New confidence for job seekers concerned with fraud and identity theft

CHICAGO, IL (October 10, 2005) A new online development called QuietAgent promises answers to growing global concerns about identity theft and job fraud for job board users, and introduces a new concept of allowing people to remain anonymous yet be invited by employers to get together if they have a strong mutual interest in each other.

Privacy concerns for job seekers were recently aired by the World Privacy Forum, with experts warning that identity theft and job fraud have become very real threats for anyone that risks posting their résumé on a job board.

QuietAgent provides a different approach to both job boards and trendy networking and referral website tools.  Jason Kerr, CEO for the technology company behind QuietAgent explains its simplicity; “job boards use an advertising-driven model that we call a ‘you find us’ approach for job seekers looking for work. Networking tools by comparison employ ‘we find you’ name generation tactics in order to find candidates. QuietAgent’s unique model is based on a ‘let’s find each other’ process between job seekers and employers that guarantees total privacy and a high level of mutual interest before any match is made”.

QuietAgent was created by technology company StaffCV, whose team set out three years ago to confront universal online recruiting issues, and create a next-generation tool to address problems associated with the decade-old and failing job board model. Kerr says that their aim was to “deliver equal opportunity and anonymous participation for everyone, whether actively seeking work, unemployed, underemployed or happily in employment”.

Job seekers visiting QuietAgent complete a detailed résumé profile that is separated by QuietAgent into ‘private’ and ‘public’ sections, and then set their desired career interests (a concise set of minimum requirements for jobs, company types, locations, sectors, work types and benefits they require to be met before they would consider an opportunity).

Job seekers remain anonymous, which Kerr says will “appeal to people who may consider a better opportunity if it was presented to them with anonymity”.

QuietAgent employers create shortlists that only contain mutually interested people who meet or exceed their needs, and who are also willing to work for them in the type of job they have on offer. They are able to view ‘public’ information of short-listed job seekers, but cannot view any ‘private’ information. They use an invitation process to invite a job seeker to release their private résumé information.

Job seekers receiving invitations know that someone has personally reviewed their résumé, so experience a person-to-person, qualified interaction, rather than an automated computer alert. They have the confidence of knowing that only validated employers can participate, and that they have final control over release of their private information.

QuietAgent challenges the accepted ‘pay to participate’ norm for recruitment, and delivers its service on a ‘success’ basis, charging a small fee to employers if they are successful in inviting a job seeker to release their privacy.

QuietAgent has been embraced by Chambers of Commerce in Chicago and New York that now offer QuietAgent candidate sourcing services to members and non-members. QuietAgent’s global community also includes over fifty education providers that encourage their students and alumni to join for career, internship and vacation work opportunities.

Kerr says job seekers concerned about privacy and fraud can now truly ‘firewall’ themselves online using QuietAgent; “they can confidently market themselves globally, only deal with qualified invitations from real employers, and remain completely anonymous until they are comfortable releasing their private information”.

Kerr is excited about taking QuietAgent to the world in 2005. He says that “for the past ten years, job boards have been the staple diet of the online recruiter. The online recruitment market is confused and well overdue for a creative solution and a big shift in direction. We think that QuietAgent will deliver just the transformation it needs”.