Resume databases in Australia – Q&A with nt3

The business model is simple – offer free job postings to employers, attract candidates and convince them to part with their resumes, create a candidate pool, and charge access fee to employers.

Resume databases has been around in Australia for as long as job boards existed. The mainstream players (SEEK, MyCareer, Careerone) maintained resume databases as an add-on to their job listing services, with varying degrees of commercial success. Customers never really warmed up to the idea of paying for both job listing and access to a database. More importantly, resume aged quickly and no one seems to be able to get around the problem of outdated databases.

Enter specialist resume database providers, with promises of free unlimited job postings and charging a fee for database access. NowHiring was one of the first players to introduce a “free job posting, pay for database access’ model in Australia. Linkme charge monthly access fees, and focus heavily on traffic development through a content rich site. nt3 introduced a pay-per-use model to unlock candidates’ contact details. New players like Bluestrike (pay per resume) and Wazza (charge phone call fee to employers) are entering the market. We believe more entrants with niche focus and different models are likely to emerge.

Yet, the challenges for database providers are many. PageUp’s research shows that employers are increasingly adept at conversing with candidates and building their own talent pool. Most recruitment firms maintain their own databases, some rivaling commercial databases in size. Job boards are constantly looking at improving and monetise their own databases. Candidates themselves suffers from ‘resume fatigue’, with endless operators asking them to part with their resumes without any clear indication of what they will get in return. In light of this, to stand out pure-play resume database providers will need to offer unique value. Given that resumes becomes outdated quickly, perhaps, value (amongst other things) lies in maintaining updated  databases, and the key to that is maintaining conversation with candidates.

We caught up with the CEO of nt3 Andrew Turnbull for a chin wag, and he sheds some light on nt3’s model and future directions. Andrew can be reached at 07 3829 3333 or andrew@nt3.com.au

DT: Tell us a bit about nt3 – the company, its origins and management team?
AT: Firstly the name of the business -“nt3” stands for – new talent + 3 ways to hunt by Searching, Browsing & Posting Unlimited Free Job Ads! The innovative nt3 (www.nt3.com.au) company was established in 2006 by Andrew Tunbull (CEO) & Tracey Roberts (Director) who had spent over 12.5 years in the recruitment industry as Professional Executive Banking Recruiters and worked for companies like Chandler Macleod, Walker Hamill & Hudson before coming together to build a Job Website that completely broke the mould as far as “Traditional Job Boards” go.  We wanted to build a site that was fair and easy to gain access to and be the first to introduce new technology to the market.

DT: What is NT3 business model and what is it doing differently?
AT: Our main goal when designing www.nt3.com.au, was to build an infrastructure to house a completely free to access CV / Profile database that was fully searchable, that recruiters could come when they needed it, search for free without being hit with upfront access costs or lock in contracts, and getting to hand-pick and shortlist the best available Job Seekers for their vacancy. They simply pay to have the contact details released of only Job Seekers that looked like a solid match for their vacancies. They only pay for what they need on their terms! We embarked on developing a completely new “Headhunting” system for finding staff, to help Recruiters fill vacancies & to address frustrations with current expensive “Job Boards”, “Online Identity Theft” & Paying up front to have access to  “Outdated and irrelevant” Resumes databases!

The old business models on other traditional Job Sites have primarily been based on continuous costs associated with posting Job Ads to “Classified type Job Boards” and costs were increasing with not as many good quality candidates applying, therefore forcing Recruiters to post over and over and paying up front again and again before we were finding the right fit candidates with limitations put on posting our job ads in specified locations & Job Categories. nt3 has smashed the mould on this old way of thinking, with no limitations on Job Posting categories because its Free, and being able to pick anyone from any industry sector to place on their shortlist is rejuvenating to say the least.

The whole aim of nt3 business model is  for our registered Recruiters or Employers to login Free, Search or Browse Job Seeker Profiles with specific industry skills,  fill their shortlist up with up to 5 Job Seekers that look like a solid match for the vacancy (S), message the Job Seekers before they pay to check they are still “Active / Available” and open to be approach with interview offers, and when the messages all come back positive, our clients pay $150.00 to release the Contact details of all 5 candidates to arrange suitable interview times or phone interviews.it’s that simple!

