Interview with Skiddy von Stade – onewire.com

Skiddy von Stade is chairman of onewire.com, a US based hiring and career management tool for the finance industry. Here he talks to jobsportalwatch.com about the current market and his plans for onewire.com.

How has OneWire’s recent ad campaign across TV, radio, print and online been received, and what have been the results? And were you concerned about ploughing so much into an ad campaign at this point in time?

OneWire’s ad campaign was extremely targeted, enabling us to make the most efficient use of our ad spend, which was actually rather low considering the terrific results. We saw a 50% increase in traffic and the number of profiles created on the site double in a very short period of time.

Your website specialises in finance jobs, so how has the current global financial crisis impacted upon your jobs website?

Really, there has never been a greater need for a service like OneWire. This past year, the industry has seen increased consolidation, hundreds of thousands of lay-offs and a severely disproportionate number of jobs available considering the increasingly large pool of candidates. “Needle in a haystack” doesn’t begin to describe the challenge that candidates and hiring firms are facing as they seek to find the exact fit for their needs or situation. OneWire instantly and precisely connects finance professionals and hiring firms, saving time and money. Actually, it is the current global financial crisis that has helped us to demonstrate the true value of OneWire.

Do you agree that niche, specialist jobs websites like OneWire are the way of the future, rather than the big generic job boards?

Absolutely. Old-fashioned job boards rely on uploaded resumes, broad keyword searches and job posts to connect professionals with companies. It is labor-intensive, costly and largely ineffective. Job seekers have to weed through pages and pages of job postings looking for one that might be relevant and hiring companies get inundated with upwards of hundreds of resumes, none of which may actually yield a good match. That system is broken.

By focusing on a specific niche, job sites like OneWire that are built for the times, can be highly tailored, more effective and offer considerably more value.

What are the challenges you are currently facing at OneWire?

For any emerging company that is growing, scaling at the right pace while preserving all of the various components that have lead to success are key.

From a marketing perspective, we’re a relatively new company, so building strong brand recognition is crucial. We obviously have a very diverse target audience when it comes to the age range and geographical location of job seekers, regardless of industry. Ensuring that we’re using all of the right tools at the right time to reach all of the right people is a challenging, but essential part of the process.

Where do you see the business going and how are you going to grow it?

Today, roughly 90% of the major finance firms are using OneWire in some capacity. We intend to expand those relationships and our current market share as we continue to build more functionality into OneWire and provide enhanced value for our customers.

Over time, OneWire will grow by incorporating strong social networking elements and moving into additional niche verticals. For the time being, however, finance remains our primary focus.

How do you hope to win against your biggest competitors?

OneWire was born out of a very successful Manhattan-based finance recruiting firm so expertise around finance jobs is a strong component of our heritage and one of many differentiators for the company. This deep expertise is evident across our entire offering and has enabled us to build a unique, comprehensive tool that creates precise connections between hiring firms and job seekers in the finance market.

While our competitors continue to introduce new spins on old-fashioned job posting sites, we’re meeting the needs of our customers head on by working very closely with them to address the myriad challenges they face. From a job seeker perspective, OneWire is extremely efficient, pairing candidates with jobs that precisely fit their qualifications versus spending hours combing through postings that aren’t relevant. As a result, more time is freed up to supplement their job search by networking, etc.

Do you think that jobs websites need to address their charging models eg: the trend for subscription based websites to be revamped with pay-per candidate style models? And what is OneWire’s business model?

OneWire is currently free for job seekers. Hiring firms buy a “seat” for an annual premium to gain full access and run an infinite number of searches. Naturally, larger firms with deeper HR staff require multiple seats in order to give simultaneous access to their team members. OneWire usually pays for itself after just one hire versus what a firm would typically pay a headhunter or recruiter.

I think that as with any new trends in charging models, as time goes on, we’ll see what makes the best business sense for all parties involved. For the time being, we believe that subscription based models represent the best value for our customers and allow us to deliver the most effective solution possible.

Where do you see online recruitment headed and why?

As online recruitment continues to evolve, it will certainly continue to become more niche-focused and tailored to individual job seekers or hiring companies. It will also incorporate a strong social networking aspect for added value and effectiveness. Eventually, online recruitment will replace traditional headhunters as a result of being relatively low-cost, precise and instantaneous.

Do you think social media will become more important to recruiters, job seekers and jobs websites?

Yes, social networking will most certainly become more important to recruiters, job seekers and job websites. Combining the many benefits introduced by social networking with the innovative and unprecedented functionality offered by sites like OneWire will help to truly advance the space.

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