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RealMatch offers another Web job search option
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Washington, D.C. (Map, News) - RealMatch.com is the second D.C.-area competitor in a month to emerge in the job search market.
Like Smuz.com, an Alexandria-based company that debuted in April, Potomac-based RealMatch is billing itself as an alternative to industry leaders such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com. RealMatch got its start as another company, RedMatch, which produced software that powered local career sites sponsored by newspapers and broadcasting companies, according to Rafael Cosentino, the firm’s vice president of business development. The firm changed its name 60 days ago and launched a destination Web site to bring in job seekers, employers and recruiters.
RealMatch is distinctive from its competitors in two ways, according to Cosentino. Instead of relying on keyword searches, which Cosentino said are often inaccurate and misleading, the firm’s software program matches candidate to employer using specific skills necessary for the jobs.
The company also has a different business model — it makes its money not by charging people to post job ads on the site, but by making them pay $25 for the identity of an applicant, should they find someone who matches their job requirements. Not charging for listings follows the general trend of players like Craigslist and new entrant Smuz, which assume people don’t want to pay just to list jobs. Smuz did not immediately return calls Wednesday.
The company also is using its matching technology to power job search sites for existing players. It has already signed deals with MIT’s Technologyreview.com and McGraw Hill’s Accessmedicine.com.
“I love it conceptually, because it’s different,” said Paul Villella, chief executive officer of Reston-based recruitment firm HireStrategy.
But Villella said he wasn’t convinced his firm, which does a large volume of recruiting per month, would significantly save money by paying through RealMatch’s system versus alternatives like Monster.com. He also didn’t see how the site would draw more qualified candidates than the established players.
melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
8:06 AM MST on Thu., May. 15, 2008 re: "RealMatch offers another Web job search option"
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Examiner Reader said:
If these guys power the career channels of sites where professionals already go, they wont have to draw any users to their own site.
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