The pools just got bigger and wider

Fish in these waters for a job - and your life partner. A look at the Monster India tie-up with shaadi.com, an alliance for the head and the heart.

Many would agree it is an unusual marriage. Monster India, a part of the online career network Monster, has joined hands with matrimonial service provider Shaadi.com in an exclusive alliance that would see it host Shaadi.comís job channel and drive job seekers to the hosted site with banner advertisements.

This particular relationship is a culmination of synergy that exists between job seeking audience on Monster and those seeking life partners on Shaadi.com.

By helping people find a life partner, Shaadi.com addresses one of the most important decisions in their life. This alliance is an extension of the same philosophy and helps the company be a part of another important life decision ó the right career choice.

Monster targets popular online destinations as part of its marketing strategy with thrust on traffic related objectives and purpose related objectives, says Dhruv Shenoy, Vice-President, Marketing, Monster Asia.

The alliance between Monster and Shaadi.com is unique. It has its genesis in the fact that people who seek life partners are also open to better job prospects. By reaching out to the diverse audience on Shaadi.com, we hope to be able to deliver a wide-ranging talent pool to employers and at the same time help the job seekers reach out to some great opportunities in the market, adds Shenoy.

As a result of this tie-up ó initially valid for a year ó Monster would advertise on Shaadi.comís Web site, while the latter would send out Monster career newsletter to its subscribers. The newsletter has been designed exclusively for Shaadi.com subscribers, and has a list of seven-eightpreferred employers, about 20 job listings, and jobs opportunities categorised in terms of geography and domains. The alliance has elicited a strong response so far, says Monster, which claims to have a market share of 81 per cent in the online recruitment space together with Jobsahead.com ó a company it acquired in June 2004.

In January this year, the company notched a record number of resumes. Last month, we touched close to 1,30,000 resumes, which was the highest monthly number till date, he says, adding that the strong performance is a result of the companyís aggressive marketing drive that is a mix of advertisements on television, Web sites and such alliances. The company is, however, tight-lipped about the projected revenues that could flow from the alliance. Asked the revenue share between the two partners, Shenoy points out that Monster does not earn revenues from job seekers. We make money, selling database of job seekers to various employers. Moreover, employers can also post vacancies on our site, for our traffic to access it, and therefore part of the revenues flow from this operation as well, he says.

In the case of this particular alliance, since the underlying idea is to drive the job seekers to the Monster India site, the company puts value to the inventory that it uses and accordingly pays Shaadi.com.

According to Anupam Mittal, President and CEO of People group, owners of Shaadi.com Monsterís global career network ties in well with our global member base, making it a career partner of choice for us.