Jobr: Is This the Best Recruiting App You’re Missing Out On?

When it comes to startup recruitment and job searching, it really doesn’t get much better than LinkedIn — or does it? Let’s break down the pros and cons of the latest hot recruiting tool — Jobr, the “Tinder-for-jobs” app.

I have no idea how companies found candidates in the pre-LinkedIn days. Thanks to LinkedIn, we now have access to effectively anyone and everyone interested in new job opportunities (and even those that aren’t!). Not to mention an endless amount of tools to keep track of prospects, our recruitment pipeline, and interview loops. Yes, sites like Monster, Career Builder, and Indeed helped pave the way for easier sourcing, but lets face it, who’s using these anymore? LinkedIn came in and completely changed the game. While I may have weekly issues and bugs to work through with their help desk, there’s no question the majority of candidates are here. Nevermind Meet-up, Github, and the like. This is it. As far as online recruitment goes, it doesn’t get much better than this — or does it?
Enter Jobr. Known currently as the “Tinder-for-jobs” app, Jobr is a mobile-first tool that can be used by both candidates and recruiters to adopt the “swipe left, swipe right” model made famous by the dating app, but applied directly to the job hunt. The company recently made news announcing $2-million in seed funding and hiring a brand new CEO. In what has become a crowded and competitive space, it’s turning heads.

Jobr Review: How the “Tinder-for-Jobs” App Works

Setup is easy. In order to create a Jobr profile all it takes is signing in via your LinkedIn account (cough, cough — potential acquisition?). On the candidate side, you begin by swiping left or right for jobs you like or dislike. As a recruiter, you swipe based on candidates whose profiles could be a fit for your open position. You can then start swiping for jobs you like or don’t (if you’re a candidate) or for candidates who might be a fit, or aren’t (if you’re a recruiter). Once you find something (or someone) promising you can be matched together, begin conversations, and start to seriously network.
So, why is this good for you and your start-up?

3 Pros of Using Jobr

1. Anyone can use it: What I like most about this tool is that, on the recruitment side, any in-house recruiter or HR professional can utilize it. In an expansion-stage startup, you don’t have the time and resources to devote solely on sourcing the absolute best candidates. Jobr is just one way for HR to own the process by posting positions, engaging with candidates, and managing their companies reputation when it comes to recruitment. On the flip side, candidates now have access to recruiters at any time. It’s just one way for them not to get lost in the process.
2. Better than LinkedIn: Okay, one-stop-shop it’s not, but Jobr does do one thing significantly better than LinkedIn — it’s a mobile first application. Their web-based portal isn’t what it’s made for, and unlike LinkedIn (who appears to be incapable of making a user-friendly mobile application), Jobr has a clean, easy-to-use tool. Additionally, LinkedIn sucks up so much data just trying to load your home page that over time it’s completely unsustainable. Jobr understands what users want and need from a mobile platform — clean design and a simple tool.
3. Seriously on the go: On the job-seeker side, there’s almost never enough time to be looking for a new role. It’s something that’s hard to do at work and it can be even harder to have the motivation when you get home from your day. On the recruiter side, considering all the calls, emails, follow ups, check-ins, and everything else that comes along with the hiring process, having something that helps you block out strict sourcing time is almost a must at this point. On both sides of the table, Jobr is appealing because it’s easy to access and use whenever/wherever you want. Having lunch away from your desk, bored on the train to or from work, ducking out of a quick meeting you don’t actually need to be a part of? Jobr is just a swipe away.

3 Cons of Using Jobr

1. Intelligence: It’s clear the Jobr development team has some work to do when it comes to matchmaking. I’ve taken a look at the app on both sides, and the suggestions for jobs and candidates certainly aren’t perfect. It takes some digging to find the jobs or candidates that are actually a fit for you. There are a lot of data points in play — location, job title, years of experience, etc. — and Jobr doesn’t yet do a fantastic job of letting you filter, which creates some issues when you’re looking for both jobs and candidates. No, I’m not interested in sales roles in Salt Lake City, and no, I’m not looking for candidates currently in Vancouver.
2. Lack of users: Let’s face it, when new recruitment tools come out, recruiters are the first to jump on board. Candidates, on the other hand, can be slower to adopt. While that actually makes Jobr a great place for the candidates who do give it a shot, I worry that until things really pick up we recruiters will be digging for candidates only to have to ultimately reach out to them on LinkedIn.
3. It’s casual: Being known as the “Tinder-for-jobs” is a double-edged sword, and it isn’t the type of reputation everyone would hope to build their company on. I can see a lot of target users balking at the casualness of the app. Example: When you “match” a candidate to a recruiter, you can begin a conversation through the app in a way that is very similar to texting. My sense is that may make some companies uncomfortable, but that the hiring process in general will continue to trend towards becoming more and more informal the more popular apps like this become.

Jobr: The Verdict

Clearly, this is a tool still in its infancy when it comes to recruitment and job hunting. There are going to be bumps and bruises (mastering job postings, for example) and things they do really well (interface and usability), but the key thing to note here is that recruitment and the job hunt is ever evolving. Unlike a lot of platforms and tools that refuse to change and evolve with the job process, Jobr is innovating and catering to a new generation of workers.