This discovery, no doubt, has proven that the conventional method of pre-recruitment selection for tests and interviews used by many companies in Nigeria are usually time consuming, expensive and difficult to manage.

In this interview, Mr. Osho Abiodun, managing director of Jobsearch Nigeria Limited, speaks on the new dynamics of the company's e-recruitment platform. Excerpts:


COULD you please, tell us about Jobsearch Nigeria Limited?

Jobsearch Nigeria is an information and communication technology firm with a core interest in database solution technology. What we have done in our company is to develop a site called jobsearchnigeria.com. Jobsearch Nigeria.com is basically a database website, we developed as a platform between job-seekers and recruiters. As you know, the problem we have today in our society is unemployment. You see graduates that have left schools for about seven years, five or three years and they are still looking for jobs. Some of them that are working are just barely managing at one company or the other and at the same time if you look at the process of recruitment in Nigeria, you would discover that it is still very outdated. We have followed closely the conventional method of recruiting job seekers in Nigeria, a situation by which applicants Curriculum Vitae (CV) are sorted out manually.

We believe the method is obsolete, expensive, mind bugling and time consuming, considering the advancement in information and communication technology in the 21st century. Many applications sent by post in response to advertisements do not get to their destinations or get there later than intended. Job seekers spend lots of money, go to wrong places, exhaust their energy, abuse their bodies and health and in the process become psychologically and emotionally troubled.

How does it work?

Now, as a job seeker, all that you have to do is to buy our scratch card which is five hundred naira (N500) and has one year validity. When you buy our scratch card, containing 12 digits you just go to a cyber café, there is a pin number behind the card, you type in the pin number to your system which you log on to the site and it would give you the CV format. There is already a paraphrasing format, so when you log in, your pin number will give you a standard CV format which can aid you to fill in your information and after filling, you post or submit your information (CV) to www.jobsearch.nigeri.com data base.

But at the point of filling your information, the system would ask you very important questions. One, it would ask you to create your password and your user's name. The card like I said has one year validity and with unlimited access during which job seekers can update their CVs from time to time as the need arises. The moment you use the card, another person cannot use it. But with our new concept, you can remain on the platform for the next one year, so any time you want to update your CV, you can still go back to your platform and update it. So, when you submit your cv, that is the end of the task.

So, how do you get back to the job seeker?

Now, after seeing every information about an employer of labour, they can send e-mail to you, SMS or call you on phone. Some companies today now conduct their first and second stage interviews on phone before they can ask the job seekers to come to their office for the last stage. So, they see every information about you on site before they invite you for interview.

This access code we give to companies is free of charge and so far we have given it out to over one thousand companies in Nigeria. So, where we make our money is basically from the scratch cards which cost only N500 and we believe this amount is moderate enough that anybody can afford it because if one move from one place to another in search of job, as a job seeker, even in a day, you can spend much more than that. That again, is the beauty of it. So, your CV is well exposed and the cost of searching for job is reduced and also the hazard of moving from one city to another is removed and at the same time, you are linked to strong and potential companies. We are not talking about business centres here, rather we are talking about big corporations.

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As part of our re-launch campaign, we are kicking off with a motor ride campaign which would last for about sixty days to make sure that everybody is aware of the product because when it comes to the issue of technology, it is perfect. By the grace of God, we have our host in the UK and up time is 24 hours 99.9 per cent. So, for twenty four hours, you can't say after buying our scratch card, on getting to the website that you could not access it. There is nothing like that. We have a credible host company in the UK that is hosting our database and we are running on a dynamic server. But we believe as a job seeker, you should be computer literate, so our concept is so beautiful and very unique, particularly as our search engine is very dynamic in such a way that once you just put in your parameter, the system will download it within seconds and at the same time, adequate security measures are put in place to guard your password and other data.

Who are your target clients?

Our target people are actually corps members, (NYSC), numerous job seekers, both the unemployed and those who want a change of job. Because in Nigeria, until you are on your own, you need a job, because somebody may be counting on your experience to even employ you. Also those in the higher institutions, either universities or polytechnics equally need the card particularly those in their final years.