I RECOMMEND: PageBites

A buddy of mine asked me today if I was familiar with Pagebites. Here is a reprint of an interview posted on my Jobseekers Revenge blog back in August. Enjoy...

I had the good fortune of interviewing Ralph Harik, CEO and Founder of PageBites, Inc. In my opinion, this is a company that recruiters and job seekers will want to keep a close eye on. Expect more from these trailblazers in the near future.

Q: What was the inspiration behind PageBites?

We wanted to create a product that would improve the lives of our siblings, our relatives and our friends. After considering many ideas, we decided that matching people to jobs is a difficult and challenging problem that needs to be addressed.

Q: How long has it been in existence?

We have been thinking about semi-structured search for some time now, but we have been working on this specific project for only a few months.

Q: What is your vision for PageBites?

PageBites offers both resume and job search. We are a destination for both employers and job seekers.

For employers, PageBites offers a single website to search for qualified candidates. Employers can also contact us to have their job openings included in our job index.

For job seekers, PageBites offers high exposure for their resumes (we do not charge employers any fees to use our site). PageBites also offers job seekers the ability to search for job openings that are aggregated from a variety of job boards.

PageBites is a vertical search company. Our goal is to build products that will improve people's lives. At the moment we are concentrating on job and resume search because it is a problem that is important to many people.

Q: PageBites seems to be funded by advertising so far. Will it always be free?

Searching for resumes and for jobs on PageBites will always be free. Posting your resume will also always be free.

The current business model, where employers must pay to search for resumes, is broken. There is no reason why employers should be paying hundreds of dollars to access a database of people who are looking for work. Smaller companies might not have the resources to pay these expensive fees. Free access to qualified candidates should be available to all employers.

Q: What is the advantage of using PageBites as a recruiter?

Unlike many other career sites, our service is free. We do not charge recruiters any money to search for resumes, and we do not require users to login before searching the site.

In addition, PageBites enables recruiters to easily find the candidates that best match the requirements of a job opening. A recruiter can restrict the resume search results to a particular location. Recruiters can also restrict search results to a specific skill or a particular degree. For example, you can search for people who attended Stanford and know C++ by typing "skills:C++ education:Stanford".

Q: What are the advantages to a job seeker for using PageBites?

PageBites aggregates job listings from a number of boards. Job seekers can, with one search, find a greater number of job openings.

We also allow job seekers to post their resume on PageBites. Each user is given a directory on PageBites with 10 MB of space to post resumes, cover letters, portfolios, etc.

Posting is made easy through the use of a rich text editor. This provides users with a familiar interface to input their resumes. The rich text editor also offers users the freedom to design and format their resumes without needing to know any HTML. In addition, users that already have a resume online are able to submit the URL of their online resume to PageBites.

Q: Is your website still in beta? When can users expect a big promotional push?

PageBites is still in Beta. We will be releasing more useful features in the coming months. We are continuously improving the site and we are always testing out new ideas.

Q: What have you not told me about PageBites?

We are really interested in receiving feedback from users. We would love to hear from both recruiters and job seekers.

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[If you like what I give away, you will love what I charge for. Check out Digability: The Recruiter's Guide To The Internet.]