profile updated Sep 26, 2008, 2:21 PM
Here's how Jason Leonard, TalentMaze co-founder and CEO, describes his company:
"Talent Maze is a talent acquisition marketplace. The company's goal is to provide a forum where employers have easy access to exponentially more external talent options and to enable external Recruiters to market great candidates with companies to which they would otherwise not be exposed. Talent Maze is the premier talent redistribution marketplace and is revolutionizing the way external search is conducted."
Got that? Well, we'll take a shot at it. TalentMaze is a broker of contingency search firms. Contingency firms sign-up to offer their inventory directly to companies. Employers can "shop" from the list sending job reqs to only certain firms, all firms or those specializing in their industry or job.
Employers can remain entirely anonymous to the search firms, even to the ones they decide to use. This avoids the annoying sales pitches and keeps the employer in control. If a candidate is hired, TalentMaze gets 20 percent of the fee and the search firm keeps the balance.
It's got some resemblance to a splits board, though the analogy the company draws is to AutoTrader and eBay. At heart, of course, it's an attempt to create efficiencies in the recruitment market.
Leonard knows first hand how challenging it can be to select the right search firm and fend off the marketing calls from the hundreds of firms and thousands of independents. In his past life, he was director of staffing for Citigroup and before that, director of talent acquisition for privately-held Mozaic.
Leonard, in an appearance on Xtreme Recruiting TV, talked about TalentMaze. how it works and what the future is for the company.
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Employers
The service for employers is essentially free. They pay only the same fee they would ordinarily pay to a contingency firm. Employers can remain anonymous. Job reqs can be posted to only designated firms or all, based on industry, area of focus or other criteria. In addition, an employer can review an agency's reputation score before permitting them to see job reqs. -
Contingency Recruiters
Contingency recruiters and firms enroll in the TalentMaze program and agree to pay TalentMaze 20 percent of the fee for every placement made through the service. Participants get a reputation score that is based on a variety of factors including quality of candidate submissions.