I just found out about a new website called Hard2Hire.com which is just what the name sounds like: its for people who have a hard time getting hired and for the employers who are willing to give them a chance. Right now there are more than 100,000 potential employees with profiles on Hard2Hire and more than 2.8 million job listings at tens of thousands of employers on the site. Pretty impressive numbers I think for a new website.
I talked to Kevin McMahon at H2H and he told me that the majority of jobs on the site are at smaller employers (less than 200 employees) and that they are reaching out to approximately 2,000 employers per month to find new job openings for their members. Kevin also mentioned that when they speak to employers one of their goals is to find out what kind of candidates they are really willing to consider for jobs. It's one thing to say that you don't discriminate but its another thing entirely to be truly open to hiring non-traditional workers. H2H tries to find employers who welcome applications from non-traditional employees and/or ex-offenders rather than just giving lip service to the idea of inclusiveness.
Originally, Brian Poe, Founder and CEO of Hard2Hire.com and author of A Guide to Expungements and Pardons, set up the website to help ex-offenders find jobs once they had served their time. He has expanded the site to offer jobs for other non traditional folks like the elderly, disabled workers, and laid off workers.
“Hard2Hire.com is a marketplace that benefits everyone,” said Brian Poe, founder. “What employers don’t necessarily realize is that these candidates bring more than a positive attitude and relevant skill set. In some cases, employers who hire a candidate are eligible to receive federal and state subsidies. Ex-offenders in particular are supported by federal bonding programs to provide a measure of protection to the employer. The vision behind Hard2Hire.com was to create a win-win situation for everyone involved.”
For ex-offenders, employers provide specific feedback about criminal backgrounds they will consider including the nature of the crime and how long ago it took place. Hard2Hire.com has developed similar intelligent matching processes for the other categories as well. For example, employers will provide information about the physical requirements of the job in order to help match disabled workers. This transparency results in a faster, more efficient hiring process.
I was perusing the jobs that are available in a couple of zip codes (78726 and 95954 if you are wondering) and I found a total of 6,714 jobs available within 25 miles of both of those zip codes. What I noticed is that most of the jobs on the site are what I would call "less skilled". Having said that I also saw some non-profit jobs that sounded like they could be very interesting to people with a wide range of skills. For example, ACTIVE Life (formerly Youth InterACTIVE), an Austin-based nonprofit organization, posted a job for VP of Business Development. There are also quite a few volunteer positions posted so if you are looking for a way to give back this site may be a great way to find some volunteer opportunities.
H2H is free to both employees and employers. The site is supported by advertisements and the company actively solicits companies for positions that could be filled by non-traditional employees. H2H says its committed to helping 1 million people find jobs in 2009. That sounds like a pretty big and impressive goal to me - I hope they do it!
5 comments:
Great post. Never heard of this site before but this is great stuff. Thanks.
this web site is misleading alot of the jobs posted are old some have exspired. There are companies posted that do not except unclean backgrounds, dollar general, sears holding, are just some. I dont know where hard2hire gets there information but before posting they need to check their facts.
I believe that both of the above comments are true. When I first learned about hard2hire I was excited, I had been job hunting for my husband who has a felony. But come to find out the website seems a bit inaccurate, yes most of those listings are old, there are a bunch that are repeatitive and some require degrees. My husband NEEDS a job, and at this point it doesn't matter where or how much, it matters about which companies are actually going to hire him. Instead of wasting his time on those lengthy applications. I did some research on the founder of hard2 hire, Brian Christopher Poe, and knowing his reason for creating the site and knowing that he understands the hardships made me continue to use the site.
I find this misleading too! I have been looking and searching, and calling everywhere for jobs too for 2 years. For my son a ex-felon this is so frustating for those that want their life back how can they do this if thet are not given the oppturnity to prove them selves! I think we need to get a pettion going or something for those people that want a second chance why not they deserve it!
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