Hoojano Powers StaffSearcher BY MYOB
January 13, 2009 by Geoff Jennings
New player in the ‘Reward for Referral’ space Hoojano has officially launched today. Mike Wilkinson is CEO of HooJano. He was formerly Group Manager, Innovation at Sensis, and has held senior marketing roles with both MyCareer and CareerOne. He has spent the last 18 months developing the business and preparing it for launch.
Mike has also been busy luring high profile partner in MYOB. Powered by Hoojano, they have launched StaffSearcher.com.au in the hope of leveraging from their more than 700,000 businesses and accounting practices in the Asia-Pacific region.
Superficially, this concept is great. It’s an innovative way of approaching the roundup of suitable candidates. And it’s exciting that HooJano is finally off Alpha status and is ready to do some business. But what’s with Staff Searcher’s pitch “Forget Recruiters”?
I’m clicking my tongue here. You know that “click click” your mum used to make when you’d done something both stupid and disappointing? Usually this sound was followed by a sermon steeped in Capital letters, like That Was So Immature and I Expect More From You.
My mum, she could bowl guilt with more spin than Warney (and she’s pretty nifty on the old texting too:)). Point is, mums have what they call “moral authority”, and I’m about to dish some of that out right now. So if you’re on a diet, look away.
Of course, my investment in this discussion is skewed. I’m a recruiter, and I want my industry to continue to flourish. It feeds my family. But there’s more involved in my perspective than my personal interest. Recruiters do more for businesses than simply find resumes. We must think of creative ways of attracting candidates, we’re often on the phone for the most part of the day, ringing contacts, social networking, getting the goss on so-and-so who wants to leave their current role and move into something different. Most of us interview, we represent the clients and candidates, bartering for both their interests in trying to reach an agreement between the two. Sometimes we’re like goddam matchmakers, or farmers, trying to get a cow and a bull to do the wild thing when both just want to chow down on some grass.
Hoojano/StaffSearcher, knowthis. Probably a better approach to your marketing would have been to engage recruiters, rather than rally for their departure from the recruiting process.
Hi Geoff,
Thanks for the comments. All fair and considered as always.
Can I respond on the line that MYOB has added to the homepage. By the way, I respond objectively as it is not a line our business (HooJano) adopts. MYOB is free to attract custom however they see fit.
Firstly it is simply a line that is aiming to appeal to an identified segment of customers that is somewhat anti-recruiter to begin with. These customers actually recognise the benefit of recruiters yet are (in their view) priced out of the market. I make no comment on recruiter pricing, I simply paraphrase a view of this segment, put forward in research.
That said, and from my own perspective, Recruiters can play an important role in the open marketplace that our system enables. As happens in the real world, recruiters will compete with all other sources ….and my sense is there will be a typical value debate where quality and price are balanced in the customers’ minds on a case by case basis. Our system simply facilitates the interaction of those who wish to participate.
What we have found in our discussions with recruiters is that under certain conditions and if the rewards are at a certain level, they are completely open to submitting candidates. (FYI, recruiters can chose to be overt or not in disclosing their core business, the customer simply wants candidates.)
I hope recruiters do at least give it a go and more so I hope they make money at a good margin so it can evolve as a long term, mutually beneficial part of their business.
I’m open for any discussion should anyone wish to contact me via the site.
Regards, Mike @ HooJano