Curated Intel from the Talent Tech Industry
March 21-27, 2022:
• Recognizing the upside for job boards: Talent.com raises $120M to fuel more growth worldwide;
• Removing the fog of job search: CareerBuilder opens CoLab to clarify individual career options;
• Exercising caution but still playing: VC startup funding down in Feb but still near 12 mo. average;
• Finding the grass ain’t greener: Study finds 72% of job switchers now regret making the move;
• Powering job boards with AI: Rolebot grabs $4.5M to source diverse, high performing teams.
PLUS
• Wanna’ connect with talent technology analysts, but can’t get through the tsunami of HR tech companies at other conferences? Then, TAtech North America & The World Job Board Forum is the perfect event for you. It features both a panel of leading analysts sharing the secrets to making a good first impression and the opportunity to meet with them in the conference’s Deal Center. Don’t miss this unique opportunity – Early Bird registration is now available.
Talent.com Raises $120M Amid Hot Market For Job Platforms
Online job platforms have been popular areas for venture funding since the initial dot-com boom more than two decades ago. Nonetheless, recent funding activity indicates VCs still see plenty more opportunity for innovation and growth in the space. For example, Montreal-based job search platform Talent.com announced it raised $120 million a Series B funding round led by Inovia Capital and joined by new and existing investors. The company, which operates across 78 countries, also recently raised $30 million in debt financing to fund its expansion. The fundraise follows a period of sharp growth. Talent.com has roughly tripled in size since Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec first invested in 2019, according to a statement from CDPQ Vice President Alexandre Synnett. The company says it has 28 million unique monthly visitors worldwide and sends over 50 million personalized job alerts per day to jobseekers’ inboxes.
CareerBuilder launches CoLab to provide job seekers with clear career advice
CareerBuilder, a global talent acquisition leader and job marketplace, launched CoLab, a resource hub designed to offer job seekers critical information that helps them make confident decisions related to current and future career choices. In a recent survey, CareerBuilder found that users were having difficulty navigating the job search process without advice and clarity related to their personal skillset and specific job postings. Job seekers were looking for a resource that could answer outstanding questions about roles and job descriptions found online to make informed choices and maximize their earning potential. CoLab was developed in response to these survey findings and provides a summary of potential career paths based on a role and location that the user is interested in. Job seekers can now explore individualized insights including a position's earning potential, resume samples specific to the role, companies hiring for that role and other job discovery tools.
February Startup Funding Dips As Investors Show New Caution
Global venture funding in February 2022 fell by $10 billion month over month, clocking in at $52 billion, based on an analysis of Crunchbase data, as startup investors seem to be coming off last year’s highs and assessing the impact of the Ukrainian conflict, record inflation and public-market turmoil. It’s also worth keeping in mind that startup funding last month was still up year over year compared to February 2021 by $10 billion—a 24 percent increase. And funding in the past month was not far below the 12-month average of $55 billion we saw in 2021, a period in which annual venture funding soared 100 percent compared to 2020.
'Great Resignation': Over 70% of workers regret quitting their jobs
The majority of U.S. workers who changed jobs during the "Great Resignation" actually regret quitting and even feel a sense of buyer's remorse, according to a new survey. Seven out of ten workers — about 72% — admitted that they were surprised to learn that their new roles or companies were different from what they were led to believe during the interview process, according to the survey of more than 2,500 millennial and GenZ job seekers by The Muse. The Muse CEO Kathryn Minshew described the trend as "shift shock." "They'll join a new company thinking it's their dream job and then there's a reality check," Minshew told FOX Business. Minshew explained that, in some cases, job seekers don't ask the right questions during an interview process. Other times, it's because a recruiter misrepresented the role or was overly optimistic about the company in an effort to get them to join, she explained.
Rolebot raises $4.5M for smart sourcing of diverse and top-performing teams
Rolebot, Inc. raised $4.5 million for its AI-powered job board for top-tier, passive talent from Data Point Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Jason Calacanis, and the LAUNCH fund. Rolebot's AI finds the most promising talent likely to look for a new opportunity by creating an ideal look-alike of your best employees and delivering an instant pipeline of diverse candidates each day to your Inbox. With no job descriptions, no resumes, and no job postings, the system guarantees that one-third of candidates are diverse and reverses much of the bias inherent in the traditional hiring system. Rolebot helps companies exceed diversity goals and are active across many sectors. Notable customers include Snowflake (software engineering), American Red Cross (non-profit), Moss Adams (professional services), Dentsu (marketing agency), USC (higher education), and Randstad (staffing agency)." The two-minute setup begins by plugging in two profiles of top performers in that role. With that seed, the AI builds a profile based on 100 publicly accessible data points across the web, including social media, conferences, blogs, certifications, and professional networking communities. The following day the platform delivers a list of candidates for thumbs up/thumbs down rating, tuning the results and giving you the best fit for the job without bias. To ensure candidates have a positive experience, Rolebot's Talent Success team (real humans) oversees the process.
Meet the Analysts Who Make a Difference in Talent Technology Sales
Industry analysts are important for two reasons: they heavily influence employers’ purchases of technology, and VCs and private equity companies often rely on their views when making investment decisions. Whether you’re a new version of a job board or job marketplace or a recruitment marketing solution with a new feature, whether you’re advancing the capabilities of conversational AI or pushing the envelope in programmatic ad buying or candidate management systems, you’ve got a story to tell to analysts in the HR/TA field … and now you’ll get your chance at TAtech North America & The World Job Board Forum. The conference will be held on May 31-June 2 in Austin and feature a Who’s Who of industry analysts. Join us!