US marketplace for tech job seekers Hired launches in Australia

US startup Hired has today launched its platform for tech job seekers in Australia. Starting with a focus on in-demand tech roles, Hired looks to give the power back to candidates, allowing them to be in control of the job hunting process.

Hired seeks to do this by flipping the traditional job board on its head: instead of having candidates apply to a company, the company applies to the candidates. To ensure the best talent is offered on the platform, Hired selects the top five to eight percent to be featured. Those candidates have a two-week window where companies can apply left, right and centre, creating a competitive hiring process.

The advantage with this model is candidates gain exposure and have the opportunity to work for companies they’ve never heard of before. Especially when it comes to tech, with startups popping up each and every day, Hired gives companies a chance to gain the most sought after talent.

Through an interview request, companies give candidates insights into salary, compensation and the specific role they’re looking for.

Hired has been in beta since February; it has so far featured 17,500 job seekers and 500 companies in Australia, including the likes of Canva and Uber. CEO of Hired, Mehul Patel revealed that these growth figures have surpassed all previous international markets and believes that this is a positive sign of opportunity and demand in the Australian market.

According to a Digital Pulse report, a total of 3,638 students completed an IT degree in 2014, which is half the number than that of 10 years earlier. The same report estimates that there will be over 100,000 more tech jobs by 2020. The tech skills gaps has been widely talked about among both the government and the tech community.

Earlier this year the City of Sydney released an action plan to support the growth of the city’s tech startup landscape, while startup community TechSydney raised over $500,000 to help push Sydney into the top ten of the world’s best startup ecosystems.

“The needs of tech startups are often very different to those of other small businesses. To create the jobs of the future, we need to find ways to develop more skilled entrepreneurs, particularly women, and enable them to scale and succeed in a large and often global market,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore, previously explained.

What’s interesting is that employers are struggling to find IT workers even now, when we are right on the cusp of a tech boom. ManpowerGroup’s Talent Shortage Survey reveals that IT staff are currently the fifth most difficult workers to hire for in Australia.

“This shift is happening alongside another important transformation in the way that people and companies in Australia think about work. Individuals don’t just want jobs. They want work that feels challenging, meaningful, and aligned with their goals and lifestyle,” said Patel.

“And businesses don’t just want employees. They want purpose-driven individuals who are passionate about contributing to their mission,” he added.

Hired was launched in 2012 and has now grown into 17 different markets worldwide. From day one the platform has been global, allowing candidates to sign up and apply for jobs in different geographies. From market research Sascha Grey, general manager of Hired for the ANZ region, said that Australians are some of the most willing to travel for work.

“We’ve seen from the early adopters, clients who have a strong appetite to reach out to our international candidates. That’s been very unique in terms of other cities around the world. We’ve seen 39 percent of interview requests be sent internationally,” explained Grey.

“I think that’s been driven by the lack of supply we have in the market here. There’s a huge growth in the sector, but there’s really not enough candidates in the tech scene here to meet the demand. We’re able to give clients here access to that talent around the world.”

Patel explained that the idea for Hired came from two issues that needed to be solved.

“One was, we’re moving from a manufacturing economy to an innovation economy, we’re moving from people working with their hands to what’s in their heads,” he said.

“The second idea was that job boards don’t work and LinkedIn leads to a lot of spam. Can you build a platform that’s all about the candidate?”

While Hired is currently focused on the tech industry, this product can be opened to all industries where supply meets demand. In 2017 the startup will be looking at launching into other categories, such as freelancers. In the US and the UK, Hired has already expanded into sales and marketing and hopes to build the tech community in Australia before moving into other verticals.

Image: Matt Mickiewicz, Sascha Gray and Mehul Patel. Source: Supplied.