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Latin Interactive World: “Only 15% of job sites allow to complete applications via smartphones” -L. Salazar, Jobaline.

Portada interviewed Luis Salazar, president and co-founder of Jobaline, an application that publishes job offers and sends them to users via mobile phones. Luis talked to Portada about his future plans and why it is essential to have a mobile strategy to reach Hispanic consumers in the US.

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LuisJSalazar2013Portada interviewed Luis Salazar, president and co-founder of Jobaline, an application that publishes job offers and sends them to users via mobile phones.  Luis talked to Portada about his future plans and why it is essential to have a mobile strategy to reach Hispanic consumers in the US.

Portada: How did the idea for the application come up?

Luis Salazar, president and co-founder Jobaline: “”The approximately 75 million hourly workers are the heart of the U.S. economy, accounting for almost 60% of the total workforce (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012″).Millions of hirings are constantly taking place and this workforce  has internet access through their mobile devices. 90% of them prefer to communicate via text messaging. However, there are no modern technologies to complete these jobs applications using mobile devices, so we decided to create Jobaline.com a labor market that allows not only to search but also to complete job applications from any PC, tablet or phone, including  text messaging.”

Is  mobile’s  use for job searches widespread among  Hispanics?   Is it a prevalent form among companies to  seek employees through mobile? 

Luis Salazar: “In this segment, more than 60% of workers prefer to use their mobile devices for job search; however, only 15% of employment sites allow to complete applications from a smart phone. Mobile devices penetration in the Hispanic segment is very high and in fact Nielsen  reports that Hispanics lead in terms of penetration of  mobile technologies. Given this reality, companies are seeking mobile recruitment solutions. Companies are of course highly interested in this because unless they t have a mobile solution they cannot access efficiently to this workforce. These inefficiencies result in a huge cost for companies. For example, a recent study carried out by Evolv2 shows that US $ 350 billion are wasted annually in inefficient recruitment processes.”

What is mobile’s benefit for job searches (for both companies and applicants)?

Luis Salazar:” We have our phones with us 24/7 and having a text messaging conversation is something natural. Another great benefit of mobile devices is that they allow to complement employment applications with oral answers to a job interview. Allowing capturing all these dimensions a mobile device results in an employment application of much higher quality than just a resume. Our clients (companies) report not only an increase in the volume of applications (because they can apply from their phones), but the quality of candidates for employment.”

How many users does Jobaline have?

Foto: Esther Vargas. Creative Commons.
Foto: Esther Vargas. Creative Commons.

Luis Salazar: “Since our launch in summer 2013, we have processed more than 180,000 job applications for leading companies in the areas of construction, insurance, hotels, supermarkets, small companies and the largest temporary staff hiring companies.”

Could you tell us about a successful search campaign?

Luis Salazar: “Madden Industrial Craftsmen is one successful example. With Jobaline’s help they have increased hiring’s volume and their quality. Hundreds of local workers were put back into the work force. Rick Moreno, its Director of Operations, is an industry expert and innovator. For instance He is starting a campaign on several bus routes in Seattle, Olympia, Tacoma, etc., where he is placing ads such as:  “are you looking for a job? send a text message with YYY code to number XXX and apply from your mobile now. “Another successful story is how Univision Seattle has a weekly segment with “hot” week jobs. Apply by text message or mobile phone is a perfect complement to a medium like TV.”

Are you planning to expand to other markets? Any in Latin America?

Luis Salazar: “We have plans to expand nationwide in the U.S. and towards the end of 2014 we will probably launch our job market in Mexico and Brazil, where large TV, print and online groups have contacted us to bring this solution to their markets.”

In which sectors do you see particularly high growth? 

Luis Salazar: “The fastest growth we expect in the U.S. is in the areas of hotel industry, food and beverage, sales, logistics and construction. Many large companies have contacted us because they want to get closer to the Hispanic segment.”

Luis Salazar is co-founder and President of Jobaline. Luis has worked as an executive at Microsoft (CEO and co-founder of Microsoft Office 365, Global Sales Director to medium enterprises), Yahoo! (Worldwide Vice-president of Product Marketing) and Xerox Latin America. He is an expert in the media digital communications industries and high-tech software, with successful tactical and strategic experience in global operations, marketing and product development. Luis has successfully launched more than 20 global products and successfully formulated marketing strategies in consumption and business segments.

 

 

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