eHarmony adding Headhunter to their resume

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http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/08/eharmony-to-help-employers-find-that-special-someone

eHarmony is making an attempt to do more than just hook up people looking for love, they are looking to hook up job seekers and employers. This is a smart decision. It will allow eHarmony to diversify their portfolio. Instead of solely being the site used to match people for relationships, it will use their profile to match personalities. It is a new twist to the job market and may potentially pose a challenge to headhunters. Are you listening Linkedin? The thing that is interesting is that eHarmony may be able to prove that their matching algorithm really works. They claim that they are capable of matching lovers by using a complex and patented formula based on years and years of research. Why can’t the same be done for job seekers. Just recently, eHarmony made an attempt to expand their services to help couples maintain their relationships. They tried to shake off the impression that once you are in a relationship, their services are not needed. Why would you renew your membership if you already found your soul mate? Very good question. By including relationship advice, support, and forum, they attempted to lure you in to stay logged in eHarmony. The mindset eHarmony has is this: shifting the paradigm that the website can do much more with the profile they have on you. You know, the questionnaire that took you 2 hours to complete during registration? That same profile can be used by companies when searching for a candidate for an opening. How enticing would that be?

I think it is a great idea if it works. It is the million dollar question that has been eluding every recruiting and talent managers in each company. Companies are willing to pay premium to find the right candidate to fill their position. By finding the right person the first time, it saves the company money from having to train someone only to be let go months later and start from scratch again. The issue is money can only buy access to more candidates. That may resolve the issue of having a small pool of candidates but it will not help them from finding the right candidate. eHarmony may be able to fill that void.

There are many things to consider when hiring someone. This goes beyond the resume including GPA. Some may carry the most amazing credential and background but may be too up tight for an up and coming company. This is how personality matching can come into play. I can totally imagine this scenario. The company is looking for a candidate with x, y, and z personality. The reason is the team that they will work with has the same mentality and it is important they can mesh together well. In comes eHarmony. The company fills out a ‘wish list’ and eHarmony will search amongst its database for people matching those attributes. eHarmony can send maybe 10 candidates depending on the price level. It’s a win-win-win. If companies are hiring, they will be more than happy to pay for employee matching like eHarmony. Job seekers are more than willing to pony up $20/month to get more exposure to hiring companies. eHarmony gets paid from both fronts.