Review of Springboardr.com: Applying to the Right Company
When I train job seekers, the first question I ask is, “Do you have your target top 10 list of ideal employers?”
Mostly the answer is, “Um, I’m working on it.”
Not only is it critically important to know which companies you are targeting for your job search, but it’s also important to know who you are and how you might fit with those companies if you get hired.
This is the reason employer branding company Universum just launched their Springboardr.com application. And so far, it does what it says it can do.
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The application asks you to rate your ideal employer based on 4 dimensions:
- People & Culture
- Employer Reputation
- Job Characteristics
- Career Opportunities
Based on these factors, it will assign to you a personality type and then deliver a list of employers known to appeal to your type.
[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_4″]
Create Your Top 10 Job Search List — Automatically
When I filled out my ideal employer, I was assigned an “Entrepreneur” status. No surprise there. So the matching tool seems to work well.
The only drawback to this beta release is the limited number of small to mid-sized employers. Most of my results were from Fortune 500 companies or the largest consulting firms. This may appeal to the graduating MBA, but could be quite useless for the average job seeker. I expect the database will be expanded for their next release.
Overall, the match process and the company profile features work quite well. At the very least, you’ll get a free personality assessment — and maybe you’ll even compile your top 10 list!
Watch my video review below to see inside Springboardr.com
Joshua Waldman wrote Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies after being laid off twice in six months (2008–2009). He’s changed careers five times and learned firsthand that technology is the job seeker’s biggest advantage. At CareerEnlightenment he shares what actually works.
Hello, Joshua
We, the Springboardr team, really appreciate your review of Springboardr. We have received a lot of feedback from many students and reviewers like you so far and are trying to reflect them in updating our application. We launch newly designed Springboardr today. It will be great pleasure if you can come and see our efforts. Thanks a lot.
Josh – I took the test and think it was dead accurate. I liked that you could go back and take it again. It would be helpful to have a place to look at the different types and see the other possibilities as well in this summary page prior to sign-up. The biggest benefits of course come with a sign-up to the site, is getting the matched companies from your answers. Once the smaller to medium companies get on that list, this tool will be a must stop for all job seekers. HP
I agree. I think MBAs try for the big companies because of their brand. But if I look back at my graduating class, only a handful of us actually got into one. Most of use wound up in SMBs and were actually much happier. Let’s hope that Universum will pull this in.
This is an interesting tool. I really like how it allows you to match your profile to companies that fit your professional style. They should post this video on their site. The service and layout are good but they don’t really explain the benefits of signing up the way the video does, thanks.
I agree, the website could be a bit clearer as to the benefits of signing up. I hope they’ll leverage my video to paint a clearer picture.
Joshua, what a totally awesome concept. I agree totally with the issue of seekers not really focusing on a top 10 or top whatever. It seems that the majority of seekers are not really giving this process their full attention, and springboard appears to be helping them think deeply about this process. Another personality inventory, I’m not sure about that. I am partial to DISC, but what the heck.
Thanks Joshua for your insights and contribution to this dynamic field.
jed
Yes, I’ve done the DISC, MBPT, Strength Finder etc. I think they all offer you some kind of glimmer.
Joshua, what a totally awesome concept. I agree totally with the issue of seekers not really focusing on a top 10 or top whatever. It seems that the majority of seekers are not really giving this process their full attention, and springboard appears to be helping them think deeply about this process. Another personality inventory, I’m not sure about that. I am partial to DISC, but what the heck.
Thanks Joshua for your insights and contribution to this dynamic field.
jed