It’s one of the biggest recruiting challenges: luring passive candidates to a new company. Some online services claim they can help — by paying people to put themselves on the job market.
The first example is NotchUp.com. Basically, it’s an online resume bank with a catch: You have to pay the job-seekers to set up an interview. When people post resumes, they set a price for how much their time is worth (there’s a calculator that computes a “reasonable” amount, based on experience and field). The going rate seems to be somewhere around $500 per interview.
A similar site is ApplicantTree.com. There, recruiters can see resumes, and have to pay a fee (between $15 and $100, depending on experience) to get the person’s contact info. The candidate gets half of that fee.
Is it worth it?
Both sites claim that paying people for their time is a way to attract potential employees who otherwise wouldn’t even have a resume posted. They also have a user feedback system set up to weed out people who try to become “professional interviewees.” But does that mean companies are going to find people who are serious about taking a new job, or just people who will pretend to be serious in order to get paid?
Who knows. We’re guessing it’s the latter, but it’s too early to tell if this is a successful model. What do you think? Would you pay a candidate just to come in for an interview. Let us know in the comments section.
