Business Monday

Job search

Matchmaker for technology talent trolls the Internet

 

Kansas City Star

Here’s one more reason to be careful about where you plant your digital footprint.

A new online job matching site for tech talent says it wants to be for jobs what eHarmony is for romantic matchmaking.

It does that by sweeping the Web for hints about your personality and your interests. Then it produces a rating for how well you appear to fit job openings posted by employers.

The website, Path.To, went live Sept. 4 for the Kansas City market, joining previous startups in Silicon Valley, New York City, Boston, Chicago, Portland, Austin and Boulder. Omaha and Des Moines launch this month, too.

Founder Darren Bounds said that his team uses algorithms to give job applicants a score — 70 to 100 means a possible good fit.

An applicant’s score comes from a combination of factors, including professional experience and a personality assessment.

It also comes from trolling the Web to see what job candidates have posted on social media and if they contributed to any professional journals.

“We analyze your body of work, your interests, your passions to help tech employers find candidates that match their needs, not only technically but personally,” Bounds said.

Path.To got a $1.5 million startup investment from Adecco and will be posting job openings through that agency. But the site also is open to any employer looking for software engineers, interactive designers and other IT professionals.

Bounds said the site plans to charge employers a flat fee of $199 per job posting. (It’s free to job hunters.) In return, the site will give the employer “unlimited introductions” to good candidates, he said.

Bounds said the score calculation avoids age, race or sex discrimination. Rather, it focuses on culture and personality as much as technical talent. That’s the algorithm’s secret.

Bounds said that the Silicon Valley tech community has embraced the site and that job placements have been made.

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