by 
People Mentality Inc., an employer branding agency, will be featuring a series of HR Tech partners to share more about their background stories as well as how users can benefit from engaging them. No tool is perfect, but everyone of them is unique in their own way which is where the value lies for the various users. Find the best tools that suit your needs, mix and match based on your context and grow your business from there!
In the very first issue of People Mentality Tech Feature, I am pleased to have with us Mark Pickard, CEO of SHIFT, to share his thoughts on what has now become, the equivalent of Tinder in the career space. Find out more about the story of SHIFT and how users can benefit from this HR Tech app.
Summary of Interview
Sam: Why did you decide to start SHIFT?
Mark: The idea to create SHIFT was to make the often-painful process of job-hunting easier and quicker for the job seekers. All job seekers need to do is to connect their Facebook account to SHIFT to create their unique but standardized profile. After making sure that their profile is completed, they are ready to swipe through jobs as they would swipe through prospective dates on Tinder. No more emails, no more waiting for reply. Seriously, as Tinder is for love (dates), SHIFT is for career (jobs). The concept is easy: Great talent meets great opportunities.
Sam: Where did you first see the opportunity?
Mark: We saw the opportunity in the fact that the job seeker is not the center of attention. Technology allows SHIFT to keep the talent always first and informed whether a job seeker is actively seeking or passively looking.
SHIFT knows that a company is only as good as the people who add the value to it. We believe we can make a difference in the lives of the employees by being their first line of opportunity.
Sam: How did the name SHIFT come about?
Mark: We wanted a name that was easy to remember and that illustrates a time to make a “move”. SHIFT is the brand that we want to build a community around for all things that are related to a person’s evolving career.
Sam: How did the idea of SHIFT evolve along the way?
Mark: As we move along, we definitely became more and more focused on making things easier for the job seekers. At the same time, we want to remind them to create a professional and good impression so we are always coming up with ideas to constantly remind job seekers to complete their profiles.
Sam: What was the most memorable moment during this start-up journey?
Mark: The most memorable moment was definitely when we were invited to partner up with schools to help their students find internships. We started out wanting to help people match faster to jobs and we got to do it at a large scale with the future pillars of the society.
Sam: What lessons have you learnt from this startup journey thus far?
Mark: I learnt that it is always important to listen to feedback. Sometimes, we think that what we do is the best for everyone but that may not be exactly what people need. As such, we are always open to feedback. In fact, we love it when people let us know their thoughts about SHIFT, how we can improve or what they want to see.
Sam: What are your thoughts about the HR Tech space?
Mark: There is no doubt tough competition. However, it is also undeniable that there are distinguishable differences between the first generation HR tech and the newer ones coming up. People are always looking for new things to try out. It might not be possible for us to cater to everybody’s needs but we believe we can be of added value to both job seekers and employers because we are really dedicated in what we do.
Sam: Finally, who would you recommend to use SHIFT?
Mark: People who are looking for professional full time jobs or internships are always welcome to join. Anyone who wants to stay informed about the job market are welcome to become a SHIFTer too. SHIFT app is generally for anyone who are almost always on their mobile and wishes to have a more refreshing job matching process.
Closing thoughts
It was a pleasure to have Mark share his story and perspectives with all of us. What I love in particular was the part where he shared that the mission of SHIFT is to move talents to the center of attention and in my opinion, rightfully so.
Organizations need to recognize that regardless of how advanced or dependent they are on technology, people are still the main driving force of its success. Treat them with respect and care and you will see how they can help the organization flourish from there.
With that, we have come to the end of the first People Mentality Tech Feature series. I hope you enjoyed this piece and do stay tune for the next one real soon!
Together we can create a better workplace for tomorrow!