DT: Can you shed some light on the uptake of the service by job seekers ?
AT: www.nt3.com.au is completely free to register and access at all times to both Job Seekers & Recruiters / Employers. Job Seekers feedback on nt3 is that the facility is secure and professional and they are represented on the nt3 system with integrity in an unbiased manner, without having to display photos or personal contact details of themselves initially, to just anyone looking. Job Seekers get to approve who can view their personal information and this allows them to stay in complete control of what companies get access to this information and puts the Job Seeker in an excellent position to negotiate, as the Employers are approaching them have an obvious need for their skills.

Job Seekers can also block any Employer or Recruitment Company from searching their profile, so this keeps the service secure to Job Seekers who want to post a Profile for possible selection, but don’t want their current employer to know they are looking for new opportunities and jeopardise their current employment! . Job Seekers also get access to professional “Interview Tips” & a guide to performing at interviews in their “Employment Preparation” tab when they are logged in. Also information on contracting, profile assistance & example profiles to view, Identity Theft and how to avoid it, Tips for Graduates and links to Graduate focused sites are all free to our registered Job Seekers.

DT: nt3’s catchphrase is – Recruitment, Training and Consulting. Can you elaborate on the ‘training’ and ‘consulting’ side of things?
AT: When designing nt3, we could foresee the opportunity to not only have a fully searchable Online Database of thousands of Job Seekers for the purpose of recruiting new talent , but to also provide superior Training services &  Consulting Services to the industry through third party agreements. Slowly we are adding new services as we find them, and are always keen to talk to new providers who may assist us in reaching this vision. For our registered Job Seekers, nt3 have partnered with industry pioneers in the Training space. One of our recent partnerships has been with www.startnextweek.com.au that has the facility to give our registered users access to thousands of training courses at discounted rates with the added bonus of being able to start almost immediately. nt3 are looking to partner with other Training providers who have innovative products to offer that align with our business model.

DT: How are you getting attention and generating traffic, given candidates are spoilt for choice?
AT: The great news is, for Recruiters who use the www.postjobsonce.com.au multi job ad posting service, and may not have heard of the new nt3 Headhunting Jobsite yet, will now have access to post unlimited Free Job Ads on nt3 and will get all the information about our services marketed by Adlogic as part of the promotion. nt3 are in the process of integrating the Adlogic system and will have around 125,000 Job ads per month being posted to nt3 by the end of October 08 nt3 have started to advertise our services on Facebook, with a great response from both Job Seekers, Recruitment Companies & Employers. Unfortunately after building the site, we are fast running out of additional funds for marketing our fantastic facility. To continue a strong Marketing presence, the nt3 team feel it is time to see if anyone is interested in investing, and have decided to look externally for investment support by inviting interested people to contact us if they wish to find out how they can contribute.

DT: What’s is nt3’s take on the challenges of ‘talent acquisition’?
AT: Fresh thinking is the key to securing talented individuals & differentiating yourself clearly in a crowded market with innovative and easy to access services that benefit the whole community, not just the balance sheet!  Unfortunately the art of genuine interest in helping someone get the job they have always wanted is dying. Recruiters are under more & more pressure to perform with individual targets, company targets and being threatened with their jobs for not performing. This has a huge impact on candidates who are in regular contact with these recruiters. They are left feeling like a number sometimes and feel that they are only called upon when the recruiters feel they can make a buck off the back of their skills.

I was always under the impression that if you genuinely want to help someone reach their goals and get the right opportunity for them, not because you will get a fee for placing them, but because you want that person to be happy with their choices and in turn making sure the Employers are getting the best candidate for their business growth.the money just comes as part of it for doing a great Job. We have built this philosophy into nt3 as a service for the whole community, not just a money grabbing machine!

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alvarocastano/1226019300/