Need help launching new contractor job board

[davley2]

Hi,
I am trying to launch a new IT recruitment website called Skillect (www.skillect.com). It is in the early stages, but I am hoping to get some jobs on there, and then get contractors to go on the site.

I really want this project to work and am sure it will. It is dedicated to Contractors.
Can anyone give me advice as to how I can get companies/agencies to post jobs on the site. I have offered free job posting till end of March, google ads, cold calling etc.
Thanks for any constructive advice you can give.

[chicane]

So the jobs currently posted are fictional?

[davley2]

need help...

yes...my plan is to first get some real jobs on..then get word out to candidates...but it has been hard at times. i do not want to steal any jobs

[Cheshire Cat]

gis a job.

[chicane]

yes...my plan is to first get some real jobs on..then get word out to candidates...but it has been hard at times. i do not want to steal any jobs

It's always something of a chicken & egg situation with new websites like this. No agency or company will want to bother posting on the site unless you've got sufficient traffic, and nobody will visit the site unless there's real content on it.

I'd be tempted to contact agencies to get permission to copy and paste their job ads from Jobserve into your site although this could be a legal grey area given Jobserve's terms and conditions. Same with direct recruiters and job ads on their sites. This is obviously going to involve a fair bit of effort on your part but that's life. You could probably set up some automated tools to help you on your way.

I'd also suggest that you have a think about what makes your site different and/or better than an established business like Jobserve or CWJobs. They've got 100 times more budget than you have - there's no chance of being able to take them on if all you're doing is replicating what they offer.

[Ardesco]

Also you don't need to double post....

[Cheshire Cat]

yep, as someone said earlier, what's your USP?
Having a site "just for contractors" without all the permie bumf on it isn't enough. I can filter out permie roles quite easily on jobserve using a simple dropdown box, so the question remains, why should I use this site and not jobserve etc?

[davley2]

thanks

thanks for that chicane. originally, i wanted skillect.com to focus on giving small to medium sized firms the chance to get in IT talent, (eg after hours, weekend etc)...so I do want it to be different. It is dedicated to contract work...so I think a niche market is there...
At the moment though...i need to get jobs on quickly...
It is a bit of a chicken/egg scenario...but I believe in the vision...

[davley2]

skillect.com

Skillect can be different from other sites
-Just for contractors
-All kinds of work...including more direct work with companies so that contractors themselves can build up their own client base...eg a server guy could get work with a company to do server maintenance for 10 hours per month.
-weekend work
-out of hours
etc in addition to normal agency stuff.

I myself am a contractor...so I am trying to build something that will help other contractors too. i would love if I had 5 small companies to do small bits of work for. Can't just depend on agency stuff...

[moorfield]

Hasn't this been tried - and failed - many times before ? What's different this time ? How's it going to work once all the pimps get wind of it ?