Jobaline Launches Mobile, Social Hourly Jobs Platform

Kirkland, Wash.-based Jobaline has launched a social and mobile hourly jobs platform within the Seattle and Miami markets that aims to fundamentally change the way that local employers are matched with hourly workers, enabling workers to find and apply for jobs from any computer, tablet or phone.

The Jobaline platform integrates with Facebook and other social media channels to facilitate referrals and endorsements, and is bringing to market a proprietary mobile pre-screening interview technology that serves as a pre-qualification mechanism for candidates sourced from online tools such as Craigslist and other job boards.

“Jobaline is a platform specifically designed for the needs of the hourly jobs segment, where actual interviews are a better pre-screening tool than stand-alone resumes and application forms,” said Jobaline co-founder and CEO Luis Salazar. “During our one-month beta period ... we found that for businesses posting across industries -- from fast food chains to retail sales and business administration -- hiring managers received hundreds of applications, each within two days of posting a job. That volume of applicants can be completely overwhelming for a store or program manager who is tasked with hiring in addition to doing his own job.”

The Jobaline platform is designed to lower employer costs by automating the pre-screening interview process, and only charges employers for access to those candidates whom they deem qualified for possible employment.

According to Jobaline, the average small-to-medium business spends over $3,500 per hire due to inefficiencies in the existing recruiting process, which is based on the manual searching and vetting of candidates. Jobaline reduces this inefficiency with a simple and automated interview and pre-screening technology, creating significant savings for employers.

During beta, Jobaline conducted approximately 2,000 interviews per week, saving each hiring manager approximately 10 hours in pre-screening time per job post.

“We also found that more than 70 percent of job applicants chose to apply via mobile devices, and more than half applied using our text messaging capabilities,” said Salazar. “[This validates] our belief that hourly workers prefer to use their mobile devices as their primary access to job listings.”

Jobaline’s mobile-first process includes three steps:

1. Job Posting: Employers create mobile-friendly job offers and pre-screening criteria for free, and reach job seekers through their social network and leading U.S. job boards.
2. Automatic Pre-Screening: Jobaline conducts the initial interviewing, profile verification and screening through an automated process developed by hiring experts.
3. Pay Per Result: Employers can review information about job applicants, ranging from their location and skill sets based on written and verbal replies to their social media endorsements. Employers then pay only for the contact information of the qualified candidates that they want to pursue for possible employment.

Job seekers sign in and apply for a job via the Web or using text messaging, through an ad-free mobile platform. This is done regardless of whether the job was posted on a job board, found in an online classified ad, seen in a printed flyer, or any other location.