JOBMATCH.ME - the contact exchange for professionals
There are many employment websites on the Internet. If you want to assert yourself there, you have to make clear what distinguishes you from your competitors. JOBMATCH.ME does this by specializing in non-academic professions and working with the creation of complex personality profiles. It started with truck drivers, but now the platform also offers a steadily growing variety of job areas thanks to artificial intelligence.
Target group research at the rest stop
In 2021, 480,000 people worked as truck drivers in Germany, according to the Federal Statistical Office. They were in fact overwhelmingly men, with women making up just 3% of the profession. They are also older than average; 35 % belong to the 55 plus age group. As is the case in many other areas, the shortage of skilled workers will therefore become even more noticeable here in the coming years than it already is. At the same time, truck drivers are essential for security of supply, and a significant proportion of freight traffic will be moving by road in the foreseeable future.
Nevertheless, the profession is not particularly popular. This is due, among other things, to the below-average pay, but also to the low social esteem in which it is held. At least this is what the founders of JOBMATCH.ME came to when they contacted their target group at freeway service stations. Many of them had apparently just been waiting to pour their hearts out to someone, and they told them about their private problems and the hard day at work.
These were important aspects for the creation of the JOBMATCH.ME questionnaire. Of course, it also includes the usual categories such as age, work experience, salary expectations and so on. The special feature, however, are the questions whose answers lead to the creation of a personality profile. This involves individual preferences and self-assessment of risk tolerance and similar things. There is no right or wrong here; depending on the requirements profile, different characteristics can have more or less weight.
An artificial intelligence (AI) analyzes which job description best matches a candidate profile and then links applicants and potential employers. This is done with a high hit rate; more than 60% of the contacts made lead to a personal interview. Ultimately, the final decision is still made by people and not by an AI, even though the latter is now doing an amazing job at JOBMATCH.ME, as we will learn later.
The founding team of JOBMATCH.ME
The startup was founded in 2016 by Daniel Stancke. Before JOBMATCH.ME, he worked for many years in human resources management at Volkswagen, most of that time in Mexico. Thorsten Steinbach was initially on board as a co-founder, but he left the company back in 2017. Other co-founders and still active are Felix Kühl and Dr. Gunnar Wrobel, who both act as CTO and are accordingly responsible for software development.
And then there is Yesica Rios, another co-founder. The industrial engineer and marketing expert comes from Mexico and met Daniel at Volkswagen. The two not only became a married couple, but they also developed key parts of the business idea for JOBMATCH.ME together. Nevertheless, she initially remained in the background during the first years of the startup; as a young mother, she faced the challenge of balancing work and family. However, she has long since stepped into the public eye as CMO and stands for the increased reputation and growing importance of women in the startup world.
A successful trip to Texas
A significant role in the history of JOBMATCH.ME is played by the psychologist Dr. Olaf Ringelband. He was the first to invest in the startup as a business angel. Even more important, however, is his expertise as a leading personnel diagnostician. With it, he ensures that the questionnaire and the personality profile based on it have a solid scientific foundation. He has also provided excellent service as a networker. In March 2019, he made the journey from Frankfurt to Austin to attend the SXSW Festival, a summit of the global cultural and digital scene.
While still on the plane, he struck up a conversation with two managers from the accounting firm Deloitte and was able to interest them in JOBMATCH.ME. In Austin, they continued the talks, joined by Daniel and Gunnar, who had come with the SXSW delegation from Hamburg, and three other investors. Still in Texas, they came to an agreement and the result was a convertible loan in the upper single-digit millions. SXSW is a popular destination, especially for Hamburg founders, but hardly ever has the trip paid off as much as in this case. No wonder Daniel always likes to return to Austin, in 2023 he was there for the third time.
With the fresh money, JOBMATCH.ME was able to continue its growth trajectory. In 2018, the company had already been able to increase its revenue fivefold compared to the previous year, surpassing the million mark. At the beginning of 2020, by now more than 135,000 truck drivers had registered on the platform, the starting signal was given for the next sector: now care workers could also find a new job there. Shortly thereafter, they became the focus of public attention due to the covid pandemic and synonymous with the term "shortage of skilled workers”.
In 2021, JOBMATCH.ME expanded its offering for the logistics industry, both in terms of the jobs it placed and geographically: Poland was added as a market. Finally, the startup opened the doors to another industry that had been shaken by the pandemic. At first, many jobs fell away in the catering and related service areas, and then it became particularly difficult to fill them because staff had changed their jobs and did not want to return.
Not only had the business areas expanded, but the AI had also been constantly learning over the years. This now sometimes leads to astounding results. It happens, for example, that a person is interested in a certain job, but receives a completely different job recommendation from the AI. Ideally, the algorithm discovers dormant talents and inclinations of which the person himself was not yet aware. In view of this development, there are currently no plans to include other firmly defined industries, but rather to make the platform more open while keeping an eye on the transition to independence of the AI.
JOBMATCH.ME is profitable and independent of prosperity
JOBMATCH.ME reached an important milestone in August 2022, the company has been operating profitably ever since. This is particularly relevant for further financing. The increased creditworthiness leads to easier access to outside capital and no need to give up company shares, as is the case with the financing rounds that are common for startups. That the business will continue to develop positively is ensured by the shortage of skilled workers already mentioned, which is spreading to more and more areas. From this perspective, the labor market is largely decoupled from economic fluctuations.
In spring 2023, JOBMATCH.ME stands at over 400,000 registered skilled workers and well over 1,000 employers who receive a convenient software connection via an interface, which is particularly attractive for large customers. Up to 20,000 matches are made per month, an average of one every 2.1 minutes. On April 1, 2023, the team will grow to 31 permanent employees. And it certainly won't stop there. After all, at JOBMATCH.ME they know how to attract workers.
