31
Aug 2003
DELIVERING
JOB ALERTS OVER CELL-PHONES
Kartavya/Abhi/Sanjeev/Nirmit/Raju/Sriram,
In
internet world (of e-commerce), if you are not one step ahead of competitors
then you are two steps behind them.
In my
recent note on “positioning of Recruitguru, I talked of
·
Carving
out a brand new “territory” totally different from that of Monster/naukri etc.
·
Create
a new ‘Industry –standard” as for as image Builder is concerned
·
Set
our own “rules” of the game
·
Not
to take our battle to Monster/Naukri’s territory.
·
Create
a whole new set of “Allies/Affiliates/Partners” either for content creation or
for delivery of our content enclosed chart & news cuttings must be read in
this perspective (of wanting to differentiate recruitguru from the likes of
Monster/Naukri).
Today Monster/naukri are delivering job alerts as emails
over internet/desktop once a day?
Then the recipient logs into concerned website browses
the Job-advt. & may “apply online” if he has already deposited his resume
earlier.
This is the TRADITIONAL method used by all jobsites
including 3Pjobs.com in past. In fact we wore the pioneers in India!
If by now, 3Pjobs.com had grown even half the size of
Naukri/Monster, then we would think ten times (not just twice) before
jettisoning/ditching this method of job alert!
If would be too much of a risk to make a sudden course
correction to switch over to an altogether different new
·
Delivery
Mechanism
·
Device
Fortunately
for us, 3Pjobs.com remained an insignificant player amongst India jobsites. All
those, who came much later, overtook 3Pjobs.com (in terms of no. of
resumes/revenues etc.)
So
much so that some 8/10 months ago we decided to remove all candidate related
& customer related “Services” from 3Pjobs.com (job posting/Resume
posting/job search/Resume Search).
So
recruitguru does not carry any historical baggage, any legacy. It is not
hand-bound by what 3Pjobs did in the past. It is a clean break (internally) and
as far as outside world is concerned, there is no “connection” between 3Pjobs
& recruitguru.
This
gives recruitguru a lot of “freedom” of movement / action / innovation / experimentation.
Recruitguru
does NOT have to worry about any “fall out” (of such an experimentation) on any
existing “customer base, because it has no existing customers!
And
that experiment should be such that it enables recruitguru to leapfrog
monster/Naukri and came out a virgin territory.
And
I firmly believe that experiment is to deliver job alerts as SMS on
cell-phones. Something which monster/Naukri do not seem to have attempted so
far (but tomorrow, they can!)
In
the enclosed chart I have put forward my arguments in favour of this proposal.
A
cell phone job alert has an element of “instant gratification” no matter where
you happen to be. You are not tied to a desk a PC, an internet connection. You
are not “tethered” by a wire.
An
executive may find it inconvenient to log into his “private mailbox” during
office hours but it is quit different with a SMS. It is so convenient and so
“private” (even if you are sitting in front of your boss or with 5 colleagues
in a meeting).
And
an sms does not cause you any inconvenience, even if you are travelling to
another city.
And
cell phone as a “medium” as an internet Access Device” is going grow 10 TIMES
as fast as a PC! Soon 20 TIMES!
We
can ill-afford to ignore this device and this delivery mechanism where
computers & tele-communications are going to CONVERGE.
It
is not going to be a PC but a cell phone which is going to be the device of
CHOICE for the young generation. We can ignore it at our own period!
So,
in next 4 years 100 million Indians would want an USEFUL content delivered to
them on their cell-phones
And,
Some
8/10 national SERVICE-PROVIDERS would desperately look for such an useful
content, from content providers!
And,
if “Job-alert” is such an USEFUL content which cell-phone owners want and
service-providers want then recruitguru is ideally placed to deliver it!
And
the obvious implication is that these 100 million cell-phone owners would have
to first SUBMIT their resume to recruitguru!
And
if job-alert delivery is coupled with “Apply on line feature, there is every
reason would submit their resumes.
If
50% are self-employed, that still leaves 50 million!
And
these are the resumes that we will “sell” (@ Rs. 10/- each) to our corporate
subscribers! At one download/year for each resume, this means Rs. 50
crones/year!
If
cell phones are being pressed into service by
·
HDFC
bank for allowing credit/Debit card holders to make payments
·
Siddhi-Vinayak
Temple to accept Rs. 51/- from devotees to perform “Pooja
Then
why not for delivering “Job alerts”?
We
have already downloaded 130000 job advts from Monster/Naukri in last 2 months.
In
sept/Oct, I propose to raise this figure to 300,000 job advt & keep
downloading @10,000/ day from various sites (including corporate sites).
We
already have “AUTO-CONVERTER” software to create a “structured database” of
these job-advts (to facilitate “matching” resumes with jobs).
What
is remaining is one small step, viz:
-
Match/search
module
-
Delivery
(telecom) module
-
Accounts/Billing
Module
-
Customize/configure
module
-
Admin
Tool Module.
Hemen
Parekh
