Bountly is a local recruitment website designed to service job creation, through incorporating social media elements and the current peer-to-peer economy trend revolutionised by companies such as Uber and Airbnb.
A beta version of the site was launched in January 2018, focused primarily on job opportunities in the Western Cape. But the site creators hope to provide connections for job seekers in other major centres in the next six months.
Bountly connects job seekers, students and people looking for a second income with part-time employment. The vacancies cover a wide variety of jobs, including office administration, dog walking, maintenance work and manufacturing. The site allows interested parties to register and create a CV profile online. Visitors can register to search for potential employees or to place job ads.
Job seekers can apply for jobs on the site, or await new opportunities that fit their skillsets. Registered users are notified about potential job openings, safely connected with the job offering and when the job is completed, are paid through the site’s secure payment portal.
Both applicants and work providers can be star-rated, which builds their individual credibility and performance ranking, much like the way Uber rates both drivers and passengers. The ultimate aim for the website designers is to create a vast network of connections countrywide.
The website is a collaboration between software engineer Michael Whelehan, public relations expert Carly Jack and entrepreneur Simon Telian.
“We want to [be able to] give people equal opportunity, and [give them] a marketplace to create an authority in their chosen profession,” Whelehan told The South African news website.
Bountly wants to become the leading South African solution to reliable online recruitment, an area often prone to inconsistent gatekeeping and exploitation of job seekers. The website is free to use for registered users and no services or money is exchanged until all parties and opportunities are verified.
“We want to create trust in the workplace, while giving our users the competitive edge,” says Telian, a veteran of several successful entrepreneurial endeavours in South Africa, Germany and Switzerland.
While the focus of the website is on temporary, small-scale employment opportunities, the team believe that proper management of a thriving but under-utilised informal job market in South Africa is one of the country’s greatest assets in helping to solve the employment challenges.
“Bountly targets the grey area, the undefined and task-related work roles, of which there is an abundance in South Africa,” Jack told The South African.
For more information, visit the Bountly website and connect with those behind the idea on LinkedIn and Facebook.
by 