MYOB launches into online recruitment service

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 27 January 2009 09:04

IT Industry - Market

Small business accounting software company MYOB has taken a surprise diversion from its traditional product base with the launch of a new online staff recruitment service.

MYOB, which is in the final stages of being acquired by US-led consortium Manhattan Software Bidco, has launched StaffSearcher.com.au, an online staff referral service that combines elements of a jobs board and a social network.

Business owners pay a nominal fee to post a role onto the StaffSearcher online job board.  Referrers create a database of their contacts and job skills. The StaffSearcher system then sends referrers on the database an automatic email when a role is posted on the job board that reasonably matches the experience and skills of someone in their network.  The referrer then contacts the relevant potential candidate and determines their interest in the role.

So what's in it for referrers? Money, what else?

Referrers get paid a “finder’s fee” should someone they recommend be placed in a role. The idea is that employers should be able to tap into a vast untapped reservoir of passive candidates who are not necessarily looking for a job but come highly recommended by friends and colleagues.

Naturally, similar and much larger business social networks such as LinkedIn already exist and, like LinkedIn, if StaffSearcher becomes widespread, one would expect some of its biggest users to be recruitment agents.

“Business owners are struggling to generate a sufficient supply of quality candidates through their existing recruitment channels and we identified the need to offer an effective solution at a rate that’s affordable by small business owners,” says Tim Reed, CEO of MYOB.

“StaffSearcher will work well whatever the state of the employment market.  It will work in a higher unemployment market as the solution has the ability to sort through the candidates, and in a low unemployment market, as it taps into the passive job market.  And, in both of these situations, the employer chooses what they are prepared to pay to find a candidate and will need to make very little time investment to get a quality result, which is good news at any time.

“StaffSearcher has been developed in partnership with HooJano, an emerging business operated by a small group of recruitment technology experts determined to revolutionise the recruitment process,” said Mr Reed.