MATCHING PLATFORM FOR JOB SEEKERS

Finding a job that suits you is not always smooth sailing. You often have to go through several rounds of applications, only to discover at the employment conditions interview that expectations are miles apart. This can be done more efficiently, says Elon Höfte. That is why he and his brother Hidde started the matching platform Vactise, on which job seekers present themselves to organizations instead of vice versa. Elon talks about their ambitions.

The idea for Vactise arose from a personal need, says Elon. “I have a background in both technology and sales. That's a highly sought-after combination, so when I was looking for something new, recruiters flooded me with messages. At one point, after many conversations, I discovered during the employment conditions interview that there was no match. So then I wondered: why don't we start with transparency about expectations? Nowadays, many vacancy texts remain vague about what the job is really about. Think of terms such as a 'competitive salary' or 'no 9-5 mentality'. If you make those expectations clear in advance, you will save time in the application process, and you can achieve much better matches. That is what we do.”

Anonymous profile

Job seekers who register on the platform get various tests to map their behavior and personality. They then indicate their preferences for a job, and a profile is created based on that. “That profile is 100% anonymous,” Elon explains. “They are given a fictitious name from a database, and their profile photo is blurred. A company receives a completely anonymous overview with information about its ambitions, work experience, languages, and the like. The company will see the real personal information only when the job seeker accepts the match. One of the things we want to do is ensure that teams become more diverse, because such teams are often more productive.”

Right people in the right place

In other words, a kind of extensive Tinder for employers and job seekers. This brings several advantages. “The fact that teams are becoming more diverse is one of the advantages,” says Elon. “Vactise also ensures that the right people end up in the right place. Due to vague job descriptions, many job seekers drop out, while companies are desperate for talent. With our platform, companies can hire people more targeted and faster, who then stay with the company longer because the match is good. This is beneficial because employees in the first year often mainly cost money instead of make money. Because expectations are clear in advance, employee turnover decreases, and job satisfaction increases.”

Valuable advice

The platform has been live for over two months now, and the first reactions are positive. Elon: “We had support for validation during the ADVANCED program. The START program helped us a lot with the validation process, but ADVANCED really gave us a boost. That 1-on-1 coaching gave us valuable advice that we could use further.” And that's what they want: to go further. Because the ambitions are grand. “We want to be the leading matching platform that improves the current application procedure. We want to renew, strengthen, and improve the process. In the coming months, we will use pilots to discover which markets are most relevant and how to improve the platform. We ultimately want to become the booking.com of job sites.