New technology alert: Resumefit

I met with Tom Schmidt, the founder of Resumefit, a candidate-facing assessment tool, not too long ago. I was intrigued by the possibilities their business model presented, specifically the idea of candidates getting "pre-assessed" before they applied for a job. They're still pretty early on in their evolution, but I am still completely intrigued by the concept.

Competency-based and personality-based assessments today work for employers to help them weed through applicants, and cost them a pretty penny as you multiply it out over the large volume of candidates they often get. But what if candidates bore some of this burden? Could it solve a major problem for them, i.e. getting noticed for a position by providing third-party, objective data that shows how qualified they are?

This is exactly what Resumefit is focused on, helping candidates use assessments as a way to differentiate themselves when they submit their resumes. Imagine what a difference it could make if a candidate came to you and said "Here's my resume, and here's how well my personality and workplace competencies fit this job profile." That could be a marked improvement over a standard, traditional resume, which usually tells you absolutely nothing about how good a person is at their job.

Another problem out there waiting to be solved is the "firehose" of resumes that employers get - which might be reduced by using this type of approach to help candidates decide whether they should apply in the first place. An enterprising job board would be wise to check out the solution and see if there's a way to build it into their platform - the possibilities and value that could be delivered could be huge.