather than the employer.
It can save job hunters considerable time and effort because they don’t need to contact recruitment companies or spend hours sifting through job ads in newspapers or on online job boards, he said.
Morgan said that within two years, the site expects to fill about 140,000 jobs, which represents a 7% market share of the estimated 2 million positions that are placed via online job ads.
However, it will not seek to undermine the traditional recruitment market, as recruiters still have to carry out the usual recruitment and selection process after purchasing a resume, he said.
It is ostensibly a networking and employment tool, with a recruitment function at the back end, he said.
Diversification drives new site
Sensis ceo Bruce Akhurst said the move into the vertical employment market was about further diversification of the Sensis portfolio.
With Australia’s employment market worth more than $2 billion, and 1.5 million Australians changing jobs each year, Akhurst said the partnership was a low-risk opportunity to enter the high growth jobs market.
Additional revenue is to be generated through advertising, cross-promotion of Sensis products, and online training. The site will also feature a career assessment tool, which will offer users a free limited service, with a fee charged for a full consultation.
In recent times, similar concepts have launched in the US including Jobster and Linked In.
Sensis launches new online job site with backing from Morgan and Banks
Sensis has launched a new online job board and career networking site called Link Me, with financial backing from Morgan and Banks Investments
