In today’s world it is an undeniable fact that the good jobs are on the internet. Not because the tech companies are booming but also because as people are becoming more tech savvy, they want to use this technology to connect rather than going through all the paper work of the old times. Also, it is very prudent to just do a background check on a person before hiring him or her and what is easier that googling the name.
Thus, it is very important to have a professional online identity with which people can recognize you.
Switch Idea, a young Indian startup, aims to create that identity for you using your existing social networks. In Switch Idea’s 20 year old founder Niranjan Yadav’s own words, they want to extract real juice from social networking websites and turn them into channels of employment for job seekers.
Lets look at Switch Idea a bit closely…
Contents
Creating a Profile
A simple enough procedure which requires one to connect at least one of your social account (of the main four- Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter) and choose a username and password. After that you are required to fill all the basic resume details which are then neatly arranged in your vcard. It is a onetime thing and to be honest not a big pain. Somehow for me, the description was limited to just the first line but I assume it is a bug which will be soon ironed out.
After the initial creation of profile it will be just an update every time something is needed to be changed.
Look and Feel
This is one thing that is very important in my opinion when thinking of something like a vcard. It has to be visually appealing and in my opinion this is somewhere switch idea has hit the sweet spot.
Compared to LinkedIn profiles (which over the period of time have become cluttered) this vcard is great to look at and share. The information is also neatly arranged in a way that is easy for an employer to see.
Your vcard contains practically all the information that is needed and more with your resume and portfolio all in separate tabs. Also present are the links to your social accounts so that a person can directly see them and connect with you.
Also, there is a PIN number associated with every user (or vcard) which acts as a unique identifier for that person and helps in keeping contact with that person as well.
For the Employers
As with employees, the employer can also create his account and post a job position. Users are notified accordingly and employer can get his needed employee.
Final Words
The basic idea is that as your vcard does not require a person to have an account it is easy to share. The same thing can be done with LinkedIn profile. Even if not logged in, one can view any person’s profile.
What I liked about Switch Idea vcard is that one, it is aesthetically pleasing. Two, it can have links to more than just LinkedIn. The problem though is that people are already using LinkedIn and creating a new profile means overcoming inertia which as we have often seen with social networks is a difficult task.
Give it a spin and let us know what you think about this new startup!
Thanks for sharing this…it is such a coincidence that none of my friends has started a similar company and has roped in the benefits of the internet. He now has another goal…to form a company that will harper the success of social media…cool na? He has posted his idea on http://smallbusinessindia.intuit.in/contest/contest.php. If you have an idea as well…why don't u post it as well. One small start-up might bring about a huge change…right?
Aruna, I am still confused by what you meant to say – is it “none” or “some”!
Oh I think what Aruna meant was ‘One’. Its actually a good idea…keeping in mind how technology is developing. You know what? Have you heard of Gunjan Goela? She is a renowned chef from Delhi. She has also been a part of the above mentioned contest. You get free tips also and you can win too!! ;-)
Do you know what – I sense that the individual who is commenting with the titles of “Aruna” and “Vinod” is the same person. #LOL #PityForThem